The seven national authorities participating in the Eurojust supported joint investigation team (JIT) on alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States Department of Justice. This MoU will enhance the coordination between the JIT partner countries and the US authorities in their respective investigations in connection with the war in Ukraine. The MoU was signed on Friday 3 March by high-level representatives of the prosecution services of the seven JIT partner countries and United States Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. Continue reading…

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has reached an important milestone in the comparability assessment project – an initiative that will ascertain whether the Aggregation Method (AM) provides comparable outcomes to the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS). The IAIS has agreed on the criteria that will be used to assess whether the AM provides comparable outcomes to the ICS, following public consultation and the resolution of comments published on 9 March. This marks the finalisation of an important step for the comparability assessment project and equips the IAIS to begin the comparability assessment in Q3 2023.  Continue reading…

Last week, the Commission proposed a comprehensive set of actions to ensure the EU’s access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. Critical raw materials are indispensable for a wide set of strategic sectors including the net zero industry, the digital industry, aerospace, and defence sectors. While demand for critical raw materials is projected to increase drastically, Europe heavily relies on imports, often from quasi-monopolistic third country suppliers. The EU needs to mitigate the risks for supply chains related to such strategic dependencies to enhance its economic resilience, as highlighted by shortages in the aftermath of the Covid-19 and the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This can put at risk the EU’s efforts to meet its climate and digital objectives.
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New research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has found that a quarter (25%) of investors who avoided a scam are taking inspiration from Sherlock Holmes to stop scammers in their tracks. It comes as the FCA launches its latest ScamSmart campaign which provides investors with the tools to identify and avoid scams. Analysis of data from the FCA’s consumer helpline has shown a 193% increase in calls to the FCA in the last five years, as investors detect investment scam warning signs. In 2022, over £2m was saved by beady-eyed investors, who called the FCA to report the firm or individual before losing money. Two in five (39%) respondents claim that their investigative or research skills are helping them to spot the clues. A further 32% are relying on pure gut instinct to distinguish between genuine investment opportunities and potential scams. Continue reading…

UBS plans to acquire Credit Suisse. The combination is expected to create a business with more than USD 5 trillion in total invested assets and sustainable value opportunities. It will further strengthen UBS’s position as the leading Swiss-based global wealth manager with more than USD 3.4 trillion in invested assets on a combined basis, operating in the most attractive growth markets. The transaction reinforces UBS’s position as the leading universal bank in Switzerland. The combined businesses will be a leading asset manager in Europe, with invested assets of more than USD 1.5 trillion. The discussions were initiated jointly by the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, FINMA and the Swiss National Bank and the acquisition has their full support. UBS anticipates that the transaction is EPS accretive by 2027 and the bank remains capitalized well above its target of 13%. The transaction is not subject to shareholder approval. UBS has obtained pre-agreement from FINMA, Swiss National Bank, Swiss Federal Department of Finance and other core regulators on the timely approval of the transaction.

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A new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) report has found that competition in some parts of the wholesale data market is not working as well as it should. Access to good quality, fairly priced trade data is important for the whole financial system. It allows for properly informed, timely investment decisions. Trading data includes information on prices and volumes traded and supplied by venues, like stock exchanges, where shares and other financial products are bought and sold. Markets in which firms compete to provide good quality wholesale data will make the UK an attractive place to do business for a wide range of financial service providers, and so can improve the UK’s international competitiveness.  Continue reading…

The Ukrainian authorities organised the United for Justice Conference from 3-5 March in the city of Lviv, bringing together a great number of stakeholders involved in the efforts to ensure accountability for core international crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine. As a key outcome of the conference, the seven partner countries* of the Eurojust supported joint investigation team (JIT) decided to amend the agreement between them in order to reflect the future role of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA). Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

Many people, especially within the compliance area, are talking about the EU’s relatively new directive on whistleblowing. From December 17 2023, all organisations with more than 50 employees must implement internal whistleblower channels. In addition to this, there are also requirements for secure data storage (among other things linked to GDPR) and an easily accessible and informative whistleblower policy to ensure that all requirements are met. Here you can find the full directive in English, but how will the directive actually affect workplaces around Europe, and what effect will it have in the long run?  Continue reading…

Basel III capital ratios for a sample of the largest global banks decreased from their record highs in H2 2021 to pre-pandemic levels in H1 2022, according to the latest Basel III monitoring exercise, based on 30 June 2022 data, published on 28 February. The leverage ratio fell on average across all regions, after showing some volatility during the pandemic period. The dividend payout ratio continued its upward trend as banks no longer face restrictions in dividends that member jurisdictions introduced at the onset of the pandemic. The report sets out the impact of the Basel III framework, including the December 2017 finalisation of the Basel III reforms and the January 2019 finalisation of the market risk framework. It covers both Group 1 and Group 2 banks (see note to editors for definitions). Continue reading…