The Basel Committee’s oversight body, the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), has endorsed a set of measures to provide additional operational capacity for banks and supervisors to respond to the immediate financial stability priorities resulting from the impact of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on the global banking system. “It is important that banks and supervisors are able to commit their full resources to respond to the impact of Covid-19. This includes providing critical services to the real economy and ensuring that the banking system remains financially and operationally resilient. The measures endorsed by GHOS today aim to prioritise these objectives and we remain ready to act further if necessary,” said François Villeroy de Galhau, Chairman of the GHOS and Governor of the Bank of France. 
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by Ahsan Habib

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is causing widespread concern and economic hardship for consumers, businesses and communities across the globe. The situation is changing quickly with widespread impacts. Cyber hackers hit the U.S. Health and Human Services Department with an attack few days back during a presentation and update on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Historically these criminals and hackers are as callous as they are opportunistic. We must also be wary of official-looking emails telling bank/FI staff to click on a link to learn more about how to stop the spread of the virus. Financial Crime Watchdogs across the globe has already warned about skimping on Anti Money Laundering and advised to be wary of the incoming flood of fraud. Financial institutions have been advised to remain alert about malicious or fraudulent transactions similar to those that occur in the wake of natural disasters. 
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has decided to keep the date of application of the transparency calculations for equity instruments of 1 April 2020 unchanged. ESMA has recently been asked by some stakeholders to postpone the date of application – required by MiFIDII/MiFIR to apply from 1 April, on the basis of the extraordinary market circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The application of new tick-sizes was cited as particularly problematic in the current environment. ESMA acknowledges the severity of the situation and is working to alleviate market participants’ burden to the maximum extent possible, as some recent publications show, in particular delaying the application of new obligations which require significant technological changes.
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by Dina-Perla Portnaar

Transferring money in the migrant community, especially under current conditions, has never been that high on the agenda. Rewire makes it possible. The company was founded in 2015 in Israel by Guy Kashtan, Saar Yahalom, Or Ben-Oz and Adi Ben-Dayan. Rewire is a supplier of an international neobanking platform for migrant workers who transfer most of the earnings to their motherland. Rewire partners with leading banks in the migrants’ countries of origin. Innovative technology enables migrants to deposit money into a digital payment account, which can then be used locally. Also, the technology supports a debit card by Rewire and transfers funds home. The company manages global communities of migrants, with an emphasis on Nigerians, Filipinos and Indians. In addition, Rewire supports Thai, Chinese, Kenyaite, Ghanaian Nepalese and Sri Lankan migrants. Rewire has tens of thousands of returning customers and processes hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

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The FCA will be writing tonight to companies it is aware were intending to publish preliminary financial statements in the next few days to delay their planned publications. The FCA strongly requests all listed companies observe a moratorium on the publication of preliminary financial statements for at least two weeks. Investors in capital markets rely on trustworthy information on the companies whose instruments they trade. The unprecedented events of the last couple of weeks mean that the basis on which companies are reporting and planning is changing rapidly. It is important that due consideration is given by companies to these events in preparing their disclosures. Observing timetables set before this crisis arose may not give companies the necessary time to do this. 
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by Massimo Balducci

Personally I’m persuaded that compliance approach could teach us something on how to face the COVID-19 crisis. To prove my point I will first of all remind us briefly of the basics of compliance approach. Roughly speaking I daresay that compliance refers to a mechanism of supervision to be used while working in a process oriented way, or, if you wish, in a re-engineered organisation. What implies working in a re-engineered organisation? Whoever is involved in an organised production is called upon all the time to find an answer to the following question: “what am I supposed to do now?” Nobel prize winner H.A. Simon thought that anyone called upon to make such a decision is supported by some mechanisms able to reduce her/his decision making complexity.  Continue reading…

The decision by governments to close educational facilities and workplaces in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19/Coronavirus will see many more of us than ever before remotely connecting to workplace/school networks from home and will put added strain on online resources. We will also see many people who are used to the protection offered by a corporate/education network working remotely for the first time. This coupled with opportunistic attacks from cybercriminals exploiting people’s fears over this virus outbreak could create a perfect storm for cybercriminal activity. Continue reading…

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision held a conference call on 20 March 2020 to discuss the impact of the rapid worldwide spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on the global banking system. The spread of Covid-19 has reached a critical phase and is having an increasingly significant impact on economic activity. The Basel III standards have strengthened the resilience of the banking system over the past decade. The global banking system has significantly higher levels of capital and liquidity, and is therefore in a stronger position to absorb shocks and mitigate interruptions to banking services. Banks and supervisors must remain vigilant in light of the evolving nature of Covid-19 to ensure that the global banking system remains financially and operationally resilient.
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, is issuing a public statement to ensure coordinated supervisory actions on the application of Securities Finance Transactions Regulation (SFTR), in particular, on the requirements regarding the reporting start date, as well as the registration of Trade Repositories (TRs). This approach is needed in response to the effect of current adverse developments events as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading…

by Geert Vermeulen

Often ethics & compliance officers only end up in the news when things have gone wrong. Many people don’t realise that ethics & compliance officers also prevent numerous crimes and unethical practices, sometimes at the risk of being fired or by risking our health or even our lives. Usually you don’t hear about these cases. I think that we should be more proud of our profession and inform a broader audience what we do to reduce risk and stimulate better business. The final part in this series of “WOW Moments in Compliance,” will be about the World Economic Forum in Davos. The first two parts covered due diligence in the aviation industry and due diligence in the energy industry. The third part was about change of strategy and the fourth part was about ‘those wonderful Greeks.’  Continue reading…