The EU continues to remain a leading global humanitarian aid donor. With more than 300 million people estimated to need humanitarian assistance in 2025, the EU has on 16 January announced an initial humanitarian budget for 2025 of €1.9 billion. Continue reading…
by Andy Norton
The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) has been on the regulatory horizon for some time. Yet its implications for the financial sector remain a pressing concern. As DORA has now come into effect as of 17 January, many financial institutions, burdened by legacy systems and a patchwork of software applications1, find themselves ill-prepared to meet DORA’s stringent requirements. Yet, some UK companies, especially smaller third-party ICT suppliers2, might think they’re exempt from DORA’s requirements in the wake of its EU exit. That’s not exactly the case. In fact, it’s unsurprising that 39% of organisations3 admit to feeling challenged by the UK’s increasingly complicated regulations and governance requirements; DORA is just another on a long list of regulations that firms must adhere to. Continue reading…
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a report analysing the functioning of, and considering potential ways to address vulnerabilities in, commercial paper (CP) and negotiable certificates of deposit (CD) markets. The report identifies a number of vulnerabilities in CP and CD markets, including limited secondary market activity due to the buy-and-hold nature of these instruments, investor and dealer concentration, and opacity. Continue reading…
Italian authorities have disrupted a sophisticated operation that was illegally exporting precious archaeological artefacts belonging to the Italian state. The criminal group worked with expert grave robbers and thieves to excavate numerous objects. Following a complex investigation lasting over several years, Italian authorities, supported by Eurojust, dismantled the organisation and arrested four suspects.
For 22 years, an MoU (memorandum of understanding) between KLM and the Dutch State shielded KLM from criminal prosecution for transporting passengers without proper travel documentation. Meanwhile, other airlines were held criminally liable numerous times.
The FCA has fined Arian Financial LLP (Arian) £288,962.53 for failing to ensure it had effective systems and controls against financial crime. Arian’s failure to implement adequate systems and controls against financial crime put it at risk of being used to support fraudulent trading and money laundering on behalf of clients of the Solo Group. This is the seventh case brought by the FCA in relation to cum-ex trading and withholding tax schemes. This has involved proactive engagement with EU and global law enforcement authorities. The FCA has imposed fines of more than £22m in relation to this trading. Continue reading…
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has on 9 January published its final Guidelines on the management of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks. The Guidelines set out requirements for institutions for the identification, measurement, management and monitoring of ESG risks, including through plans aimed at ensuring their resilience in the short, medium and long term. Continue reading…
The DORA Regulation will become applicable to all (re)insurance undertakings subject to the Solvency II directive (SII) on 17 January 2025 according to its Article 2(3)(b)). Very small insurers, exempted from SII according to Article 4 SII, are also exempted from the obligations under the DORA regulation. But the application dates of these two European legislative instruments don’t fit together which is especially a problem for a new group of exempted very small insurers.
Quantum computing stocks have taken a notable hit following Nvidia CEO’s recent comment that “very useful quantum computers” are twenty years away from fruition. The following commentary from the co-CEOs of Pasqal, a global leader in the quantum computing space, Georges-Olivier Reymond and Loic Henriet, explains why a 20-year timeline is inaccurate, provides a more realistic estimate, and notes the current impact quantum computing is having today. Continue reading…
The Commission welcomes the Council’s adoption of the 15th sanctions package against Russia. The focus of this package is to keep cracking down on Russia’s shadow fleet, as well as combating sanctions’ circumvention. It also includes substantial individual and entity listings related to the Russian military-industrial complex and increases the legal protection of EU Central Securities Depositories (EU CSDs). With this package, the EU has, for the first time, imposed ‘fully-fledged’ sanctions (travel ban, asset freeze and prohibition to make economic resources available) on various Chinese actors. Continue reading…
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Download whitepaperLieve LowetEU Affairs consultant and lobbyist
Elina Karpacheva Chair of the European Compliance Centre based in Sofia, Bulgaria
Ahsan HabibManager, AML Investigation - Correspondent Banking, Royal Bank of Canada
Michael AmadoLawyer in Paris / Lawyer in Canada
Alex MovchanAlex Movchan CIA CICA CFE is the President of the Institute for Internal Controls - Central and Eastern Europe
Elena PykhovaElena Pykhova is a thought leader, influencer and founder of a think tank, Best Practice Operational Risk Forum. 
Daniel VaknineCEO and Partner of Visslan
Nancy MehradAuthor and the CEO and Founder of Registrant Law Professional Corporation
Ajay KataraConsulting Partner and Head the RegTech Portfolio in Banking Risk Management area at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)