Supported by Eurojust and Europol, judicial and law enforcement authorities in Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and the United States dismantled a criminal network involved in migrant smuggling, document fraud and money laundering. The migrants, mainly Iraqi and Iranian of Kurdish origin, boarded private aircrafts in Türkiye carrying false diplomatic passports. However, the official destinations of the trips (usually the Caribbean) were never reached. During the stopovers at different European airports, including in Austria, France and Germany, the migrants left the plane, disposed of their false passports and systematically applied for asylum. The suspects charged up to EUR 20 000 per smuggled person. 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…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has on 21 September set out a range of recommendations and other potential remedies designed to give leaseholders greater protections from high prices and ensure the buildings insurance market operates better for leaseholders. Since the Grenfell tragedy leaseholders have been faced with substantially increased costs of insurance. In light of this, the FCA was asked to carry out a review into the market for multiple-occupancy residential buildings insurance and explore ways to provide better value cover for leaseholders.  Continue reading…

by Nigel Cannings

Financial Institutions that fall foul of compliance regulations were fined $2.7 billion in 2021 globally, according to Forbes. This included violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules, Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and operating guidelines. As financial regulation increases to ensure the safety and security of the financial system and to protect consumers, financial institutions must consider how they can best protect themselves from compliance-related fines. 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…

The Bank for International Settlements’ Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have on 8 September published the report Client clearing: access and portability, which aims to increase common understanding of new access models that enable clients to directly access CCP services, and of effective porting, or transferring, practices for their positions. The client clearing process facilitates access to CCPs, particularly for firms – known as ‘clients’ – that are not direct participants in a CCP and must rely on intermediaries to indirectly clear their trades. Since some entities cannot, or choose not to, directly participate in a CCP, improving access to client clearing is critical to the success of the G20’s objective to have all standardised over-the-counter derivatives contracts cleared through CCPs. Continue reading…

With the support of Eurojust, authorities in Finland, Germany, Belgium and Latvia have succeeded in striking a blow against the operators of various fraudulent online investment platforms that have defrauded victims from 11 different countries out of several million euros. During an action day, two suspects were arrested and 12 locations were searched. According to the investigation, victims were directed to seemingly reputable online trading platforms in search of offers for lucrative investments. Through these platforms, they were promised enormous profits in a short time by trading in cryptocurrency, foreign exchange or shares. Continue reading…

The European Commission has on 8 September given a positive assessment of the Netherlands’ recovery and resilience plan. This is a key step paving the way for the EU to disburse €4.7 billion in grants to the Netherlands under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). This financing will support the implementation of the crucial investment and reform measures outlined in the Netherlands’ recovery and resilience plan. It will play a crucial role in enabling the Netherlands to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. The RRF is the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, which will provide up to €800 billion (in current prices) to support investments and reforms across the EU. The Netherlands’ plan forms part of an unprecedented, coordinated EU response to the COVID-19 crisis, to address common European challenges by embracing the green and digital transitions, to strengthen economic and social resilience and the cohesion of the Single Market. Continue reading…

by Michal Pleticha

The Czech Republic is at a crossroad in deciding how to regulate disinformation. In order to adopt the Strategy to Combat Disinformation (see Part I.), it’s necessary for the Government to draft and push a large number of amendments through both chambers of the Czech Parliament and the Presidential Office. Since disinformation is a sensitive political subject, capable of deepening the current split in politics and society, it could be the beginning of fierce political battle. Continue reading…