Ransomware has become a global problem that requires cooperation on a worldwide level. Judicial experts and practitioners from the European Union and the United States participated in a two-day workshop in The Hague organised by Eurojust and the U.S. Department of Justice. The event aimed to share best practices and enhance collaboration in confronting ransomware attacks. The event was opened by Eurojust President, Mr Ladislav Hamran, and Assistant Attorney General Mr Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

A number of global and large national companies already have centralised group-wide reporting systems in place and have relied on the adequacy of this global solution after 17 December 2021, when the new EU Whistleblowing Directive entered (or was supposed to enter) into force. The European Commission has however clearly rejected this interpretation. Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

Last Thursday, June 16, our traditional Risk & Compliance Annual Congress took place at the Groot Kievitsdal Estate in Baarn. The weather was beautiful and all those present could fully enjoy it on the terraces of the Estate. But of course there was also the serious angle, the theme around the role of the gatekeepers in 2022. The three keynotes before the break each had a clear opinion about this from their own background. The international bank customer, through the CEO of HVA International Miltiadis Gkouzouris, started off, after which Jaap van der Molen of the ABN Amro Bank spoke and then the Ministry of Justice and Security, represented by Zosha Zuidema. Later in the afternoon, the Great AML/CDD/KYC Debate took place, led by Michael van Woerden. Geert Vermeulen, who led the day in the right direction, was our chairman. Continue reading…

Ingrid Gacci

What a journey! This is the impression after three days spent at Money20/20. Money20/20 is not only the largest global fintech event where payment and financial industries are connected to commerce, but a fascinating event that gave Risk & Compliance Platform Europe the opportunity to meet innovative top managers and professionals from all over the world. We recently had the pleasure of conducting one of our most insightful interviews together with the CEO of Trulioo, Steve Munford. Trulioo is a Canadian-based company that provides electronic identity and address verification of both individuals and businesses. Continue reading…

Investigations and prosecutions of the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (known collectively as core international crimes) have steadily risen within the European Union since 2016. A total of 1,547 new cases were opened in 2021, compared with 1,073 in 2016, which represents a 44% increase.  In 2021, 3,171 cases were ongoing across all Member States. This trend can be attributed, in part, to the escalation of conflicts and grave human rights violations near EU borders (most recently in Ukraine, Belarus and Syria), leading to an influx of refugees into Member States. The higher level of expertise now available among national authorities also explains the increase in investigations.

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The judicial authorities of Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia will become members of the joint investigation team (JIT) on alleged core international crimes, which has been set up with the support of Eurojust. The Prosecutors General of the three EU Member States signed an agreement to join the JIT, together with their counterparts from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, during a coordination meeting hosted by Eurojust on May 30 and the following day. The JIT was set up on 25 March by Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) became a participant last month. Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

Employees play a key role in an organisation’s well-being. As we all know, it is they who make the organisation work. If the employees in an organisation are dissatisfied or experience injustices in the workplace, it can have major negative effects, ranging from lack of motivation and lack of results to enormous negative media attention or lost partners. A critical component in the well-being of employees is the possibility of whistleblowing. Historically, there have often been situations where people are afraid of being singled out as whistleblowers, either for fear of retaliation, special treatment or getting rid of their jobs. Today, these are well-established facts amongst many within the risk and compliance industry. Continue reading…

At a dedicated conference, criminal justice practitioners and experts from the South Partner Countries (SPCs) and the European Union Member States discussed how to help judicial and law enforcement authorities to apply data protection standards when gathering cross-border electronic evidence in criminal matters. The event was organised by the EuroMed Justice Programme (EMJ) in close coordination with the French Ministry of Justice and under the French Presidency to the EU Council. It took place in Lyon, France, between 31 May and 2 June. Continue reading…

by Lieve Lowet & Lorenz Van Roosbroeck

Having understood the social element of (un)sustainability, we tackle the second issue which advances the integrative understanding of the AAIEI over the disjointed logic present within ESG deliberations. In our March blog post, intergenerational equity was praised for its integrative element; it grasped environmental issues as a social issue. Instead, the dominant deliberative culture surrounding ESG tends to discuss environmental -and social issues in isolation of one another, which masks their interrelation. Here, the layered, relational aspect of sustainability is concealed, presenting it instead as an exercise in compliance. However, while it is practically important to respect the analytical distinction between society and nature, sustainability at large is only theoretically intelligible from the vantage point of their interrelation. Therefore, one has to open up the context of ESG, something which the AAIEI achieves. Continue reading…

In her speech at the Data Science Conference of the DNB Data Science Hub, Nicole Stolk addressed several preconditions for being a data-driven organisation. As one of the Executive Board Members of De Nederlandsche Bank, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Amsterdam and in particular to this conference. We have high hopes and feel this is an important and fruitful subject. Me being here goes beyond just delivering a few standard remarks. Becoming a data-driven organisation cannot be achieved overnight. It is a journey, and I have been traveling with you for quite some time. I am not a data scientist myself, but I do see the potential value of basing our policy decisions and supervision more firmly on data-driven analyses. But this value can only be realised if we are comfortable with using data science in our daily work. Part of this sense of comfort will come if we can change the way we work. This involves a marked culture change which could be the topic for the next conference.    Continue reading…