Now perhaps more than ever, governance and legal teams are being asked to do more with less. By automating recurring and routine tasks, you empower your team to focus on more strategic initiatives, and in doing so, you also create a competitive edge. In a 30-minute speed learning webinar held on Tuesday, 8 June 2021, moderator Matthieu Chollet, Regional Sales Director for France from Diligent was joined by speaker Luc van Daele, Owner at Legadex to discuss the ways that companies can boost operational efficiency and collaboration among dispersed teams; ways legal teams can become more strategic and claim the business advisor role; and how to use Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) and legal-tech to help achieve your company’s goals in a post-Covid economy. Continue reading…

Between 1990 and 2016, cross-border cartels affected sales of over $51 trillion worldwide. Indicatively, more than 100,000 companies were found liable for international price-fixing, with estimated gross overcharges exceeding $1.5 trillion. In light of the data provided, it becomes apparent that international cartels have a great impact, not only on consumer welfare, but also on economies as they deprive the latter of the benefits from international trade. On Thursday, May 20th 2021, the Economic Crime Series: International Cartels – Recommendations for an overall proportional punishment and a realignment of competition law event was held online, organised by Dr. Branislav Hock and chaired by Penelope Giosa who are both lecturers at the University of Portsmouth. Given the context of the seminar, speakers Dr. Marek Martyniszyn and Dr. Pieter Huizing presented their research work to shed light on the ways that existing regulatory gaps could be narrowed and an overall proportional punishment could be achieved in the area of international cartels. The Risk & Compliance Platform Europe has also covered this seminar via its website. This is part one of two articles on this event, which will focus on Dr. Martyniszyn’s presentation. Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

“The power of the largest multinationals can therefore still be corrected outside the boardroom. That is encouraging and is an impulse for the further alignment of sustainability and compliance in terms of testing and reporting.” said Michael van Woerden of DeComplianceMonitor, who we asked for comments on the recent decision of the District Court of The Hague in the case against Royal Dutch Shell. This ruling has not only attracted the attention of Dutch lawyers and climate activists, but this court ruling is also subject to discussion abroad. The largest multinationals have come under fire in recent weeks and those who think that the multinational has been created forever to defend the interests of only its own shareholders will be disappointed. The G7 meeting that is currently taking place in London will push ahead with regard to a minimum taxation for internationally operating companies and the tax shortcuts for the multinationals will be limited. In fact, the risk of significant worldwide reputational damage is more present than ever, now that the multinationals (and their directors) are under the magnifying glass, in case there is no ‘reasonable’ tax payment that has been made public. What should ultimately be regarded as ‘reasonable’ is not yet certain and is subject to debate. Continue reading…

Whistleblowers are the primary source of information, leading to successful policing on economic crime. Detecting organisational misbehaviour is challenging, especially when those that witness wrongdoings do not have sufficient knowledge and incentives on how, and whether, to disclose. The webinar series “Whistleblowing Demystified,” which was held on Tuesday, May 25th 2021 was aimed at giving confidence and guidance to companies to treat those speaking out with respect and dignity, whilst at the same time protecting the organisation from malicious accusations. There are many pressing ethical and legal questions related to whistleblowing that might affect the effectiveness of disclosure. The webinar was moderated by Elina Karpacheva from the European Compliance Center, and featured Ian Ross as the guest speaker of the morning. This event was also jointly organised by the European Compliance Center and the Risk & Compliance Platform Europe and endorsed by VUZF University in Bulgaria. This is part two. Continue reading…

by Frank Staelens

The priority of European business owners today is fighting the effects of the pandemic, understandably, but as a result, a creeping danger remains hidden under the radar. We are in whistleblower alert phase one! The transposition of the new EU whistleblower rules by the EU Member States into national law is expected by December 17, 2021. Immediately thereafter, it is expected that these rules will apply to private and public organisations with more than 250 employees. Organisations with fewer than 250 employees will have two additional years of grace, but they will also be subject to the new regulations, with some exceptions for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Continue reading…

Whistleblowers are the primary source of information, leading to successful policing on economic crime. Detecting organisational misbehaviour is challenging, especially when those that witness wrongdoings do not have sufficient knowledge and incentives on how, and whether, to disclose. The webinar series “Whistleblowing Demystified,” which was held on Tuesday, May 25th 2021 was aimed at giving confidence and guidance to companies to treat those speaking out with respect and dignity, whilst at the same time protecting the organisation from malicious accusations. There are many pressing ethical and legal questions related to whistleblowing that might affect the effectiveness of disclosure. The webinar was moderated by Elina Karpacheva from the European Compliance Center, and featured Ian Ross as the guest speaker of the morning. This event was also jointly organised by the European Compliance Center and the Risk & Compliance Platform Europe and endorsed by VUZF University in Bulgaria. This is part one. Continue reading…

The Commission recently published its guidance on how the Code of Practice on Disinformation, the first of its kind worldwide, should be strengthened to become a more effective tool for countering disinformation. It sets out Commission expectations, calls for stronger commitments by the signatories and foresees a broader participation to the Code. Based on a robust monitoring framework and clear performance indicators, signatories should reduce financial incentives to disinformation, empower users to take an active role in preventing its spread, better cooperate with fact-checkers across EU Member States and languages, and provide a framework for access to data for researchers. Continue reading…

Nikhil Rathi, CEO to Association of Foreign Banks recently delivered a speech at the Association of Foreign Banks – CEO Programme 2021 – on 6 May 2021. Given the events of the last couple of years, it’s no surprise that so many of the financial services industry’s events at the moment have ‘post’ in the title. We may have finally gone from ‘post-financial crisis’ to ‘post-Brexit’ and, hopefully very soon, ‘post-Covid’. But of course, the really interesting question for regulators and for industry is always what comes next, and how we can shape that and prepare ourselves for it. I’m looking forward to discussing some of the most significant issues and how we’re approaching them. Of course, at this stage, I can’t promise you with certainty as to how these issues will be resolved – but we want to be as open and clear as possible in explaining our perspective, our approach, and the outcomes that we are working towards. Continue reading…

by Michal Pleticha

Whistleblowing is back in the spotlight, ready to ignite heated debates later this year. Why? The 17th of December 2021 marks the expiration of the transposition period of the EU Whistleblower Directive1. To put it simply, every EU Member State should have the effective law on the protection of whistleblowers by the end of this year, which means that the internal compliance systems of many public and private entities is about to change. Let’s have a closer look at the preparations in two EU countries, Germany and the Czech Republic who share the similar model of whistleblower protection: partial and fragmented. Continue reading…

The FCA has recently set out plans for a new Consumer Duty, which will set a higher level of consumer protection in retail financial markets for firms to adhere to. Firms are already bound by FCA rules and principles to treat customers fairly and many firms are delivering the right outcomes for consumers, including good products and services at fair prices, supported by high standards of customer service and clear communications. The FCA has seen evidence of practices that cause consumer harm, including firms providing information which is misleadingly presented or difficult for consumers to understand, hindering their ability to properly assess the product/service. This may provide some insight into why 1 in 4 respondents to the FCA’s 2020 Financial Lives Survey said they lack confidence in the financial services industry and only 35% of respondents agreed that firms are honest and transparent in their dealings with them. Continue reading…