Southwark Crown Court recently ordered almost £2.65 million to be returned to investors who had invested in a fraudulent collective scheme established and operated by Alex Hope. In addition, Mr Hope was made the subject of a Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) confiscation order to the sum of £166,696. Mr Hope must pay the order in full within three months or face a further sentence of 20 months imprisonment in default, consecutive to the seven year sentence imposed upon him in January 2015.
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Adriaan Kom

Let us walk the tightrope between meeting compliance rules for onboarding customers and delivering sustainable, ethical business growth. David Zalman spoke for almost every boardroom executive when he highlighted the pressure compliance puts on a business. The chairman and CEO of the U.S. financial services company Prosperity Bank commented, “I’ve been in banking since 1978, and today, probably over half of my time is spent with regulatory requirements.”
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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision recently issued the final revised version of the General guide to account opening, first published in 2003. The Basel Committee deems it worthwhile to issue this guide as an annex to the guidelines on the Sound management of risks related to money laundering and financing of terrorism, which was first published in January 2014. These guidelines revised, updated and merged two previous publications of the Basel Committee, issued in 2001 and 2004.
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The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recently issued a statement on the clearing of deliverable FX instruments. This statement clarifies the expectations of CPMI and IOSCO – as originally set out in the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures — with respect to CCP clearing of deliverable FX instruments and the associated models for effecting their settlement.

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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently published the final rules confirming their approach to improving individual accountability for those carrying out wholesale activities, such as algorithmic and high-frequency trading, in banks, building societies, and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) designated investment firms. The rules also provide clarity on aspects of the Regime’s territorial application.

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BRT S.A., with its headquarters in Geneva and London, provides a comprehensive range of insourced as well as outsourced high-tech operational solutions to its clients in the investment community across the globe. Moreover, Ger van Nijkerken, the Director of Business Development at BRT was eager to explain just how BRT achieves this. Continue reading…

McKinsey & Company has acquired Risk Dynamics, a leading risk analytics firm based in Brussels, from where it serves many of the world’s leading financial services companies. This acquisition reflects their joint commitment to becoming a global leader in model validation, model risk management and model advisory support for the financial services sector.  Continue reading…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined five individuals and two firms a total of £15.5m, in addition to banning four of those individuals, for significant integrity and competence failings.
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Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon. Continue reading…

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have decided to start investigations into certain former HBOS senior managers. These investigations will determine whether or not any prohibition proceedings should be commenced against them. The FCA and PRA continue to review materials with a view to making further decisions regarding other former HBOS senior managers.