Survey finds a quarter of compliance and IT managers believe Brexit will make their firm exempt from MiFID II. A group of compliance and IT managers have said they believe once the UK leaves the EU, their organisation will be exempt from MiFID II.
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British and European Union banks need a new system to let them do business with each other after Brexit to avoid splitting markets, Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond said on Tuesday. Britain, the EU’s biggest financial market, is leaving the bloc in 2019, raising the prospect of an abrupt cut in cross-border links without a new trade deal. Rival financial centers, including Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg, are vying to benefit.

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Criminals will find it more difficult to launder money through the UK thanks to a new government crackdown. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby, (see photo) has unveiled plans to create a new watchdog that will tackle potential weaknesses in the supervisory system that criminals and terrorists may be trying to exploit. The new Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) will help improve the overall standards of supervision and ensure supervisors and law enforcement work together more effectively.
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today published near final rules on the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II. These include changes to the trading of financial instruments including issues affecting trading venues, transparency of trading and algorithmic and high frequency trading. The FCA is also providing an update on the taping of telephone conversations by retail financial advisers.
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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published a consultation document on Proposed governance arrangements for the unique transaction identifier (UTI). The consultation sets out proposals for the governance arrangements for a global UTI, as a key harmonised identifier designed to facilitate effective aggregation of transaction reports about over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets.
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This report presents the results of the Basel Committee’s latest Basel III monitoring exercise based on data as of 30 June 2016. The Committee established a rigorous reporting process to regularly review the implications of the Basel III standards for banks, and it has published the results of previous exercises since 2012. Data have been provided for a total of 210 banks, comprising 100 large internationally active banks. These “Group 1 banks” are defined as internationally active banks that have Tier 1 capital of more than €3 billion, and include all 30 banks that have been designated as global systemically important banks (G-SIBs). The Basel Committee’s sample also includes 110 “Group 2 banks” (ie banks that have Tier 1 capital of less than €3 billion or are not internationally active).

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by Brendan Sinnott and Evert-Jan Lammers

The last day’s seminar – entitled “Citizen participation and the risks of corruption” – was mainly to give space to two new distinguished TI founders’ new books on Corruption. Frank Vogl introduced his, entitled “Waging War of Corruption”, where he outlined the evil effects of corruption – mainly to dispel the myth of victimless corruption. He illustrates this with facts about income inequalities eg the Walmart USA CEO who earned 1100 times the average wage of a Walmart shop-floor employee. Vogl writes about victims worldwide – not just in the DRC but elsewhere in Africa, in Nigeria and Russia and mentions the scourge of sexploitation – a subject rarely mentioned or highlighted. 
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by Brendan Sinnott and Evert-Jan Lammers

Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. What makes this 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference different from all previous ones? Take the following case. You will see how easy it is to fool the world around you. Continue reading…

by Brendan Sinnott and Evert-Jan Lammers

Among the interesting events was a discussion on Overcoming the Shadow Economy, mostly dealing with offshore tax havens. On the speakers, Nick Shaxson, is the author of a book on Tax Havens, called “Treasure Islands”, which quantifies the sums squirreled away in these islands, many of them in the Caribbean. Bodies, such as the OECD, have issued detailed reports on this topic and the Panama Papers news has added fuel to the fire of indignation over this practice. A recent resolution of the G20 called for a public register of Beneficial Owners in each of these havens. The sums are impressive – some $3 trillion according to some projections. A political solution would be the most efficient. Continue reading…

What is the best paid sector for risk managers? How much do risk managers spend on broker services? What does a typical Airmic member look like? Airmic has revealed the results of its biennial Salary and Status Survey, read the highlights here. The industrial and manufacturing sector is the most lucrative industry for risk managers, according to Airmic’s 2016 Salary and Status Survey, which also revealed an overall fall in salaries across almost all age groups. 
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