The U.K. has amended its data protection rules with a sweeping law that aims to simplify compliance with existing privacy legislation, including the GDPR. However, compliance officers should be aware that the need to protect personal data remains paramount.
United Kingdom
Posted inRegulators
FCA appoints attachés to India, UAE as part of effort to boost U.K. financial services
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has appointed two financial services attachés in India and the UAE to help boost the regulator’s presence in key global financial markets and to drive investment into the UK economy.
Posted inData Privacy
Data regulator issues privacy guidance over smart devices
Companies that manufacture smart devices are set to face increased scrutiny from data regulators following concerns that most consumers are unaware of how they collect, use and sell their personal information.
Posted inSanctions
Inconsistent sanctions programs leave compliance struggling, while shadow fleet ships slip beneath the radar
Russian “shadow-fleet” ships are using simple tactics to evade sanctions from the U.S., U.K, and EU.
Posted inSanctions
Enforcement set to ramp up over sanctions compliance, warn lawyers
When the U.K.’s financial regulator reported that firms’ sanctions compliance had fallen short in multiple areas, it was a warning to the sector that improvements need to be made—and quickly—as oversight and enforcement are set to be cranked up.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
SFO and U.S. authorities investigate collapsed telecoms firm IMC
The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office has announced that it has launched an investigation into suspected fraud, false accounting and money laundering at telecoms firm Internet Mobile Communications Limited.
Posted inSurveys & Benchmarking
U.K. governance professionals rising in influence, survey finds
Governance professionals are increasingly regarded as being more critical to the success of their organizations, according to a recent survey which found that two-thirds of respondents thought the influence of the governance function was growing.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
U.K. increases fines for poor audit practices while audit firms criticized for poor practices and quality failures
U.K. audit regulator, the FRC, has fined audit firms and their partners $17.37 million for audit misconduct over the past year.
Posted inFinancial Services
Streamlined reporting rules will save U.K. financial services industry $145.3 million per year, says FCA
The U.K.’s financial regulator has simplified the requirements around transaction reporting—which helps detect market abuse and other financial crimes—as part of a drive to cut “duplicative or low-value reporting.”
Posted inSanctions
U.S. continues to dominate sanctions penalties, but EU and U.K. penalties are increasing
Sanctions regimes in the U.S., U.K. and EU are evolving rapidly, causing continual changes, and the penalties for failure – civil and criminal – are potentially huge. Multiple inconsistent sanctions lists and increased focus on supply chains and third-party entities are making compliance for global organizations a full-time headache.
