Finalising Basel III reforms

03 January 2017

The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, welcomes the progress made towards completing the Basel Committee’s post-crisis regulatory reforms. However, more time is needed to finalise some work, including ensuring the framework’s final calibration, before the GHOS can review the package of proposals. Continue reading…

Nordea : one legal structure

02 January 2017

Today, as of 2 January 2017, the cross border mergers between Nordea Bank AB (publ) and its subsidiary banks in Denmark, Finland and Norway have been executed. As a result, all assets and liabilities of the subsidiary banks have been transferred to Nordea Bank AB (publ) and each of Nordea Bank Danmark A/S, Nordea Bank Finland Plc and Nordea Bank Norge ASA has been dissolved. The banking business in Denmark, Finland and Norway will be carried out in branches of Nordea Bank AB.
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ECJ Ruling on the requirement of control for FCA’s

28 December 2016

by Pim Rank, Frans van der Eerden, Sven Uiterwijk & Yael Diamant

On 10 November 2016, the European Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) rendered a judgement on the interpretation of the requirement of ‘possession or control’ for financial collateral arrangements (“FCA’s”) (C-156/15ECLI:EU:C:2016:851, Private Equity Insurance Group/Swedbank). This ruling is important because it could be argued that the ECJ’s interpretation of the requirement of possession or control differs from the interpretation given to it in Netherlands legal practice and literature. In this article, we will discuss the ruling and its consequences for the Netherlands practice. Firstly, we will describe what FCA’s are and what the requirement of possession or control entails. Continue reading…

Mark Dunn

Mark Dunn

Segment Leader for Entity Due Diligence and Monitoring at LexisNexis

Report shows recent ‘dramatic’ sanctions changes

16 December 2016

Sanctions around the world have changed significantly in the last few months, according to a new report by LexisNexis Business Insight Solutions. The report looks at how sanctions have changed in eight countries: the US, UK, Russia, Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report goes onto look at the steps companies can consider to mitigate the risks of breaching sanctions.

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Whitepaper

Lexis Nexis

How companies should respond to the ever-changing world of sanctions risk

15 December 2016

Around the world in eight sanctions regimes Sanctions are imposed on regimes, entities or individuals by governmental and intergovernmental bodies, in the hope of curbing or changing their behaviour. They come in many forms, including asset freezes, flight bans, and restrictions on trade and other financial transactions. These bodies regularly publish and update their sanctions lists, which presents a significant risk of an unintentional breach to companies of all sectors that trade internationally. If a firm breaches sanctions, it can expect to face serious legal, financial and reputational repercussions. Punishments can include a civil or criminal legal conviction, a large regulatory fine, or a ban on bidding for future national or World Bank contracts.n the last few months alone, sanctions around the world have changed significantly. To measure the current extent of these changes, LexisNexis Business Insight Solutions has compiled this report with the latest information on sanctions regimes at governmental and intergovernmental level. The report focuses on how sanctions have changed in eight countries: the US, UK, Russia, Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The report goes onto look at the steps companies can consider to mitigate the risks of breaching sanctions.

IACC – Day 4 (Final)

05 December 2016
Knowledge Base

by Brendan Sinnott and Evert-Jan Lammers

The last day’s seminar – entitled “Citizen participation and the risks of corruption” – was mainly to give space to two new distinguished TI founders’ new books on Corruption. Frank Vogl introduced his, entitled “Waging War of Corruption”, where he outlined the evil effects of corruption – mainly to dispel the myth of victimless corruption. He illustrates this with facts about income inequalities eg the Walmart USA CEO who earned 1100 times the average wage of a Walmart shop-floor employee. Vogl writes about victims worldwide – not just in the DRC but elsewhere in Africa, in Nigeria and Russia and mentions the scourge of sexploitation – a subject rarely mentioned or highlighted. 
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IACC – Day 3

04 December 2016
Knowledge Base

by Brendan Sinnott and Evert-Jan Lammers

Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. What makes this 17th International Anti-Corruption Conference different from all previous ones? Take the following case. You will see how easy it is to fool the world around you. Continue reading…

International Anti-Corruption Conference, Panama-City, Day 2

03 December 2016
Knowledge Base

by Brendan Sinnott and Evert-Jan Lammers

Among the interesting events was a discussion on Overcoming the Shadow Economy, mostly dealing with offshore tax havens. On the speakers, Nick Shaxson, is the author of a book on Tax Havens, called “Treasure Islands”, which quantifies the sums squirreled away in these islands, many of them in the Caribbean. Bodies, such as the OECD, have issued detailed reports on this topic and the Panama Papers news has added fuel to the fire of indignation over this practice. A recent resolution of the G20 called for a public register of Beneficial Owners in each of these havens. The sums are impressive – some $3 trillion according to some projections. A political solution would be the most efficient. Continue reading…