Yesterday, the Commission has taken decisive action to fight corruption in the EU and worldwide, delivering on the commitment made by President von der Leyen in her 2022 State of the Union address. The anti-corruption proposals presented yesterday represent a milestone in the fight against corruption at national and EU level. The Commission will step up its action: building on measures in place, strengthening efforts to integrate the prevention of corruption into the design of EU policies and programmes, and actively supporting Member States’ work to put in place strong anti-corruption policies and legislation. Through its annual Rule of Law Report cycle, the Commission also monitors anti-corruption developments at national level, identifies challenges and issues of recommendations to Member states.
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Judicial and law enforcement authorities in Germany, Estonia and Latvia have carried out a coordinated action against an organised crime group suspected of defrauding thousands of German companies. During a joint action day in all three countries, three suspects were arrested and 17 places searched. Investigators seized cash, illegal drugs and additional pieces of evidence. Moreover, over 300 bank accounts were frozen.

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by Pablo Hernández de Cos

In many ways, the recent banking turmoil was the first “real” stress test of the banking system (or at least parts of it) since the Great Financial Crisis; as the banking system benefited from the huge scale of public support measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. We can take some comfort that the significant increase in financial resilience, due in large part to the Basel III reforms, has served to safeguard the stability of the global banking system. But we should also recognise that, once again, significant public sector intervention was needed to avoid potentially adverse spillovers to other banks, non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI) entities, and ultimately the real economy. With that in mind, we need to remain focused on assessing and mitigating the risks and vulnerabilities affecting the global banking system. These include elevated debt levels and stretched asset valuations, geopolitical developments, complex and opaque bank interconnections with NBFI entities, and continued uncertainty with regard to economic growth, inflation and interest rate dynamics. Continue reading…

The European Commission has adopted a package to further simplify its procedures for reviewing concentrations under the EU Merger Regulation. The package includes: (i) a revised Merger Implementing Regulation (‘Implementing Regulation’), (ii) a Notice on Simplified Procedure (‘Notice’), and (iii) a Communication on the transmission of documents (‘Communication’). The  package is expected to bring significant benefits for businesses and advisers in terms of preparatory work and related costs. It aims to simplify and expand the scope of the Commission’s review process of unproblematic mergers (‘simplified cases’). It also seeks to reduce the amount of information required for notifying transactions in all cases and to optimise the transmission of documents. As such, today’s package contributes to achieving the Commission’s objective to reduce reporting requirements by 25%, as announced in its Communication on Long-term competitiveness of the EU. The new rules will be applicable as of 1 September 2023. Continue reading…

The seven members of the Eurojust-supported joint investigation team (JIT) on alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine have agreed to not only investigate alleged war crimes, but also crimes of genocide committed in Ukraine. In a working meeting of the JIT that took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, during 13-14 April, the JIT also welcomed the U.S. Department of Justice’s pledge to second a prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA).

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The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has on 4 April published its report on the targeted jurisdictional assessment (TJA) of the implementation of the Holistic Framework supervisory material. The Holistic Framework for the assessment and mitigation of systemic risk in the insurance sector (Holistic Framework) was adopted by the IAIS in November 2019 and endorsed in December 2022 by the Financial Stability Board. The Holistic Framework recognises that systemic risk may arise not only from the distress or disorderly failure of an individual insurer, but also from insurers’ collective exposures and activities at a sector-wide level. It consists of an integrated set of macroprudential supervisory policy measures, a Global Monitoring Exercise and – as a key element – implementation assessment activities.   Continue reading…

by Donald van Deventer

Are we on the brink of a new banking crisis? In March 2023, California’s Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. Rising interest rates had made refinancing existing loans expensive and difficult. Although the US government intervened to avert a widespread banking crisis,  the financial services industry cannot ignore the alarming signs.  Asset liability management must be central in months ahead.

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“The thriving payments industry in our country is reflected in the enthusiastic use of your services by tonnes of Dutch businesses and organisations. I only touched on integrity risks, cyber risks and credit risks, but many risks loom around the corner. In order for people and businesses to continue to rely on you, those risks need to be dealt with. They need to be mapped and measured, monitored and mitigated. And they definitely need to be a topic of conversation.” On 14 April with these words, Steven Maijoor invited all participants of the DNB Seminar ‘Supervision of Payment Institutions’ to a frank and fruitful discussion.  Continue reading…

iGaming, which covers ​​any form of online wagering, has snowballed over almost 20 years of its existence. The global online gambling and betting industry was valued at US$ 61.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to rise to US$ 114.4 billion by 2028, according to Statista. This growth is primarily due to the rising popularity of mobile devices and the availability of internet access across the world. Additionally, the introduction of new payment methods has made it easier for players to access and engage with online gaming and gambling platforms. As technologies develop, preferences shift and new tools emerge, the iGaming industry is constantly evolving. Open banking has proved to be a transformational force for a broad range of sectors – and iGaming is no exception. By using open banking, operators are given a better understanding of players’ affordability and their financial situation on the basis of bank records, income and credit reports, and other data. Thus, increasing trust between operators and players while also providing an easy and secure payment method. Continue reading…