The FCA will be writing tonight to companies it is aware were intending to publish preliminary financial statements in the next few days to delay their planned publications. The FCA strongly requests all listed companies observe a moratorium on the publication of preliminary financial statements for at least two weeks. Investors in capital markets rely on trustworthy information on the companies whose instruments they trade. The unprecedented events of the last couple of weeks mean that the basis on which companies are reporting and planning is changing rapidly. It is important that due consideration is given by companies to these events in preparing their disclosures. Observing timetables set before this crisis arose may not give companies the necessary time to do this. 
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by Massimo Balducci

Personally I’m persuaded that compliance approach could teach us something on how to face the COVID-19 crisis. To prove my point I will first of all remind us briefly of the basics of compliance approach. Roughly speaking I daresay that compliance refers to a mechanism of supervision to be used while working in a process oriented way, or, if you wish, in a re-engineered organisation. What implies working in a re-engineered organisation? Whoever is involved in an organised production is called upon all the time to find an answer to the following question: “what am I supposed to do now?” Nobel prize winner H.A. Simon thought that anyone called upon to make such a decision is supported by some mechanisms able to reduce her/his decision making complexity.  Continue reading…

The decision by governments to close educational facilities and workplaces in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19/Coronavirus will see many more of us than ever before remotely connecting to workplace/school networks from home and will put added strain on online resources. We will also see many people who are used to the protection offered by a corporate/education network working remotely for the first time. This coupled with opportunistic attacks from cybercriminals exploiting people’s fears over this virus outbreak could create a perfect storm for cybercriminal activity. Continue reading…

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision held a conference call on 20 March 2020 to discuss the impact of the rapid worldwide spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on the global banking system. The spread of Covid-19 has reached a critical phase and is having an increasingly significant impact on economic activity. The Basel III standards have strengthened the resilience of the banking system over the past decade. The global banking system has significantly higher levels of capital and liquidity, and is therefore in a stronger position to absorb shocks and mitigate interruptions to banking services. Banks and supervisors must remain vigilant in light of the evolving nature of Covid-19 to ensure that the global banking system remains financially and operationally resilient.
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, is issuing a public statement to ensure coordinated supervisory actions on the application of Securities Finance Transactions Regulation (SFTR), in particular, on the requirements regarding the reporting start date, as well as the registration of Trade Repositories (TRs). This approach is needed in response to the effect of current adverse developments events as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading…

by Geert Vermeulen

Often ethics & compliance officers only end up in the news when things have gone wrong. Many people don’t realise that ethics & compliance officers also prevent numerous crimes and unethical practices, sometimes at the risk of being fired or by risking our health or even our lives. Usually you don’t hear about these cases. I think that we should be more proud of our profession and inform a broader audience what we do to reduce risk and stimulate better business. The final part in this series of “WOW Moments in Compliance,” will be about the World Economic Forum in Davos. The first two parts covered due diligence in the aviation industry and due diligence in the energy industry. The third part was about change of strategy and the fourth part was about ‘those wonderful Greeks.’  Continue reading…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2020 Supervision Work Programme, detailing the areas of focus for its supervision of Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs), Trade Repositories (TRs) and the monitoring of third-country Central Clearing Counterparties (TC-CCPs) and Central Securities Depositories (TC-CSDs). ESMA is also preparing for its new supervisory responsibilities under the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR), the Securitisation Regulation (SECR), the Benchmarks Regulation and MiFIR. Continue reading…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a decision temporarily requiring the holders of net short positions in shares traded on a European Union (EU) regulated market to notify the relevant national competent authority (NCA) if the position reaches or exceeds 0.1% of the issued share capital after the entry into force of the decision. Continue reading…

Yesterday’s meeting at the European Central Bank (ECB) had everything to do with the explosive situation revolving around the spread of the coronavirus, very sharp declines in the stock market and about Donald Trump’s recent announcement regarding the travel restrictions across Europe. In the meeting, the Governing Council decided on a comprehensive package of monetary policy measures: additional longer-term refinancing operations (LTROs) will be conducted, temporarily, to provide immediate liquidity support to the euro area financial system. Although the Governing Council does not see material signs of strains in money markets or liquidity shortages in the banking system, these operations will provide an effective backstop in case of need. They will be carried out through a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with an interest rate that is equal to the average rate on the deposit facility. The LTROs will provide liquidity at favourable terms to bridge the period until the TLTRO III operation in June 2020.  Continue reading…