The UK’s financial regulator has had a rough ride over the past couple of years as its strategy to “name and shame” firms it opened investigations into was widely slammed by the industry and lawmakers over concerns that companies could be unfairly maligned.
Neil Hodge
Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal issues for a wide range of publications in the United Kingdom and United States.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Crypto firms brace for tighter UK oversight as FCA plots integration with financial markets
Trying to put rules in place to oversee an industry that has grown largely outside of regulation is not without serious challenges. But the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) latest consultation aims to attract industry views about how some key aspects of crypto trading should be regulated ahead of planned legislation due to come into effect next year.
Posted inData Privacy
Seven years in, GDPR faces growing challenges from AI and ‘consent or pay’ models
Europe’s pioneering data protection legislation turned seven years old in May, but the compliance and enforcement difficulties that have dogged the rules since they came into force look set to present both companies and data regulators with fresh headaches for some time to come.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
What is AI washing and why companies need to stop exaggerating their AI prowess
The buzz around generative AI has reached fever pitch over the past few years—to such an extent that it’s practically a death knell for any company to say it’s not investing massively in gen AI to transform their business. There’s only one problem: many companies are either being misleading or lying about the extent they are using such technology and what it’s capable of.
Posted inAnti-Bribery
UK regulator’s efforts to coax self-reporting fraud could fall flat, experts warn
To both clean up corporate behaviour and rack up its own enforcement record, the UK’s anti-bribery agency has seemingly largely guaranteed companies a pass from prosecution if they spill the beans on their misconduct. There’s only one problem: experts believe businesses may still stand a better outcome if they front it out rather than self-report and hope for a deal.
Posted inEurope
Delayed UK antitrust case underscores compliance, reputational risks
Antitrust infringement cases in the United Kingdom can run on for years, but there’s a question whether issuing fines that are dwarfed by the revenues of those organisations involved is a worthy deterrent—particularly if they are imposed over a decade after the misconduct ended. It’s also debatable whether the first company to admit that it has been part of a cartel for years should get away scot-free if it agrees to turn over all the dirt on the other members.
Posted inEurope
UK’s deregulation drive raises compliance risk, say top lawyers
The United Kingdom’s latest effort to encourage regulators to pare down rules to attract companies and investment as a way to stimulate the economy has received mixed reviews from lawyers.
Posted inRegulatory Policy
FCA faces criticism for email retention policy critics say risks erasing evidence
The UK’s financial regulator has come under fire for its announcement that it is going to delete emails after a year in an effort to become a more “efficient” regulator, raising concerns that it might accidentally erase evidence in the process.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Experts: Companies ‘underestimate risk’ as part of EU AI Act come into force
A European Union-wide ban on AI systems with “unacceptable” risk came into force on Feb. 2 as the first provisions of the EU’s AI Act took effect. Problems persist, however, over what the legislation requires and what corporate practices or uses of data may risk flouting the rules.
Posted inEurope
‘Abject failure’: U.K. lawmakers sound off on FCA’s failed ‘naming and shaming’ enforcement
U.K. lawmakers slammed the country’s chief financial regulator’s hopes of “naming and shaming” firms as part of its efforts to beef up enforcement, denting its credibility in the process and questioning the leadership of its chief executive.
