Financial firms have made progress in preventing sanctions breaches, but serious gaps in governance and compliance remain, which are likely to result in keener regulatory scrutiny and potentially more penalties in the future, say experts.
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.
U.K. waters down final crypto rules after industry feedback
The U.K.โs financial watchdog has watered down some of the key compliance requirements for crypto firms as it released its first full set of rules for the industry to follow.
U.K. set to ramp up consumer protection against price gouging
Companies risk finding that commercially sensitive information about their pricing strategies could be made public if competition authorities and other regulators believe they have unduly hiked prices to take advantage of a spike in customer demand due to a crisis.
GDPR 10 years on: Differences in regulatory enforcement still problematic
In the decade since the EU’s groundbreaking privacy legislation, the GDPR was approved, companies have faced increased scrutiny over the reasons they collect, retain, and share personal information, as well as the measures they take to ensure its security.
Companies risk violating data, consumer laws over agentic AI use
Companies are at increased risk of violating Europeโs tough privacy laws because boards have little awareness of the different types of AI or their inherent risks. While many organizations are more familiar with predictive and conversational AI tools, such as chatbots that carry little or no discernible risk, they have not grasped that generative AIโand especially agentic AIโare different animals.
No new rules as U.K. financial services sector champions AI
There are no new rules on the horizon as U.K. financial services firms embrace โAI-enabled, continuous and delegated services,โ but a report warns that the technology could reshape the sector by 2030 in terms of how firms operate, consumers make decisions, markets compete, and risks emerge.
ESMA fines Moodyโs $2.45M over misreporting errors
Moodyโs Germany has been hit with a $2.45 million by the EU’s financial markets regulator for four breaches of credit rating agency regulations.ย
GDPR 10 years on: Data compliance now front of mind
Europeโs landmark privacy legislation, GDPR, was officially adopted ten years ago and has been in force since May 2018. It has forced organizations to change the way they think about personal information and has put privacy risk firmly on the boardโs agenda, especially since the sanctions available under the regime are potentially ruinous
Experts weigh up challenges for firms, FCA under U.K. plan to regulate crypto
The U.K. has set itself a path to regulate crypto from the end of next year that is different to the rest of Europe. While the EU has created sector-specific rules for the industry under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation, the U.K. will instead make crypto firms subject to the same rules as every other financial services provider.ย
Why do whistleblower programs fail? Experts give their views
Compliance professionals recognize the importance of whistleblowing and the positive impact it can have on corporate governance and maintaining ethical business practices. But they are also aware that in many organizations, speak-up mechanisms do not work effectively, are sidelined, or are simply distrusted.


