Corruption is a cancer within the body of societies—a disease that eats at public trust and the ability of governments to deliver for their citizens. The deleterious effects of corruption impact nearly all aspects of society. It exacerbates social, political, and economic inequality and polarisation; impedes the ability of states to respond to public health crises or to deliver quality education; degrades the business environment and economic opportunity; drives conflict; and undermines faith in government. Those that abuse positions of power for private gain steal not just material wealth, but human dignity and welfare. Recognising corruption’s ability to corrode democracy, on June 3, 2021, President Biden established the fight against corruption as a core U.S. national security interest. Continue reading…

European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy have recently launched the Global Gateway, the new European Strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport and strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. It stands for sustainable and trusted connections that work for people and the planet, to tackle the most pressing global challenges, from climate change and protecting the environment, to improving health security and boosting competitiveness and global supply chains. Continue reading…

Klaas Knot has taken office as Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chair, succeeding Randal K. Quarles. Mr. Knot is President of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). Prior to his appointment as Chair, Mr. Knot had been serving as FSB Vice Chair and Chair of the FSB’s Standing Committee on Assessment of Vulnerabilities (SCAV). FSB Plenary members, in their final meeting under Randal Quarles’ leadership on 18 November, expressed their gratitude to Randal Quarles for his leadership and commitment in chairing the FSB during the past three years, and looked forward to working with Klaas Knot. Continue reading…

The composite cost-of-borrowing indicator, which combines interest rates on all loans to corporations, decreased, driven by the interest rate effect in October 2021. Composite cost-of-borrowing indicator for new loans to corporations decreased by 6 basis points to 1.43%, driven by the interest rate effect, with indicator for new loans to households for house purchase broadly unchanged at 1.31%. Composite interest rate for new deposits with agreed maturity from corporations and for overnight deposits from corporations unchanged at -0.34% and -0.03%, respectively. Composite interest rate for new deposits with agreed maturity from households broadly unchanged at 0.23%, with interest rate for overnight deposits from households unchanged at 0.01%.  Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently published the 2021 list of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) using end-2020 data and an assessment methodology designed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The 30 banks on the list remain the same as the 2020 list. Continue reading…

Sunrise Brokers LLP has been fined over £600,000 for deficient anti money laundering systems and controls. This is the second case brought by the FCA in relation to cum-ex trading, dividend arbitrage and withholding tax (WHT) reclaim schemes. The first FCA case relating to cum-ex trading concluded in May 2021. The FCA found that Sunrise had deficient systems and controls to identify and mitigate the risk of facilitating fraudulent trading and money laundering in relation to business introduced by the Solo Group, between 17 February 2015 and 4 November 2015. Continue reading…

The European Commission has proposed to update the rules on coordination of safe and free movement in the EU, which were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the summer, vaccine uptake has increased significantly and the EU Digital COVID Certificate has been rolled out successfully, with more than 650 million certificates issued to date. At the same time, the epidemiological situation in the EU continues to develop with some Member States taking additional public health measures, including administering booster vaccines. Taking into account all those factors, the Commission is proposing a stronger focus on a ‘person-based’ approach to travel measures and a standard acceptance period for vaccination certificates of 9 months since the primary vaccination series. The 9 month period takes into account the guidance of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on the administration of booster doses as of 6 months, and provides for an additional period of 3 months to ensure that national vaccination campaigns can adjust and citizens can have access to boosters.
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Mr. Robert Marinescu-Muster was a speaker during the Risk & Resilience Festival on November 4, 2021. During his lecture, he explained how many problems with data and cyber attacks are based on people. His recommendation was to give people in organization more knowledge on how to spot an attack and what to do with the attack.

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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has recently published a statement to support preparations for LIBOR cessation. Most LIBOR panels will cease at the end of this year, with certain key USD settings continuing until end-June 2023 to support the rundown of legacy contracts, executed before January 1 2022, only. Continued reliance of global financial markets on LIBOR poses risks to global financial stability. With only a few weeks remaining to the end of 2021, it is now critical that market participants act urgently to complete any remaining steps set out in the FSB’s Global Transition Roadmap. Global and national financial regulators will be closely monitoring progress. Continue reading…