The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has completed the first year of monitoring for the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS). The ICS aims to provide a globally comparable risk-based measure of capital adequacy of International Active Insurance Groups (IAIGs) and a common language to facilitate effective supervisory discussions of group solvency. The ultimate goal is a single ICS that includes a common methodology by which one ICS achieves comparable, ie substantially the same, outcomes across jurisdictions. The IAIS Executive Committee (ExCo) recently reviewed results from the 2020 ICS data collection and agreed to progress the 2021 ICS data collection with a small number of revisions to address issues that were identified through the data analysis and from the feedback received in the first year of the monitoring period. In June, the IAIS will publish the updated ICS specifications for the second year of the monitoring period. Continue reading…

Judicial and law enforcement authorities in Belgium, France and the Netherlands have in close cooperation enabled major interventions to block the further use of encrypted communications by large-scale organised crime groups (OCGs), with the support of Europol and Eurojust. The continuous monitoring of the illegal Sky ECC communication service tool by investigators in the three countries involved has provided invaluable insights into hundreds of millions of messages exchanged between criminals. This has resulted in the collection of crucial information on over a hundred of planned large-scale criminal operations, preventing potential life threatening situations and possible victims. Continue reading…

by Frank Staelens

What is the scope and which extensions are already being considered? 

Applicability: all private and public organisations based in Europe, with exemptions for small organisations Deadline: Member States have up till 17 December 2021 to transpose the new whistleblower protection rules into national law Scope of protection: all internal and external persons related to the reporting of wrongdoing in a work related context Scope of breaches: protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law and Member States are encouraged to extend the scope to national law breaches Some Member States have already decided to extend the scope to violations of accounting rules and shareholder rights

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) recently published its final revised Guidelines on money laundering and terrorist financing risk factors. The revisions take into account changes to the EU Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) legal framework and address new ML/TF risks, including those identified by the EBA’s implementation reviews. In addition to strengthening financial institutions’ risk-based approaches to AML/CFT, the revision supports the development of more effective and consistent supervisory approaches where evidence suggested that divergent approaches continue to exist. The Guidelines are central to the EBA’s work to lead, coordinate and monitor the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. Continue reading…

International Women’s Day is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights. Women of the world want and deserve an equal future free from stigma, stereotypes and violence; a future that’s sustainable, peaceful, with equal rights and opportunities for all. To get us there, the world needs women at every table where decisions are being made. This year, the theme for International Women’s Day is, “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,” and it celebrates the tremendous efforts made by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic while also highlighting the gaps that remain. Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

Economic crime scholarship presents an organisation as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, organisations are cheated by their employees, discriminated by corrupt public officials, and face cyberattacks, whereas on the other hand, organisations evade taxes, defraud their customers, and cheat competitors. While fraud, corruption and other forms of economic crime cause immense losses to individual organisations as well to society, many of those crimes are committed by organisations themselves. On Thursday, February 4, 2021 the 2nd Winter Economic Crime Symposium – Organizations: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators was held online by the Centre for Counter-Fraud Studies at the University of Portsmouth. The event sought to explore the network of relationships inside and between organisations and how it should not be reduced to two groups, victims and perpetrators. With a theme focused on economic crime, several professionals gave keynote presentations on a range of topics from brand protection, corruption, corporate compliance, foreign bribery, and intellectual property (IP) crime. The Risk & Compliance Platform Europe was also a media partner and covered the event via its website. This is the final part. Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

Economic crime scholarship presents an organisation as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, organisations are cheated by their employees, discriminated by corrupt public officials, and face cyberattacks, whereas on the other hand, organisations evade taxes, defraud their customers, and cheat competitors. While fraud, corruption and other forms of economic crime cause immense losses to individual organisations as well to society, many of those crimes are committed by organisations themselves. On Thursday, February 4, 2021 the 2nd Winter Economic Crime Symposium – Organizations: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators was held online by the Centre for Counter-Fraud Studies at the University of Portsmouth. The event sought to explore the network of relationships inside and between organisations and how it should not be reduced to two groups, victims and perpetrators. With a theme focused on economic crime, several professionals gave keynote presentations on a range of topics from brand protection, corruption, corporate compliance, foreign bribery, and intellectual property (IP) crime. The Risk & Compliance Platform Europe was also a media partner and covered the event via its website. This is part four. Continue reading…

To better assist victims of trafficking in human beings (THB), more cross-border cooperation and investigations are necessary. Earlier involvement of Eurojust and a higher number of cases referred to the Agency will help to better coordinate investigations and get a fuller picture of internationally operating criminal networks, which exploit often young and vulnerable victims. These are the main conclusions from the Eurojust Report on Trafficking in Human Beings. The Report was adopted by the College of the Agency right before 22 February, the European Day for Victims of Crime, and was presented recently at the occasion of the meeting of the EU Victims’ Rights Platform. It comes at a crucial time as well, as the European Commission is working towards a new EU strategy on combating human trafficking. Continue reading…

by Michel Klompmaker

Economic crime scholarship presents an organisation as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, organisations are cheated by their employees, discriminated by corrupt public officials, and face cyberattacks, whereas on the other hand, organisations evade taxes, defraud their customers, and cheat competitors. While fraud, corruption and other forms of economic crime cause immense losses to individual organisations as well to society, many of those crimes are committed by organisations themselves. On Thursday, February 4, 2021 the 2nd Winter Economic Crime Symposium – Organizations: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators was held online by the Centre for Counter-Fraud Studies at the University of Portsmouth. The event sought to explore the network of relationships inside and between organisations and how it should not be reduced to two groups, victims and perpetrators. With a theme focused on economic crime, several professionals gave keynote presentations on a range of topics from brand protection, corruption, corporate compliance, foreign bribery, and intellectual property (IP) crime. The Risk & Compliance Platform Europe was also a media partner and covered the event via its website. This is part three. Continue reading…

On 17 December 2020, EIOPA published its “Opinion on the 2020 review of Solvency II” together with an extensive Background analysis. In its Opinion, EIOPA formulates proposals to amend the L1 Solvency II framework directive (SII FD) as well as the L2 Solvency II Delegated Regulation. However, EIOPA also opines that certain clarifications can be given, not only via amending the SII FD or the Delegated Regulation, but also through additional guidance or the issuance of new EIOPA guidelines. In the meantime, the Commission and other stakeholders are reading and analysing EIOPA’s Opinion. I decided in this blog to focus on EIOPA’s suggested use of guidelines in the review. Continue reading…