Mark Dunn

Mark Dunn

Segment Leader for Entity Due Diligence and Monitoring at LexisNexis

Corruption Perceptions Index released

25 February 2017

Transparency International has released its 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The CPI ranks 176 countries and territories on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. The index aggregates a number of different sources, including the views of business people and country experts. Transparency International says the results show “the urgent need for committed action to thwart corruption”. The scoring system ranges from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) and, in the index, over two thirds of countries and territories scored below 50 with a global average of 43. More countries received worse scores than better scores compared to their performance in the previous CPI. Continue reading…

FSB holds meeting of the RCG for Sub-Saharan Africa

19 February 2017

On 16-17 February 2017, the Central Bank of Lesotho hosted the 11th meeting of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group (RCG) for Sub-Saharan Africa in Maseru, Lesotho. At the meeting, members of the FSB RCG were provided with an update on the FSB’s workplan and priorities, to pursue the full, timely and consistent implementation of post-crisis financial reforms, evaluate whether reforms have had their intended effects, and address new vulnerabilities in the financial system.  Continue reading…

FCA opens discussion on regulatory approach to open-ended funds investing in illiquid assets

13 February 2017

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently published a Discussion Paper (‘Paper’), which seeks stakeholder views on the practice of investing in illiquid assets through open-ended funds and the challenges that can pose to managers and investors. Illiquid assets in the context of this Paper may include land and buildings, infrastructure and financial assets such as unlisted securities.
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Risk managers have vital role in creating positive culture

11 February 2017

by Georgina Oakes

The right corporate culture not only creates a better risk environment, it has clear financial benefits. Georgina Oakes, research and development manager at Airmic, explains that the risk manager should be at the heart of change. Corporate culture may be a hard-to-define concept but its tangible benefits are increasingly being recognised by business leaders, regulators and investors. An EY survey of FTSE 350 board directors found that 92% of respondents believe that investing in culture has improved their financial performance.
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Tony de Bree

Tony de Bree

Senior Management Consultant

Internet and high-tech startups are failing for the same reasons for 25 years

06 February 2017

While doing research and interviewing founders, co-founders and investors in Internet, high-tech and non-high tech start-ups and scale-ups for my new book in Dutch (see here) on start-ups and scale-ups, I realized that there were a lot of similarities between the first and the second Internet-bubble we seem to be experiencing now. One of the most interesting things is that start-ups and scale-ups seem to be ‘crashing’ for the same reasons for the last 25 years! From 1997 to 2001, I was working for ABN Amro Corporate IT Strategy and we were designing the new Internet-strategy for the Group. At the same time, all requests for funding (corporate venturing) and financing of Internet and other high tech ventures came to the Head Office to be reviewed. So we spoke with many large and small customers globally about their business plans and strategies. Continue reading…

Digitalization, including deployment of robo- tools, to ensure growth in wealth management

05 February 2017

Michel Klompmaker

The Italian Objectway, with offices in the UK, Belgium and South Africa recently held its international customer conference in Amsterdam, where your platform was also invited. The event began with an exclusive visit to the famous Van Gogh Museum, where Luigi Marciano, President & CEO of Objectway, proudly presented the new company brand on one of the walls. Continue reading…

Collusive tendering as a priority of public competition law enforcement

03 February 2017

by Jasper De fauw

On 31 January 2017, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) published a practical guide for buyers of public authorities on cartel behavior of bidders in public procurement (so-called “bid rigging” or “collusive tendering” practices). The BCA’s accompanying press release states that fighting bid rigging in public procurement is one of the main priorities in its enforcement policy. The guide provides examples of warning signs which might indicate potential collusive behavior of public procurement bidders. It also describes which market conditions might possibly facilitate bid rigging and gives practical tips and tricks to buyers on how to avoid potential collusion. Continue reading…