With the support of Eurojust, authorities in Italy and Albania have dismantled an online investment fraud involving the use of cryptocurrencies. During an action, EUR 3 million worth of assets were seized. Eurojust supported the judicial cooperation and assisted the authorities in setting up and funding a joint investigation team (JIT). According to the investigation, the investment fraud was carried out by an organised crime group (OCG) that operated from a call centre in Tirana, Albania. The suspects allegedly contacted victims by telephone using unidentifiable virtual numbers and delocalised virtual private networks (VPNs). They asked the victims to create an account on a portal and, once the transfer had been made, reset the newly created account, embezzled the sum received and made themselves untraceable. Continue reading…

At the UN Biodiversity conference COP15 in Montréal, Canada, the EU joined 195 countries in the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This framework contains global goals and targets aiming to protect and restore nature for current and future generations, ensure its sustainable use as well as spur investments for a green global economy. Together with the Paris Agreement on climate, it paves the way towards a climate-neutral, nature-positive and resilient world by 2050. The agreement is a solid framework with clear, measurable goals and targets, with complete monitoring, reporting, and review arrangements to track progress complemented by a robust resource mobilisation package. Continue reading…

The euro entered into circulation in Croatia on 1 January 2023, bringing the number of European Union (EU) Member States using the single European currency to 20. “I welcome Croatia to the euro family and to the ECB Governing Council table in Frankfurt” said Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank. “Croatia worked hard to become the twentieth member of the euro area, and it succeeded. I congratulate the Croatian people. It shows the euro is an attractive currency which brings stability to its members.” With Croatia joining the euro area, Hrvatska narodna banka, the country’s national central bank, becomes a member of the Eurosystem. The euro area’s central banking system comprises the ECB and the national central banks of those countries whose currency is the euro. Continue reading…

In April, the FCA set out a new three-year strategy designed to improve outcomes for consumers and markets. The strategy focuses on three areas – reducing and preventing serious harm, setting and testing higher standards, and promoting competition and positive change. In response to its new strategy, the FCA has removed or amended over 8,000 potentially misleading adverts in 2022 – 14 times more than 2021. It has also cancelled the authorisation of 201 firms for failing to meet minimum standards. This action reflects the FCA’s increasingly data-led and assertive approach, which enables the regulator to find and deal with problem firms and misleading adverts swiftly. Continue reading…

On 20 December, Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, gave a speech at the end-of-year meeting with journalists, analysts and media representatives at the Governor’s Award ceremony in Tirana, Albania. I feel honoured and privileged to welcome in the historical hall of the Bank of Albania, media representatives and talented students who are brave in competing for “Governor’s Award for the Best Diploma Theses”. In the last year event, I emphasised that we experienced an unusual 3-year period, with the hope that 2022 would be different, more vivid and more optimistic. Nevertheless, the end of 2022 is proving a really challenging one, mainly due to the huge shock on commodity prices of energy, oil and gas, in particular. Continue reading…

The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, met on 16 December to endorse a finalised prudential standard on banks’ cryptoasset exposures and the Committee’s work programme and strategic priorities for 2023–24. Tiff Macklem, Chair of the GHOS and Governor of the Bank of Canada stated: “Today’s endorsement by the GHOS marks an important milestone in developing a global regulatory baseline for mitigating risks to banks from cryptoassets. It is important to continue to monitor bank-related developments in cryptoasset markets. We remain ready to act further if necessary.” Continue reading…

On 13 December, the Commission proposed new rules to strengthen the use of Advance Passenger Information (API) data. This proposal is one of the key actions identified in the EU Security Union Strategy. The EU continues its progress in strengthening its overall security architecture, which aims to enhance EU citizens’ protection, as shown also in the Fifth Security Union Progress Report. The report highlights three years of solid progress in implementing the Security Union Strategy. It shows that significant steps have been made in strengthening the protection of critical infrastructures from physical, cyber and hybrid attacks, in fighting terrorism and radicalisation, as well as in the fight against organised crime. Continue reading…

The Operational Board of the European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+) has today given a positive opinion to €6.05 billion in financial guarantees to support 40 investment programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin American and Asia Pacific. The guarantees are expected to generate more than €50 billion in investments in key sectors of Global Gateway, such as renewable energy, digital infrastructure and climate resilience and health. The package also includes a new green bond programme. The programmes will be implemented by European Financial Institutions, such as the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and national development banks. In total, 20 financial partners participate in the EFSD+ guarantee programme, seven of which for the first time. The EFSD+ is a financing tool of Global Gateway, and the financing arm of the EU’s Neighbourhood Development, International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe. It de-risks investments with budgetary guarantees and thus attracts more private investment to emerging and developing country markets.
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The European Banking Authority (EBA) has on 6 December launched a public consultation on new Guidelines on the effective management of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks when providing access to financial services. Through these Guidelines, the EBA aims to ensure that customers, especially the most vulnerable ones, are not denied access to financial services without valid reason. This consultation runs until 6 February 2023. Access to at least basic financial products and services is a prerequisite for organisations and individuals to participate in modern economic and social life. It can also save the lives of vulnerable customers, such as refugees or homeless people. However, such access is not always ensured. Continue reading…

The FCA has fined Santander UK Plc (Santander) £107,793,300 after it found serious and persistent gaps in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls, affecting its Business Banking customers. Between 31 December 2012 and 18 October 2017, Santander failed to properly oversee and manage its AML systems, which significantly impacted the account oversight of more than 560,000 business customers. Santander had ineffective systems to adequately verify the information provided by customers about the business they would be doing. The firm also failed to properly monitor the money customers had told them would be going through their accounts compared with what actually was being deposited.  Continue reading…