The SIRIUS project, a reference for knowledge sharing on cross-border access to electronic evidence, co-implemented by Europol and Eurojust, in close partnership with the European Judicial Network, recently concluded its fifth annual conference. Among the more than 800 participants in the hybrid online/in-person conference were representatives of law enforcement and judicial authorities from over 20 countries as well as Online Service Providers (OSPs). Continue reading…

The FCA has fined Santander UK Plc (Santander) £107,793,300 after it found serious and persistent gaps in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls, affecting its Business Banking customers. Between 31 December 2012 and 18 October 2017, Santander failed to properly oversee and manage its AML systems, which significantly impacted the account oversight of more than 560,000 business customers. Santander had ineffective systems to adequately verify the information provided by customers about the business they would be doing. The firm also failed to properly monitor the money customers had told them would be going through their accounts compared with what actually was being deposited.  Continue reading…

Ursula von der Leyen , quoted 7th December 2022: “Russia continues to bring death and devastation to Ukraine. It is deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, seeking to paralyse the country at the beginning of the winter. We stand by Ukraine and we are making Russia pay for its cruelty. The eight packages of sanctions we introduced so far are already biting hard. And today, we are stepping up the pressure on Russia, with a ninth package of sanctions.” Continue reading…

Louise Whitestone, Thomas Seiler and Gustavo Raitzin have referred their Decision Notices to the Upper Tribunal where they will each present their respective cases. The Upper Tribunal will then determine whether to dismiss the respective references or remit them to the FCA with a direction to reconsider and reach a decision in accordance with the findings of the Upper Tribunal. Any findings in the individuals’ Decision Notices and the descriptions of those findings in this press release are therefore provisional and reflect the FCA’s belief as to what occurred and how it considers their behaviour is to be characterised. Continue reading…

Recently, the Commission proposed new EU-wide rules on packaging, to tackle this constantly growing source of waste and of consumer frustration. On average, each European generates almost 180 kg of packaging waste per year. Packaging is one of the main users of virgin materials as 40% of plastics and 50% of paper used in the EU is destined for packaging. Without action, the EU would see a further 19% increase in packaging waste by 2030, and for plastic packaging waste even a 46% increase. The new rules aim to stop this trend. For consumers, they will ensure reusable packaging options, get rid of unnecessary packaging, limit overpackaging, and provide clear labels to support correct recycling. For the industry, they will create new business opportunities, especially for smaller companies, decrease the need for virgin materials, boosting Europe’s recycling capacity as well as making Europe less dependent on primary resources and external suppliers. They will put the packaging sector on track for climate neutrality by 2050. Continue reading…

Judicial and law enforcement authorities in Europe, Australia, the United States, Ukraine and Canada have taken down a website that allowed fraudsters to impersonate trusted corporations or contacts to access sensitive information from victims, a type of cybercrime known as ‘spoofing’. The website is believed to have caused an estimated worldwide loss in excess of GBP 100 million (EUR 115 million). In a coordinated action led by the United Kingdom and supported by Eurojust and Europol, 142 suspects have been arrested, including the main administrator of the website.

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The Bank for International Settlements’ Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has on November 29th published an assessment showing reasonably high adoption of their Cyber Guidance by FMIs. The report – Implementation monitoring of the PFMI: Level 3 assessment on Financial Market Infrastructures’ Cyber Resilience – presents the results of an assessment of the state of cyber resilience (as of February 2021) at 37 FMIs from 29 jurisdictions that participated in this exercise in 2020–22. The Level 3 assessment covered all FMI types, ie, systemically important payment systems (PSs), central securities depositories (CSDs), securities settlement systems (SSSs), central counterparties (CCPs), and trade repositories (TRs).  Continue reading…

The NBFI sector continues to gain relevance and increasingly provides credit intermediation and funding services to the real economy. This results in both direct and indirect interconnections between banks and NBFIs through multiple channels. The Committee is concerned about the growth of these exposures, given the often opaque and quickly evolving nature of the attendant risks. Recent episodes of NBFI distress, including the collapse of Archegos Capital Management and events leading to stresses in government bond markets (eg liability-driven investment strategies), have highlighted vulnerabilities and deficiencies in banks’ risk management practices. The Committee recently conducted a risk horizon scanning exercise related to banks’ NBFI activities and discussed supervisory and policy implications resulting from the recent distress of specific NBFIs. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group for Europe met on 10 November in Lisbon to discuss global and regional economic and financial market developments, including recent work to address vulnerabilities in non-bank financial intermediation and to promote consistent and effective regulation of crypto-assets and markets as well as stablecoin arrangements. Members also received an update on planned FSB work for 2023, including proposed deliverables to the Indian G20 Presidency. Members discussed the increasingly challenging outlook for financial stability globally and in the region arising from volatile commodity prices, high inflationary pressures and vulnerabilities in the non-bank financial system amidst heightened geopolitical tensions and tightening global financial conditions. Members also discussed challenges arising from climate change related financial exposures, cyber threats and structural changes due to digital innovation. Continue reading…