Illegal money lender, Dharam Prakash Gopee (64), was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment by a Judge in Southwark Crown Court after guilty verdicts for offences under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. In addition to this custodial sentence, Mr Gopee has been issued with a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO), which will severely restrict his ability to carry out this type of crime in the future.  This is the first time the Financial Conduct Authority has sought such an order, which underlines the seriousness of his conduct.

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The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will work even more closely together to help strengthen the expertise and skills of financial regulators and supervisors, particularly in the context of implementing the post-crisis financial reforms and dealing with emerging issues such as financial technology, the heads of each of organisation said.

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The presentation of the annual results 2017 will take place on Thursday 15 February 2018 during a press conference at De Meentboerderij, Melkmeent 9 in Hilversum. The press conference starts at 10.00. You can sign up via pressoffice@rabobank.nl of +31 (0)30-2162758.
Rabobank CEO Wiebe Draijer and CFO Bas Brouwers will also explain the developments in the financial sector. Journalists are cordially invited to attend the press conference and to ask questions afterwards. The press release and the annual figures will be published on www.rabobank.com/jaarverslagen at 7.30 am. The press conference can be viewed from 12.30 pm via this website.

At a media webinar, 09.00 AM CET, Wiebe Draijer and Bas Brouwers will present the interim results and discuss current developments in the financial sector. In addition Rabobank will host an English webinar for analysts and institutional investors at 2.00 PM CET.

Source: https://www.rabobank.com/

The trial of Dharam Prakash Gopee concluded today at Southwark Crown Court with the jury returning a guilty verdict to the charges brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for offences under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Mr Gopee described himself as “a lender of last resort” and engaged with consumers who were often vulnerable and in difficult circumstances. He regularly registered charges over the homes of borrowers to enable him to take possession of a property if the borrower failed to pay the debt.

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 JPMorgan Chase announced that it’s giving pay raises to 22,000 US employees who work in its branches and customer service centers as part of a $20 billion investment in the business that’s connected to the company’s tax windfall.
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An interesting speech by Mr Stefan Ingves, Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, at the Institute for Law and Finance about Basel III. The answer to the question if we are done with Basel III, his answer is: ‘yes, we are done, but that doesn’t mean the work has ended. In some respects, it’s only just beginning. While finalising Basel III was an important milestone, work remains to (i) implement Basel III nationally in a full, timely and consistent manner; (ii) evaluate its effectiveness in reducing the excessive variability of risk-weighted assets (RWAs); and (iii) continue to monitor and assess emerging risks. My remarks this morning will focus on these three topics.’

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Authorities must be prepared to act against the invasive spread of cryptocurrencies to protect consumers and investors, Bank for International Settlements (BIS) General Manager Agustín Carstens said. In a lecture “Money in the digital age: what role for central banks?”, Mr Carstens said that for money to keep its value, it must be backed by accountable institutions which enjoy public trust. Here, central banks are key.

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Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, gave a speech about the macroeconomic stabilisation in the euro area. He says that there’s broad agreement that without our unprecedented actions, the euro area would have fared far worse. Even more people would have lost their jobs, and wages and prices would have stagnated for much longer, or would even have fallen. Although our actions were bold and unparalleled, we acted within our mandate, as confirmed by the European Court of Justice.
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Bennink & Amar Advocaten (B&A Law), who set up the first and only Dutch law firm fully specialised in economic sanctions and export controls, has joined forces with the best regulatory and criminal enforcement law firm of the Netherlands, Wladimiroff Advocaten N.V. Wladimiroff is fully responsible for the economic sanctions and export controls practice, under practically the same conditions as B&A Law. This makes it possible to provide even stronger enforcement practice in relation to sanctions and export controls. B&A Law have already successfully worked on several enforcement cases with Wladimiroff. At the same time, B&A Law practice adds a completely new dimension to that of Wladimiroff.