According to NATOs Secretary Genera,l Jens Stoltenberg, Russia still has the opportunity to save the INF Treaty, there is a window of opportunity. The deadline ends on the 2nd of August and we continue to call on Russia to come back into compliance with the Treaty. If they don’t come back into compliance, we need to respond. So we also need to prepare for a world without the INF Treaty.
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a questionnaire which aims to gather evidence on potential short-term pressures on corporations stemming from the financial sector. Considering the impact of short-termism forms part of ESMA’s work on sustainable finance and relates to the European Commission’s Action Plan on ‘Financing Sustainable Growth’.
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Bank of Scotland (BOS) £45,500,000 for failures to disclose information about its suspicions that fraud may have occurred at the Reading-based Impaired Assets (IAR) team of Halifax Bank of Scotland. The FCA found that BOS failed to be open and cooperative and failed to disclose information appropriately to the then regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
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During the 17th Public Debt Management Forum in Tokyo, participants discussed the trends and associated challenges and opportunities they now face in sovereign debt capital markets. Public debt managers have been able to deal with high and rising debt levels against the backdrop of mostly benign global conditions: Accommodative policies in the major economies have kept interest rates low and contained spreads and funding risks. It remains, uncertain, however, what strains will emerge when financial conditions eventually tighten. Meanwhile, the investor base for government securities is shifting and becoming more globalized. Furthermore, market functioning is evolving under the influence of regulatory changes, technological innovation, and the introduction of new instruments.
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The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of L3 Technologies by Harris Corporation, both aerospace and defence companies based in the US. The approval is conditional on the divestiture of Harris Corporation’s global night vision business. Both L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation are suppliers of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, communications and electronic systems for military, law enforcement, civil government and commercial customers.
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The ICO has joined the UK Regulators Network (UKRN) as a full member. Joining the network provides the ICO with the unique opportunity to gain valuable insights into the issues facing regulators across the UK, inform policy debates and share experience. Membership will also support the ICO engaging with the main UK regulators on specific issues including cyber security.
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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published a progress report on the implementation of its Principles and Standards for sound compensation practices in financial institutions. The report assesses how compensation practices have evolved since the Principles and Standards were published in 2009. The report confirms the finding of the previous progress report in June 2017 that all FSB jurisdictions have implemented the Principles and Standards for sound compensation for all banks considered significant for the purposes of the Principles and Standards.

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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) have made a joint announcement of their approval of the Shanghai and London Stock Exchanges’ proposed new Shanghai-London Stock Connect. They have also published a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at providing the basis for the regulatory co-operation that will support the success of the scheme.
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