The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently brought attention to the fact that it is going to disallow the mass marketing of speculative mini-bonds to retail customers. The ban by FCA is said to be introduced without consultation and is expected to go into effect on January 1 2020 for a duration of 12 months. As of recent, this is a restriction, but the FCA also intends to discuss the formation of lasting rules concerning the ban. Continue reading…

The Bank of England (the Bank), Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have today published a shared policy summary and co-ordinated consultation papers (CPs) on new requirements to strengthen operational resilience in the financial services sector. Building the operational resilience of firms and Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) is a shared priority for the three supervisory authorities. The co-ordinated CPs build on the concepts set out in the operational resilience Discussion Paper published by the authorities last year, addressing many of the proposed policy changes based on the responses we received. Continue reading…

Michel Klompmaker

On November 14, the first edition of the Augmenting Customer Due Diligence (ACDD) event was held at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. Compliance is certainly not a boring field and you must be fully familiar with what is possible and what is not allowed. No financial institution, large or small, appears to be immune to the threat of fraud or money laundering. This event was meant to examine how data and innovation can accelerate progress towards common goals, such as cost reduction and streamlining of the CDD (KYC) process. Continue reading…

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it has filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against two individuals and two companies they control in connection with an alleged $6 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 55 investors, many of whom are senior citizens or small business owners. According to the SEC’s complaint, Neil Burkholz of Boca Raton, Florida, and Frank Bianco, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, through their companies Palm Financial Management LLC and Shore Management Systems LLC, solicited investors by falsely representing that their proprietary options trading strategies were highly profitable.

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by Michel Klompmaker

On the 7th of November, the third edition of the Risk & Resilience Festival was held at the University of Twente in Enschede, which was organized by the university, the Society for Risk Management (GvRM) and Public Risk Management Organization (PRIMO). The theme surrounding this riveting event was “Risk meets Resilience for a Sustainable Future”. The overarching theme was also split into eight subthemes, which were resilience, vision & strategy, legal & compliance, technology, financial risks, human factor, operations & safety and data analytics. Around 100 speakers attended the event to share their knowledge and experiences together with about 750 people. Highlights of the event included three keynote speakers and the handing out of awards.

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by Costanza Matteuzzi & Aldo Pedico

In our first part of the article that has been published last week, we discussed the role of the European Union in the field of criminal law, company and personal needs, the requirements of laws, regulations and standards and the implications. Now in this second part, we will discuss the cybersecurity quality system, the paradigm, certification of the cybersecurity quality system process and finally end with a conclusion to our paper.  Continue reading…

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched a substantial and ambitious revision to the UK Stewardship Code. The new Code substantially raises expectations for how money is invested on behalf of UK savers and pensioners. In particular, the new Code establishes a clear benchmark for stewardship as the responsible allocation, management and oversight of capital to create long-term value for clients and beneficiaries leading to sustainable benefits for the economy, the environment and society.

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by Michel Klompmaker

The Belgian Cyber Security Convention (BCSC) is an event that was held on October 16 to push organizations to seriously invest in protecting their data from exposure to cybersecurity risks and threats. The convention was organized by Brewery of Ideas and took place at the Lamot Congress Center in Mechelen. It aimed to unite some of the best European experts in cybersecurity coming from about 14 different countries. The goal of the convention was to get businesses, public and private organizations to meet these experts, pass on the latest insights and become informed on the most important best practices and technologies.
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The European Commission has today recommended the European Council (Article 50) to endorse the agreement reached at negotiator level on the Withdrawal Agreement, including a revised Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland, and approve a revised Political Declaration on the framework of the future EU-UK relationship. The Commission also recommends that the European Parliament give its consent to this agreement. This follows a series of intensive negotiations between the European Commission and UK negotiators over the past few days. Continue reading…

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has issued the Seventeenth progress report on adoption of the Basel regulatory framework. As noted by the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision, the Committee’s oversight body, member jurisdictions are expected to ensure a full, timely and consistent implementation of the finalised Basel III reforms.

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