by Daniel Vaknine

When it comes to whistleblowing within an organisation, it is a good idea to use a whistleblower system. In short, this is a system that allows employees to report wrongdoings internally. In this article, I’ll go through the different types of whistleblower systems that are available so that you can gain an increased awareness of what methods are available. This in turn makes it easier to decide which methods your organisation can or should offer.

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Barclays have referred their Decision Notices to the Upper Tribunal. Any findings in the Notices are therefore provisional and reflect the FCA’s belief as to what occurred and how it considers the firms’ behaviour should be characterised. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has decided to fine Barclays a total of £50 million in relation to its failure to disclose certain arrangements agreed with Qatari entities as part of its capital raisings announced on 25 June 2008 and 31 October 2008. Barclays’ conduct in the October capital raising was reckless and lacked integrity. Continue reading…

by Mark Worth

Ten years ago the European Commission tersely said the idea of EU-wide whistleblower rules was out of the question. Today, the Commission is helping to lead the charge for stronger rights for people who report corruption. For evidence of this sharp turnaround, one need look no further than the Commission’s decision to escalate its infringement action against four EU countries that are tardy in passing whistleblower protection laws. On 29 September the Commission warned Austria, Belgium, Romania and Slovenia that they are “failing to fulfil their obligations” to comply with new rules. Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

Last week from October 10 to October 13, the RAI Congress Center was all about SIBOS. It started with the official opening by Queen Maxima, who appeared on stage just in time to dutifully read her story from the paper. She spoke in her capacity as “United Nations Secretary-General’s Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA)”. Her presentation was preceded by that of Swift chairman Yawar Shah, who was of course very content with the fact that SIBOS was able to be held live again after three years. During the plenary opening, CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso also spoke about the challenges of the sector. Mairead McGuiness, EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets spoke to us via video link. Those were strange days because somehow there was a kind of weird atmosphere and menace over the market. Not in the sense of a sudden fall in the stock markets, but rather the threat of a nuclear conflict on European soil after the attack on the Russian bridge towards Crimea. The same thoughts came back to me from September 2008, during SIBOS in Vienna, when it was announced that Lehman Brothers had fallen over…

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On 15 October, Klaas Knot delivered a speech at the 37th Annual G30 International Banking Seminar. Shocks are hitting the euro area economy. A mixture of global shocks has set-off high inflation. The pandemic first caused supply chain restrictions, pushing up inflation, which was subsequently reinforced by pent-up demand. This strong demand shock effect in the first half of this year has been an upside surprise for central banks. A similar pattern can be observed in the energy crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine. The disrupted energy supply is a classic negative supply shock leading to elevated energy prices. Governments have responded with extensive fiscal measures, which support demand. If the scope of the support measures is too broad, they will fuel inflation. Continue reading…

Following dialogues with the Commission and the network of national consumer protection (CPC) authorities, multinational e-commerce business Shopify has committed to making several improvements to make shopping safer for customers, bringing it in line with EU rules. The dialogue first originated following the receipt of numerous complaints, which peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the European Consumer Centres. The complaints mainly related to web stores hosted by the platform, found to have engaged in illegal practices, such as making fake offers and fake scarcity claims, supplying counterfeit goods or not providing their contact details. The Commission, together with the CPC, and led by Belgium’s Directorate General for Economic Inspection, launched a dialogue with Shopify in July 2021, aimed at introducing changes to address the illegal practices of traders in its platform. Continue reading…

Specialised public prosecutors from the United States and EU Member States will step up their cooperation to tackle major cross-border and intercontinental environmental crime. During a dedicated liaison meeting, hosted by Eurojust, officials devised a process to set environmental crime priorities for operational action, criminal intelligence sharing, and developing cooperation tools and mechanisms to exchange information and best practices. Continue reading…

The European Central Bank (ECB) has on 19 September published further details on how it aims to gradually decarbonise the corporate bond holdings in its monetary policy portfolios, on a path aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. One goal is to reduce the Eurosystem’s exposure to climate-related financial risk, following the Governing Council’s July 2022 decision to tilt the Eurosystem’s corporate bond purchases towards issuers with a better climate performance. Furthermore, these measures support the green transition of the economy in line with the EU’s climate neutrality objectives. Continue reading…

On 19 September, the Commission is presenting the new Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI). This crisis governance framework aims to preserve the free movement of goods, services and persons and the availability of essential goods and services in the event of future emergencies, to the benefit of citizens and businesses across the EU. While the Single Market has proven to be our best asset in crisis management, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted structural shortcomings hampering the EU’s ability to effectively respond to emergency situations in a coordinated manner. Unilateral measures caused fragmentation, worsening the crisis and affecting particularly SMEs. Continue reading…

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) have on 12 September issued their Autumn 2022 joint risk report. The report highlights that the deteriorating economic outlook, high inflation and rising energy prices have increased vulnerabilities across the financial sectors. The ESAs advise national supervisors, financial institutions and market participants to prepare for challenges ahead. Continue reading…