The judicial authorities of Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia will become members of the joint investigation team (JIT) on alleged core international crimes, which has been set up with the support of Eurojust. The Prosecutors General of the three EU Member States signed an agreement to join the JIT, together with their counterparts from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, during a coordination meeting hosted by Eurojust on May 30 and the following day. The JIT was set up on 25 March by Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) became a participant last month. Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

Employees play a key role in an organisation’s well-being. As we all know, it is they who make the organisation work. If the employees in an organisation are dissatisfied or experience injustices in the workplace, it can have major negative effects, ranging from lack of motivation and lack of results to enormous negative media attention or lost partners. A critical component in the well-being of employees is the possibility of whistleblowing. Historically, there have often been situations where people are afraid of being singled out as whistleblowers, either for fear of retaliation, special treatment or getting rid of their jobs. Today, these are well-established facts amongst many within the risk and compliance industry. Continue reading…

The Basel Committee met on 27 May and approved a finalised set of principles for the effective management and supervision of climate-related financial risks. It also progressed its work on specifying a prudential treatment of cryptoassets and issuing a second consultation paper, and agreed on a way forward to reflect developments in the European banking union (EBU) on the assessment methodology for global systemically important banks (G-SIBs). In addition, the Committee is continuing to assess risks to and vulnerabilities of the global banking system, including those ensuing from the conflict in Ukraine. Continue reading…

At a dedicated conference, criminal justice practitioners and experts from the South Partner Countries (SPCs) and the European Union Member States discussed how to help judicial and law enforcement authorities to apply data protection standards when gathering cross-border electronic evidence in criminal matters. The event was organised by the EuroMed Justice Programme (EMJ) in close coordination with the French Ministry of Justice and under the French Presidency to the EU Council. It took place in Lyon, France, between 31 May and 2 June. Continue reading…

by Lieve Lowet & Lorenz Van Roosbroeck

Having understood the social element of (un)sustainability, we tackle the second issue which advances the integrative understanding of the AAIEI over the disjointed logic present within ESG deliberations. In our March blog post, intergenerational equity was praised for its integrative element; it grasped environmental issues as a social issue. Instead, the dominant deliberative culture surrounding ESG tends to discuss environmental -and social issues in isolation of one another, which masks their interrelation. Here, the layered, relational aspect of sustainability is concealed, presenting it instead as an exercise in compliance. However, while it is practically important to respect the analytical distinction between society and nature, sustainability at large is only theoretically intelligible from the vantage point of their interrelation. Therefore, one has to open up the context of ESG, something which the AAIEI achieves. Continue reading…

In her speech at the Data Science Conference of the DNB Data Science Hub, Nicole Stolk addressed several preconditions for being a data-driven organisation. As one of the Executive Board Members of De Nederlandsche Bank, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Amsterdam and in particular to this conference. We have high hopes and feel this is an important and fruitful subject. Me being here goes beyond just delivering a few standard remarks. Becoming a data-driven organisation cannot be achieved overnight. It is a journey, and I have been traveling with you for quite some time. I am not a data scientist myself, but I do see the potential value of basing our policy decisions and supervision more firmly on data-driven analyses. But this value can only be realised if we are comfortable with using data science in our daily work. Part of this sense of comfort will come if we can change the way we work. This involves a marked culture change which could be the topic for the next conference.    Continue reading…

During the International Risk Congress in Brussels, presenter and moderator Dina-Perla Portnaar had the opportunity to talk with one of the speakers, the CFO of Icoinic Capital and former compliance manager at ING, Egbert Krop. The conversation centred on cryptocurrency and compliance.

Egbert Krop stated: “crypto is a community-driven industry. We are definitely in the bubble now, but remember that the cryptocurrency market is like the internet used to be in the beginning. There will be waves, but cryptocurrency is here to stay.”

Egbert Krop also talked about how transparent and self-regulating the world of cryptocurrency is, and about the fact that NFTs form an immature market. Yet, it is an interesting market indeed. Tip is to only invest in cryptocurrency with money that you can afford to lose.

Dina-Perla Portnaar

A new European strategy for a Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) was adopted by the Commission to improve age-appropriate digital services and to ensure that every child is protected, empowered and respected online. Looking back at the last ten years, digital technologies and the way children use them have changed dramatically. Most children use their smartphones daily and almost twice as much compared to ten years ago. Children also use them from a much younger age (see EU Kids online 2020). Using all sorts of devices bring opportunities and benefits, allowing children to interact with others, learn online and be entertained. Yet these gains are not without risks, such as the dangers of exposure to disinformation, cyber bullying (see JRC study) or to harmful and illegal content, from which children need to be sheltered. Continue reading…

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently published amendments to its guidelines on the implementation of monetary policy in the Eurosystem. The amended guidelines make the following changes:

The first step in gradually phasing out the pandemic collateral easing measures introduced in April 2020 as announced on 24 March 2022. Clarification of the eligibility criteria for sustainability-linked bonds and asset-backed securities (ABSs), as decided by the Governing Council on 4 February and 17 June 2021, respectively. Provisions that apply in the event of the activation of the Enhanced Contingency Solution (ECONS) under the TARGET2 system.

Continue reading…