Last week the European Commission published its first-ever report on the state of anti-corruption programs across the European Union. If American compliance and audit executives want to understand how different the challenges in Europe actually are—if you want to appreciate the fundamental gulfs in how Europeans and Americans view corruption, and how to address its […]
Europe
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Mandatory Jail Sentences Await Financial Markets Manipulators in the EU
European legislators this week approved mandatory jail sentences of at least four years for individuals convicted of serious market manipulation and insider dealing offenses. European Parliament overwhelmingly passed the new regulation on Tuesday during its plenary session, which would require judges imposing a country’s maximum penalty for market abuse offenses to include at least four years […]
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Report Shows Corruption Costing EU €120B Annually
Corruption is affecting every member state in the European Union and costing the bloc €120 billion a year, according to the first-ever EU Anti-Corruption Report, released this week by the European Commission. While the 28 member states have undertaken recent anti-corruption measures, results vary widely due to factors like unaddressed systemic issues, less than vigorous […]
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European Commission Proposes EU Version of Volcker Rule
Similar to restrictions in the United State’s controversial Volcker rule, which it drew upon, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed new rules to prohibit its biggest banks from engaging in proprietary trading. The rules empower supervisors to require banks to separate risky trading activities from their deposit-taking business if those activities could compromise financial stability. […]
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U.K. Regulator Fines Standard Bank £7.6M for Anti-Money Laundering Lapses
The United Kingdom’s banking regulator this week fined Standard Bank PLC £7.6 million for lapses in its anti-money laundering policies, marking the first AML sanctions related to commercial banking in Britain. The shortcomings involved the bank’s anti-money laundering (AML) procedures in dealing with corporate customers connected to politically exposed persons, according to the U.K.’s Financial […]
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Further Review, Complaints in Offing for International Accounting Standards
The European Commission last week hired the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Paris-based Mazars Group to review the use of international accounting standards in the European Union. The two groups jointly will assess the impact of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), now in its eighth year of use in […]
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Reluctantly, Sweden Agrees to EU Restrictions on Bank Directors
Although banks expected a delay in implementation, the Swedish government will move forward with an EU rule that caps the number of board positions that directors at systemically important financial institutions can hold at four. The requirement goes into effect in July, lacking an extended transition period the country’s largest banks aggressively lobbied for. The […]
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Basel Committee Releases Banking Guidelines for Anti-Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing Efforts
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision released last week a new set of risk management guidelines to help banks implement policies to guard against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The guidelines cover risk assessment, management and mitigation, monitoring, record-keeping, and reporting of suspected money laundering (ML) and financing of terrorism (FT). The Swiss-based […]
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EU Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Overhaul of Financial Instruments Rules
Sweeping regulatory changes in financial markets were agreed to this week by European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, after almost four years of negotiations and debate on the issue. Known as the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID), the changes include a new, regulated category of trading venues, greater transparency and investor protections, […]
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European Union Hits New High in 2013 with Antitrust Fines of €1.9B
The European Union had a second straight record-breaking year in antitrust fines, levying €1.9 billion in fines in 2013, according to a global survey released this week. International law firm Allen & Overy reviewed fines levied last year by seven jurisdictions, including the EU and the United States, and found that the EU led the […]