The FCA is issuing a warning to the public as reports of ‘clone firm’ investment scams increased by 29% in April 2020 compared to March, when the UK went into its first lockdown. Action Fraud data reveals consumers reported losses of more than £78 million between January-December 2020. Throughout 2020, consumers reported average losses of £45,242 each on average when investing with fraudsters imitating genuine investment firms. The data has been released as part of the FCA’s ScamSmart campaign, alongside advice to help investors avoid fake firms and protect their hard-earned cash. The ongoing financial impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) may also make people more susceptible to these types of clone scams. 42% of investors say they are currently worried about their finances because of the pandemic, and over three quarters (77%) have or plan to make an investment within the next 6 months to help improve their financial situation. However, the FCA highlights even the most experienced investor could be at risk. Three quarters (75%) of investors said they felt confident they could spot a scam. However, 77% admitted they did not know, or were unsure what a ‘clone investment firm’ was. Continue reading…

Dr. Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, recently gave a speech at the ILF Online-Conference on “Green Banking and Green Central Banking: What are the right concepts?” at the Goethe University Frankfurt on 25 January 2021. Ladies and gentlemen, I would have been only too happy to meet you all in person. Even more so, as from my office it would only have been a short walk to the campus of the Goethe University. And allow me the following side remark: There can hardly be a better person to name a university after than Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe combined many disciplines and subjects, and not just as a poet, dramatist, novelist and critic. He also conducted research in various natural sciences, studying minerals, plants, human anatomy and meteorology, to name a few. And let’s not forget that he reflected on the nature of money, even serving as finance minister in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a small, former state in what is now Thuringia. Goethe seems to be a true all-rounder, able to turn his hand to any number of things. Continue reading…

by František Nonnemann

Twitter International Company (TIC), part of the Twitter Group, was fined 450.000 EUR by the Irish data protection authority for insufficient data breach management. The Irish Data Protection Commission found that TIC did not report significant data breach in the time limit of 72 hours as stated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Furthermore, the company did not have the process for data breach management under full control and did not keep appropriate records of all data breaches that occurred. Continue reading…

The Monitoring Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jean-Paul Servais as Co-Chair of the Monitoring Group for a two-year term. As the Vice-Chair of the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and Chairman of Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), Mr. Servais has vast experience in senior leadership positions in the field of financial markets regulation, corporate reporting and audit. Mr. Servais also chairs the Monitoring Board of the IFRS Foundation on behalf of IOSCO. Continue reading…

by Dina-Perla Portnaar

The Ashton Whiteley Scam illustrates how financial crime really works. Not a lot of personal cases were shared with the public before in order to make financial crime tangible. Here is an outline of the events given by one of the many victims of the Ashton Whiteley Scam that took place a couple of years ago. The man shared his story with me, which we will share in a couple of articles. Here is part two. Continue reading…

Today, President von der Leyen held a videoconference with the CEOs of the pharmaceutical companies with which the European Commission has signed Advance Purchase Agreements, in the context of our Vaccines Strategy – BionNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Curevac and Sanofi. Commissioners Stella Kyriakides and Thierry Breton, the President‘s coronavirus special advisor Peter Piot and Moncef Slaoui, as well as the Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency, Emer Cook, also attended. The aim of the videoconference was to launch the work on European bio-defence preparedness. The Commission will set up an EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), to deliver a more structured approach to pandemic preparedness. HERA will help anticipate threats and identify responses.
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Mirela Ciobanu & Dina-Perla Portnaar

Almost everyone agrees that 2020 has been a rough year. However, 2021 has not smoothed some of its roughness. Most of us continue working from home, having to balance family life with professional activities, dealing with a high degree of anxiety due to uncertainty of what is going to happen next. However, being able to take part in virtual events has helped us to stray in touch with our peers, to maintain a high level of engagement with our industries and to learn more about the topics that we are interested in – in this case how to fight financial crime and find the right business partner to assist your deal with financial crime from a compliance perspective.
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Law enforcement and judicial authorities worldwide have recently disrupted one of the most significant botnets of the past decade: EMOTET. Investigators have now taken control of its infrastructure in an international coordinated action. This operation is the result of a collaborative effort between authorities in the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Lithuania, Canada and Ukraine, with international activity coordinated by Europol and Eurojust. This operation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT). Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently published a report that examines the potential implications of climate change for financial stability. The report analyses how climate-related risks might be transmitted across, and might be amplified by, the financial system, including across borders. It also sets out next steps for the FSB’s work in this area. Current central estimates of the impact of physical risks on asset prices appear relatively contained but may be subject to considerable tail risk. The manifestation of physical risks could lead to a sharp fall in asset prices and increase in uncertainty. A disorderly transition to a low carbon economy could also have a destabilising effect on the financial system. Continue reading…

The Commission recently proposed an update to the Council Recommendation of last October coordinating measures affecting free movement in the European Union. This is part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to ensure better coordination and communication of travel-related measures at EU level. In light of new coronavirus variants and high numbers of new infections across many Member States, it is necessary to strongly discourage non-essential travel, while avoiding border closures or blanket travel bans and ensuring that the functioning of the Single Market and supply chains remain uninterrupted. Therefore, further targeted action to ensure a coordinated approach on measures restricting free movement within the EU is necessary. Continue reading…