Between 1990 and 2016, cross-border cartels affected sales of over $51 trillion worldwide. Indicatively, more than 100,000 companies were found liable for international price-fixing, with estimated gross overcharges exceeding $1.5 trillion. In light of the data provided, it becomes apparent that international cartels have a great impact, not only on consumer welfare, but also on economies as they deprive the latter of the benefits from international trade. On Thursday, May 20th 2021, the Economic Crime Series: International Cartels – Recommendations for an overall proportional punishment and a realignment of competition law event was held online, organised by Dr. Branislav Hock and chaired by Penelope Giosa who are both lecturers at the University of Portsmouth. Given the context of the seminar, speakers Dr. Marek Martyniszyn and Dr. Pieter Huizing presented their research work to shed light on the ways that existing regulatory gaps could be narrowed and an overall proportional punishment could be achieved in the area of international cartels. The Risk & Compliance Platform Europe has also covered this seminar via its website. This is part two, which will focus on Dr. Huizing’s presentation. Continue reading…

The new legislation which allows the LGBTQ community to be banned in Hungary is an abomination and is working against both integrity and humanity. It is a big risk and danger for the rest of the world. If such a legislation can happen in Hungary, some other politicians might be trying to achieve the same result in their country. This is one of the many reason to reach out to all the business leaders in our global community and to ask them to act now. As you may know, diversity and inclusivity are oftentimes used as a flagship to enhance the reputation of organisations. Especially the financial sector tends to embrace pride month and the gay pride to show how well they represent the people in society. Also, research shows that diverse teams offer great ideas and perform better, which leads to a competitive advantage in the market. Continue reading…

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided that it concurs with ECB Banking Supervision in that there continue to be “exceptional circumstances” allowing for the extension of the temporary exclusion of certain central bank exposures from the leverage ratio in order to support the transmission of the ECB’s monetary policy. The Governing Council is of the view that the condition of exceptional circumstances warranting this temporary exclusion from the calculation of banks’ total exposure measure continues to be met for the euro area as a whole. Continue reading…

by Caroline Raat

It is not hard to believe that fraud, money laundering, corruption and human rights violations mainly take place ‘on the other side of the world’. But since we all live – depending on our perspective – ‘on the other side’, this paradigm is not very helpful when looking at integrity, wrongdoings and those who try to prevent and report them. This is especially so in a globalised society. Instead, it is time to acknowledge that people are people and that integrity violations take place all over the world. And that retaliation of reporters is universal: violators or organisations that failed to act on them do not like to be exposed. They are usually in a position where they can threaten whistleblowers, or worse. Violation and retaliation may vary in size and character, and in this blog, that common ground is our starting point. Whistleblowers need the best protection and legal and financial support. Not only for their sake, but because reporting wrongdoings is in the general interest. Continue reading…

On June 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Bulgarian nationals due to their extensive roles in corruption in Bulgaria, as well as their network of 64 entities. The administration believes that corruption will lead to a break down in the rule of law, weaken the economy and economic growth, undermine democracy, perpetuate conflicts, and deprive innocent civilians of their basic human rights. The recent action is the largest anti-corruption action to date, indicating that the Ministry of Finance is working tirelessly to hold those involved in corruption accountable. The US government will continue to impose tangible and significant consequences on those involved in corruption and commit to protecting the global financial system from abuse. Continue reading…

Now perhaps more than ever, governance and legal teams are being asked to do more with less. By automating recurring and routine tasks, you empower your team to focus on more strategic initiatives, and in doing so, you also create a competitive edge. In a 30-minute speed learning webinar held on Tuesday, 8 June 2021, moderator Matthieu Chollet, Regional Sales Director for France from Diligent was joined by speaker Luc van Daele, Owner at Legadex to discuss the ways that companies can boost operational efficiency and collaboration among dispersed teams; ways legal teams can become more strategic and claim the business advisor role; and how to use Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) and legal-tech to help achieve your company’s goals in a post-Covid economy. Continue reading…

Between 1990 and 2016, cross-border cartels affected sales of over $51 trillion worldwide. Indicatively, more than 100,000 companies were found liable for international price-fixing, with estimated gross overcharges exceeding $1.5 trillion. In light of the data provided, it becomes apparent that international cartels have a great impact, not only on consumer welfare, but also on economies as they deprive the latter of the benefits from international trade. On Thursday, May 20th 2021, the Economic Crime Series: International Cartels – Recommendations for an overall proportional punishment and a realignment of competition law event was held online, organised by Dr. Branislav Hock and chaired by Penelope Giosa who are both lecturers at the University of Portsmouth. Given the context of the seminar, speakers Dr. Marek Martyniszyn and Dr. Pieter Huizing presented their research work to shed light on the ways that existing regulatory gaps could be narrowed and an overall proportional punishment could be achieved in the area of international cartels. The Risk & Compliance Platform Europe has also covered this seminar via its website. This is part one of two articles on this event, which will focus on Dr. Martyniszyn’s presentation. Continue reading…

ProctorExam, European market leader in online proctoring, has been Security Verified by the ICT Institute, an independent IT audit firm. This achievement is a confirmation that ProctorExam goes beyond being just GDPR compliant. Guaranteeing data protection and security for both exam takers and organisations is a top priority. ProctorExam continuously investigates how to take the extra mile to meet that urgency. Security Verified is an open standard for information security similar to ISO 27001, with an emphasis on GDPR. Any company that handles valuable or personal data is obliged to take care of information security. Security Verified makes it easy for organisations to prove that they have taken such steps. It is a renowned and open standard for the information security of organisations, especially for innovative tech champions of today and tomorrow. The structure is similar to ISO 27001 and contains many of the control measures from ISO 27002. However, Security Verified integrated GDPR compliance even more, since these are the current legal requirements within the European Union. Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

“The power of the largest multinationals can therefore still be corrected outside the boardroom. That is encouraging and is an impulse for the further alignment of sustainability and compliance in terms of testing and reporting.” said Michael van Woerden of DeComplianceMonitor, who we asked for comments on the recent decision of the District Court of The Hague in the case against Royal Dutch Shell. This ruling has not only attracted the attention of Dutch lawyers and climate activists, but this court ruling is also subject to discussion abroad. The largest multinationals have come under fire in recent weeks and those who think that the multinational has been created forever to defend the interests of only its own shareholders will be disappointed. The G7 meeting that is currently taking place in London will push ahead with regard to a minimum taxation for internationally operating companies and the tax shortcuts for the multinationals will be limited. In fact, the risk of significant worldwide reputational damage is more present than ever, now that the multinationals (and their directors) are under the magnifying glass, in case there is no ‘reasonable’ tax payment that has been made public. What should ultimately be regarded as ‘reasonable’ is not yet certain and is subject to debate. Continue reading…

The international role of the euro remained broadly stable in 2020. This was one of the main findings in the latest annual review of the international role of the euro, published recently by the European Central Bank (ECB). “The euro remains unchallenged as the second most widely used currency globally after the US dollar”, said ECB President Christine Lagarde. The share of the euro across various indicators of international currency was stable, averaging around 19% in 2020. More specifically, the euro’s share in outstanding international loans, in the stock of international debt securities and as an invoicing currency for extra-euro area imports of goods remained broadly stable. The share of the euro in global foreign exchange reserves declined, as did the share of the euro in foreign currency-denominated debt issuance and in outstanding international deposits. Continue reading…