by Paul White

The wealth, trust and corporate services sector is awash with mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Yet, it’s no secret that the M&A market declined in 2023 and has continued on a similar trajectory this year. In fact, earlier this year, a collapse in deal flow, meant only nine disclosed M&A transactions took place, representing a decline of 50% in activity. The valuation gap between what buyers wanted to spend and what sellers want to charge for their companies has and will continue to keep many would-be deals from happeningi. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has on 17 October published for consultation a Format for Incident Reporting Exchange (FIRE), a common format for financial firms’ reporting of operational incidents, including cyber incidents. FIRE aims to promote convergence in reporting practices, to address operational challenges arising from reporting to multiple authorities, and to foster better communication within and across jurisdictions. FIRE builds on the FSB Recommendations to Achieve Greater Convergence in Cyber Incident Reporting, published in 2023. Continue reading…

Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank has a strong global footprint with over 8,900 employees in key regions including Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. As the corporate and investment banking arm of the Crédit Agricole Group, Crédit Agricole CIB offers its large corporate and institutional clients a range of products and services in capital markets activities, investment banking, structured finance, commercial banking and international trade, most of which demand significant computing power to manage and analyse substantial financial data effectively. Continue reading…

The BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) has recently published two reports to the G20 that offer key insights and recommendations on the interlinking and interoperability of payment systems to enhance cross-border payments. Continue reading…

In the Political guidelines issued by President von der Leyen upon entering into office in 2019 it was announced that the Commission would set up a mechanism covering all Member States aiming at evaluating via annual reports the compliance with the Rule of Law standards(1). Last 24th of July the Commission issued the reports following the 2023 evaluation exercise(2). In the report concerning Italy some remarks on the freedom of press raised some turmoil on the Italian media. I’m not sure if in Italy the freedom of press is in danger or not, whereas it is clear to me that rule of law standards are being infringed in Italy in many serious respects that were overlooked by the report. Here I want to focus on the methodological reliability of the report. I will first of all briefly single out some of the most preposterous violations of the rule of law standards that were overlooked by the report on Italy and subsequently I will focus on the methodology employed. 

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Eurojust and Europol supported the investigation by French and Italian authorities that led to the arrest of seven suspects and the seizure of cash, valuable goods and documentation needed for the investigation. The international criminal group set up a well-structured organisation to counterfeit famous and exclusive French red wine, worth up to EUR 15 000 per bottle. By working with printing houses in Italy, the criminal group was able to re-create the corks and labels of famous French wineries. The forged wine was then delivered to an Italian airport and taken abroad to be sold at market value around the world by wine traders. The criminals were able to sell the bottles of the counterfeit wine, generating profits of over EUR 2 million.

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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group for Asia (RCG Asia) met on 16 October in Hong Kong SAR. Members exchanged insights from a workshop on 15 October, co-organised with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions Asia Pacific Regional Committee (IOSCO APRC), on the financial stability implications of crypto-assets, tokenisation and artificial intelligence. Continue reading…

The Commission has on 17 October adopted the first implementing rules on cybersecurity of critical entities and networks under the Directive on measures for high common level of cybersecurity across the Union (NIS2 Directive). This implementing act details cybersecurity risk management measures as well as the cases in which an incident should be considered significant and companies providing digital infrastructures and services should report it to national authorities. This is another major step in boosting the cyber resilience of Europe’s critical digital infrastructure. Continue reading…

The FCA has announced a package of work in the insurance market amid concerns about rising prices, alongside the launch of the Government motor insurance taskforce. The FCA has launched a review, known as a competition market study, to see whether people who borrow to pay for motor and home insurance are receiving fair, competitive deals. Premium finance allows people to pay for insurance in instalments. With the average yearly rate on the amount of money borrowed ranging between 20 to 30%, the FCA is concerned that premium finance may not be providing fair value. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group (RCG) for the Americas met on 7 and 8 October in Santiago. The meeting was hosted by the Central Bank of Chile and the Financial Market Commission. FSB Chair, Klaas Knot, joined RCG members for the meeting. Continue reading…