All EU articles – Page 2
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Blog
FCA advises on new EU Market Abuse Regulation
The Financial Conduct Authority has published changes to its handbook, “Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules,” to help U.K.-listed companies comply with new EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) from 3 July this year. The handbook and MAR cover a very wide range of “market abuse” issues, such as insider dealing, improper ...
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Complying with Brexit
As the United Kingdom gets ever closer to withdrawing from the European Union, no small amount of economic turmoil and compliance headaches are sure to follow. For compliance officers at companies doing business in Europe and the United Kingdom, the possibility of a Brexit provides the sort of job security ...
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U.S., EU will negotiate insurance regulation pact
A bilateral agreement on insurance and reinsurance regulations between the United States and European Union is another step closer to reality. On Tuesday, a statement from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced plans to begin negotiating a covered agreement and regulatory framework with ...
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SEC, CFTC ‘milestones’ resolve issues with cross-border swaps deals
Consider it regulatory kismet. Independently, on Feb. 10, the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission finalized long-lingering rules and agreements needed to resolve concerns with the international marketplace for derivatives deals. The SEC’s new rules cover foreign swaps dealers who maintain trading desks in the United States, closing a perceived ...
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Preparing for the EU’s new Data Protection Rule
Sweeping changes to the EU’s data protection laws means new compliance headaches for any U.S. company that collects and handles data on citizens of the European Union. “It’s a game changer, primarily because it sets standards that many companies haven’t had to worry about,” said Hilary Wandall, associate vice president ...
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Use of Compliance Data an Anti-Trust Violation in Europe?
How did the collection of Big Data somehow run afoul of European anti-trust regulations? The Man from FCPA takes a look at one of the more puzzling regulatory decisions to come out of the Eurozone recently, and at what it means for compliance officers everywhere.
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The Big Challenge in New EU Data Protection Law: Values
Image: This week European officials agreed to a final text for a sweeping new data protection law. Compliance officers in the United States should brace themselves: not only does the legislation threaten huge fines and complicate corporate marketing efforts enormously; it underlines the fundamentally differing views Europeans and Americans have ...
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EU’s Apple, Amazon, Fiat and Starbucks Tax Inquiry Postponed
Image: The European Commission has placed Amazon, Starbucks, Fiat Finance and Trade, and Apple’s tax probe on hold amid concerns about obtaining information relating to these cases, said European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in a testimony before the European Parliament. While Vestager did not give a new deadline for the ...
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European Commission Probes Antitrust Breaches in Bulgaria, Spain, Belgium
Image: Title: VestagerThe European Commission handed down a preliminary decision that a Bulgarian state-owned energy concern was breaching antitrust rules by blocking access to the gas supply infrastructure. It is also investigating breaches in Spain and Belgium. Margrethe Vestager, the commissioner in charge of competition policy, said: “We need to ...
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European Commission Unveils Tax Transparency Package
Image: The European Commission has unveiled a package of legislative proposals that it hopes will hinder abusive tax practices and aggressive tax planning, by providing greater transparency on what companies pay and where. “Tolerance has reached rock bottom for companies that avoid paying their fair share of taxes, and for ...
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British Regulator Slaps Bank of Beirut With A Hefty Fine
Image: Title: PhilippouBritish regulators are taking action after two former Bank of Beirut employees misled the Financial Conduct Authority about whether the bank had complied with orders to boost its financial crime protections. The bank was fined £2.1 million and is temporarily banned from “acquiring new customers from high-risk” locations. ...
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EU Data Supervisor Pushing Strengthened Privacy Laws
Image: Title: ButtarelliThe European Union’s Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli told officials in Washington that the EU’s ambitious overhaul of its data regulations will “place the individual more firmly at the heart” of technology, by boosting transparency and individual control. Buttarelli said the reforms will be backed by real teeth, ...
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EU Court Annuls European Location Policy for CCPs
The General Court of the European Union has overturned a European Central Bank framework requiring large central counterparties (CCPs) dealing with euro-denominated transactions to be located within the Eurozone. The court ruled that the ECB lacked the authority to require CCPs involved in clearing securities to be located within the ...
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U.K. Financial Regulator Boosting Individual Accountability, Audit Rules
Image: Title: BaileyThe U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority says individual senior managers of financial firms could face sanctions if a breach occurs in their area of responsibility and it’s proven the manager took no reasonable steps to avoid it. “Our new accountability regime will hold all senior managers, including non-executive directors, ...
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EU Agencies Slow to Implement Whistleblowing Policies
Image: Title: O'ReillyDespite a year-old mandate to implement internal whistleblowing rules, only the European Commission and the Court of Auditors have followed through, according to EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly. O’Reilly said, “The public needs to know that the EU institutions welcome whistleblowing and protect whistleblowers against retaliation to make ...
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U.K. Fraud Office Loses Corruption Case, Owes £6M Legal Bill
Image: The Serious Fraud Office is facing a £6M legal bill after a judge dismissed a case in which the agency attempted to retry six people over an alleged fraud using a legal method known as “voluntary bill of indictment.” Justice Hickinbottom said, “Once the dismissal application had been formally ...
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Transparency Watchdog Calls for End to Money Laundering ‘Impunity’
Image: Title: UgazTransparency International is calling on governments around the world to join together to end money laundering. The group says authorities should make it their highest priority to prosecute individuals and banks for conducting illicit financial transactions. TI board chairman Jose Ugaz said the lack of senior ...
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Belgium Eyeing Arrest Warrants for HSBC Managers
It hasn’t been an easy week for London-based HSBC. Rocked last weekend by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Swiss Leaks probe, detailing massive tax evasion by HSBC’s private Swiss bank, HSBC is now faced with the prospect of Belgian authorities issuing arrest warrants for former and current managers ...
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EU Firms Face New AML Rules, Beneficial Ownership Registry
Image: Title: SargentiniThe European Union is pressing forward with its overhaul of anti-money laundering rules to clamp down on tax evasion and the financing of terrorism. The Council of the European Union signed off on the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, tightening due diligence and reporting requirements, creating registers of beneficial ...
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European Commission Probing Belgian Tax Scheme for Unlawful State Aid
Image: Title: VestagerThe European Commission is investigating whether Belgium’s “excess profit” rule, which allows certain companies to get deep deductions on taxable profits by claiming economies of scale stemming from being part of a multinational group, is breaking EU competition laws. “If our concerns are confirmed, this generalized scheme would ...