The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has recently published a mid-year preview of its 2023 Global Monitoring Exercise (GME) analysis in advance of publishing the Global Insurance Market Report (GIMAR) in December. The GIMAR mid-year update covers (1) interim results on solvency, profitability and liquidity positions, systemic risk developments and the interconnectedness with banks; (2) an update on the key themes in scope of the 2023 GME; and (3) next steps. The GME builds on data collected from approximately 60 of the largest international insurance groups and aggregate sector-wide data from supervisors across the globe, covering over 90% of global written premiums. Continue reading…

The European Commission welcomed the recent adoption by the Council of further targeted restrictive measures arising from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and in response to Belarus’s involvement in the aggression. In particular, the new measures create a closer alignment of EU sanctions targeting Russia and Belarus and will help to ensure that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented through Belarus. Continue reading…

The High Court has ruled in favour of the FCA against Robin Forster, the director of a company which took £57 million from 380 investors in an illegal care home investment scheme. The FCA will ask the Court to determine the sums that the defendants should be required to pay back to investors. Between 2016 and 2020, Qualia Care Properties Ltd and Qualia Care Developments Ltd offered investments in care homes run by a third company, Qualia Care Limited.

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The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) has recently published their Progress Reports on Greenwashing in the financial sector. See EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA reports. In these reports, the ESAs put forward a common high-level understanding of greenwashing applicable to market participants across their respective remits – banking, insurance and pensions and financial markets. Continue reading…

In 2013, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) established the Official Sector Steering Group (OSSG) with the view of promoting the effective collaboration of the global official sector towards the end goal of successful transition to robust benchmarks, including the transition away from LIBOR. After a decade of preparation, the LIBOR transition has entered its final stage. The end of June 2023 marked the final major milestone in the LIBOR transition with the end of the remaining USD LIBOR panel. Only three of the US dollar LIBOR settings will continue in a synthetic form after June 2023 and are intended to cease at end-September 2024. In addition, reform of other interest rate benchmarks and related transition efforts have either been completed or near their planned, final conclusion. Continue reading…

The Commission welcomes the agreement made on 7 July at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to revise its 2018 strategy on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships. The agreement is a milestone to cut the carbon footprint of international maritime transport and ensure that the shipping sector makes a fair contribution to achieving the Paris Agreement targets, commensurate to its 3% share of global emissions. Now that the agreement is reached, it is important to start implementation as soon as possible. Continue reading…

Eurojust and Europol have supported the competent authorities in Italy, Germany and Austria in a new operation against the ‘Ndrangheta criminal organisation. Among other crimes, the suspects were allegedly involved in the manipulation of elections in Italy. During a joint action day on 27 June, 34 suspects were arrested and nine were subjected to non-custodial measures. Over 1 000 officers participated in the actions on the ground. The investigation determined that the suspects had engaged in a wide variety of crimes, including the corruption of local politicians and the manipulation of elections, installing associates in crucial administrative positions, colluding in the exploitation of public procurement tender procedures, murder, violence, extortion, fraud, money laundering, illicit waste trafficking and criminal conspiracy with other criminal organisations.

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The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Microsoft is a global technology company offering productivity and business software, cloud computing and personal computing. Teams is a cloud-based communication and collaboration tool. It offers functionalities such as messaging, calling, video meetings, file sharing and brings together Microsoft’s and third-party workplace tools and other applications. The coronavirus outbreak accelerated a shift to remote working as well as businesses’ transition to the cloud and the adoption of cloud-based software for communication and collaboration. The transition to the cloud has enabled the emergence of new market players and business models offering customers the ability to use multiple types of software from different providers, without the need to maintain an in-house data centre. Cloud-based software, including the products under investigation, are typically distributed on a subscription basis. Microsoft includes Teams in its well-entrenched cloud-based productivity suites for business customers Office 365 and Microsoft 365. The Commission is concerned that Microsoft may be abusing and defending its market position in productivity software by restricting competition in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’) for communication and collaboration products.
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Dr Sabine Mauderer, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, delivered a keynote speech at the Keynote Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit 2023, Oxford. Walking down Oxford High Street, I was reminded of a picture by the great English painter William Turner. I am sure you are familiar with the painting. It is entitled High Street, Oxford. It depicts University College on the left, All Souls College on the right, and Carfax Tower in the distance. On my morning walk, I was startled by how little has changed since the early 19th century, when the painting was first exhibited. The buildings are still in place and they appear very well kept. Yet, at the same time, so much has changed. There are buses, cabs, modern amenities and so forth. It is precisely this sort of progress, which has been fuelling another type of change: Climate change. Continue reading…