Mr Michael Schmid, National Member for Austria at Eurojust, has on 12 November been elected as the new President of the Agency. He has effectively taken up office on 15 November for a four-year term, replacing the current President, Mr Ladislav Hamran, who is completing his second and final term. Mr Schmid (40) has represented the Austrian judicial authorities at Eurojust as National Member since 2022. Previously, he was Deputy National Member at the Agency and Justice Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Austria at the European Union in Brussels.

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The Commission has recently welcomed an agreement between the European Parliament and the European Council on the annual EU budget 2025. This budget will allow the EU to deliver on its political commitments, starting with the changes agreed in the mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The annual EU Budget for 2025 will amount to €199.4 billion. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has on 14 November published The Financial Stability Implications of Artificial Intelligence, a report outlining recent developments in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in finance and their potential implications for financial stability. Widespread adoption and more diverse use cases of AI have prompted the FSB to revisit its 2017 report on AI and machine learning in financial services. Financial firms currently use AI mainly to enhance internal operations and improve regulatory compliance, but generative AI (GenAI) and large language models have given rise to new use cases, such as document summarisation, information retrieval, and code generation. Continue reading…

Trade-based financial crime (TBFC) is responsible for an estimated $1.6 trillion in losses each year, nearly a third of the total cost of global fraud, which stands at $5.127 trillion annually. Yet, despite its massive economic impact, TBFC is alarmingly underreported in the media, making up just 0.1% of all fraud-related mentions in articles over the last year.  Continue reading…

A global operation, supported by Eurojust, has led to the takedown of servers of infostealers, a type of malware used to steal personal data and conduct cybercrimes worldwide. The infostealers, RedLine and META, taken down on 28 October targeted millions of victims worldwide, making it one of the largest malware platforms globally. An international coalition of authorities from the Netherlands, the United States, Belgium, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Australia shut down three servers in the Netherlands, seized two domains, unsealed charges in the United States and took two people into custody in Belgium.

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In the newest round of the Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (SAFE), fewer euro area firms reported increases in interest rates on bank loans (a net 4%, compared to 31% in the previous quarter) although a net 30% (28% in the previous quarter) signalled increases in other financing costs (i.e. charges, fees and commissions) (Chart 1). Continue reading…

Research from Quantios’ latest Future Focus Report has revealed the number one business challenge for organisations going into 2025: increasing efficiencies while reducing costs. And, a further 88% of respondents have reported that they believe the way to achieve this is through digitalisation. However, in spite of this awareness, not all firms are acting with a sense of urgency. In fact, 70% of respondents admit that their firms continue to rely on multiple legacy systems and manual processes and only 42% of respondents stated that they plan to explore new technology options over the next five years – a timeline that may seriously hinder competitiveness. Continue reading…

At the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference on 11-22 November in Azerbaijan, the European Union will work with international partners to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement of limiting global average temperature rise to as close as possible to 1.5C. Climate change continues to be an issue which knows no borders, and increasingly harms lives and livelihoods across Europe and around the world. At COP29, the Parties to the Paris Agreement must ensure that global financial flows are increasingly aligned with the Paris Agreement, unlocking investments, through the adoption of a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance. The NCQG will be the main priority of this year’s negotiations. Continue reading…

The prestigious Chief Litigation Officer Summit, organised by marcus evans, will convene on December 9-10, 2024, at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort. This invitation-only gathering brings together America’s foremost litigation executives, innovative solution providers, and legal thought leaders for an intensive two-day program focused on transformative legal strategies and technological advancement. Continue reading…

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has recently published a Report on eligibility and use of credit insurance, in response to the European Commission’ request under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR3). In this Report, the EBA calls for an alignment of EU rules with the present Basel framework. Continue reading…