by Inge van Dijk

On November second of last year the city of Amsterdam, came very close to disaster. It had been raining heavily for weeks, very unusual even by Dutch standards. Water levels in the waters north of Amsterdam had been rising. On top of that, storm Ciarán was about to reach the coast and drive up the water to even higher levels. Normally, under these circumstances, the sluices around the city drain excess water into the North Sea. But in this case the drainage system malfunctioned. At seven o’ clock that morning, people in some of the lower lying parts of the city saw the water sloshing against their basement windows. By that time the regional water authorities were in full crisis mode and the mayor had been warned. Finally, at half past seven the lock shafts at the sluices were repaired, and the water started to drop slowly. It was just in time: the water could have risen to up to one meter in parts of Amsterdam. Afterwards, the water authorities warned that, although there had been an exceptional combination of factors at play, we are likely to see these kind of water levels more often. Because of extreme weather conditions, caused by climate change. This is just one relative minor example from my home soil. I could have also mentioned the forest fires in Australia, droughts in Africa and central America and cyclones in South East Asia. Continue reading…

by Ajay Katara

Climate risk is assuming a critical role for banks and financial institutions due to the mounting environmental challenges. As the frequency and severity of climate-related events increase, banks face heightened risks associated with their investments, loans, and overall financial stability. It’s no surprise that climate risk management features in the topmost agenda for CRO’s (Chief Risk Officers) globally as effectively managing these risks is imperative to safeguard assets, ensure regulatory compliance, and promote long-term sustainability in the context of a changing climate. Continue reading…

by Robert Houghton

Remaining compliant in today’s financial landscape is no easy feat. Every call, message, communication and snippet of information shared between employees, customers and trading partners must be captured, stored and monitored to prove compliance. To regulators, every financial institution is potentially guilty of wrongdoing, until proven innocent. On top of that, we’ve seen the emergence of regulations like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) showing that regulators’ demands are increasing and growing stricter1. This leaves many financial institutions wondering if their compliance status has changed. So, how can they ensure they are remaining compliant when the goalposts keep moving? Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently published its work programme for 2024. Priority areas of work and new initiatives, including deliverables to the Brazilian G20 Presidency, include: Continue reading…

by Olaf Sleijpen

One of the more fascinating concepts covered in economics courses is ‘ceteris paribus’ – Latin for ‘all other things being equal’. This concept allows us to investigate the causal and independent relationship between two variables, while all other variables remain unchanged. For instance, the relationship between interest rates and inflation. And so, ‘ceteris paribus’ offers a very simplified way to illustrate the core workings of a central bank. Or in central bank Latin, all other things considered equal, raising interest rates will lower inflation. And so, in theory, it is pretty straightforward how our primary policy tool helps to reach our primary objective – an inflation rate of around two percent in the medium term. This kind of central bank independence – the ‘ceteris paribus’ kind – does not exist outside the realm of theory, of course. The real world – the world central banks actually work in – is instead characterised by ‘mutatis mutandis’. Meaning that changing one variable will affect several others, and not per se only the one you wanted to affect. And meaning that this works both ways. And with a multitude of variables simultaneously. Hence, to achieve our primary objective, we are dependent on an ever-changing world. Sometimes things go well. At other times, risks arise that we need to carefully monitor. Continue reading…

The Commission welcomes the agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on the most ambitious and comprehensive reform of the EU’s economic governance framework since the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis. The Commission presented its reform proposals in April 2023. The main objectives of the framework are to strengthen Member States’ debt sustainability, and promote sustainable and inclusive growth in all Member States through growth-enhancing reforms and priority investments. The framework will help make the EU more competitive and better prepared for future challenges by supporting progress towards a green, digital, inclusive and resilient economy. The reforms address shortcomings in the current framework. They seek to ensure that the framework is simpler, more transparent and effective, with greater national ownership and better enforcement. They take into account the need to reduce increased public debt levels, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a realistic, gradual and sustained manner. The new framework also builds on the lessons learned from the EU policy response to the financial crisis where a lack of investment hampered a swift economic recovery.
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by Michel Klompmaker

The appeal judgment between De Jong et al. v. Airbus – Deutsche Bank – Deutsche Börse – Clearstream and InsingerGilissen (part of Quintet Private Bank) known as case number 200,289,627/01, was postponed for the tenth time. The appeal hearing took place on May 18, 2022 and the new roll date for the judgment is now set for April 2, 2024. Now that the second anniversary is over and there is still no judgment, there are question marks as to why there is yet again a postponement, now for the tenth time. We spoke with concerned Reggie de Jong, former swimming champion, wherein she made the comparison between her swimming career and this fraud case. Continue reading…

Judicial and law enforcement authorities in Cyprus, Portugal and Latvia have dismantled a criminal network suspected of organising 133 sham marriages in Cyprus to facilitate illegal immigration into the European Union. During a joint action day carried out on 29 January, 15 suspects were arrested: 13 in Cyprus, one in Latvia and one in Portugal. According to the investigations, the criminal network was also involved in human trafficking and money laundering activities, as well as forcing victims into bogus marriages for immigration purposes. Continue reading…

by Alessandro Cerboni

Organisations are complex dynamic systems and for these it is necessary to strengthen Compliance Resilience. When we talk about interactions between agents (people) of a complex system such as an organisation, we most commonly refer to concepts of complex systems theory or simulation systems, which are disciplines created to study and move in complex dynamic systems. Complex systems theory studies the structure and behaviour of systems composed of many interacting parts. Continue reading…