by Jasper De fauw

On 31 January 2017, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) published a practical guide for buyers of public authorities on cartel behavior of bidders in public procurement (so-called “bid rigging” or “collusive tendering” practices). The BCA’s accompanying press release states that fighting bid rigging in public procurement is one of the main priorities in its enforcement policy. The guide provides examples of warning signs which might indicate potential collusive behavior of public procurement bidders. It also describes which market conditions might possibly facilitate bid rigging and gives practical tips and tricks to buyers on how to avoid potential collusion. Continue reading…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently fined Deutsche Bank AG (Deutsche Bank) £163,076,224 for failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) control framework during the period between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015. This is the largest financial penalty for AML controls failings ever imposed by the FCA, or its predecessor the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
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Since the announcement of Donald Trump’s election in the United States and the Twitter tirade created by his fired from the hip Tweets, major city banks and trading houses have rushed to install highly sophisticated banking-compliant Twitter monitoring services to gain an advantage over their competitors. His impromptu tweets, that have the power to disrupt and move markets instantly, have panicked investment firms dedicated to proprietary trading. His social media rantings have prompted them to look for options to enhance their ability to quickly position assets in an advantageous direction following a tweet from The Trump.
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HSBC has voluntarily agreed to set up a redress scheme for customers who may have suffered detriment by paying an unreasonable debt collection charge imposed by HFC Bank Ltd (HFC) and John Lewis Financial Services Limited (JLFS), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced today. Both HFC and JLFS are now part of HSBC Bank Plc.
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by Joe Biancalana

Data is playing an increasingly central role within banking. It is key to developing intelligent omnichannel customer interactions, tailored to suit the needs of individuals and households. Data is also powering new technologies, such as AI and bots, which are in turn helping to improve operational efficiency and reduce risks. Data is even enabling new banking models, such as peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding and the sharing economy.  Continue reading…

The preparations for the launch of the Italian version of the Risk & Compliance Platform Europe website are well underway. This month, our European platform will also be available in Italian on Monday 30th January. Italy ranks as number 5 in the G8 (the wealthiest countries in the world), number 7 economically in the world in terms of Gross National Product and, we should certainly not forget that Italy, together with the Benelux countries France and West-Germany, was one of the six countries that founded the EEC, the European Economic Community (Common Market), the predecessor of the EU. Continue reading…

by Mike Dunn

At the start of 2017, we look at key trends and developments in regulatory compliance this year. Beneficial ownership will remain a major issue in corporate transparency in 2017 as well as the continued focus on supply chain transparency.  Continue reading…

Risk managers should prepare now for new EU data protection legislation that will come into force next year, Airmic and law firm BLM have urged. The new regulations are more demanding than current rules and can result in much larger fines. Risk managers are being warned that the changes could take time to implement. The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), approved by the European Parliament last year, will automatically become law in EU countries in May 2018.  Continue reading…

Global market trends are converging to accelerate the speed at which commercial and government organizations need to move from experimenting with discrete customer-facing digital projects to implementing enterprise-wide digital transformation. This is the overall finding of the CGI Global 1000, through in-person conversations with business and technology leaders in ten industries and twenty countries.
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The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, welcomes the progress made towards completing the Basel Committee’s post-crisis regulatory reforms. However, more time is needed to finalise some work, including ensuring the framework’s final calibration, before the GHOS can review the package of proposals. Continue reading…