Compliance Clarified – a podcast by Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence

The triggering of a complete write-down of the nominal value of all Credit Suisse AT1 debt has come as a shock to some investors. Regulators took what some saw as an irregular move to write down 16 billion Swiss francs of Credit Suisse bonds, known as Additional Tier 1 or AT1 debt, to zero, during UBS's rescue of Credit Suisse on the weekend of March 18/19. In this episode of Compliance Clarified,...

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank sent shockwaves through the venture capital and technology industries. It has had uncomfortable echoes of the 2008 financial crisis with regulators and other policymakers working through the weekend to engineer solutions to avoid further contagion and possible systemic risk. And that was the weekend of 11/12 March; this weekend just gone, regulators and policyma...

The world's largest primary bullion producer, Australia's Perth Mint, has found itself at the centre of one of the country's biggest risk and compliance failures following a six-month investigation led by Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. The government-owned entity has found itself defending regulatory spot fires on a range of fronts. These include a major money laundering audit, answering...

This special episode of Compliance Clarified was recorded for International Women’s Day. Rachel Wolcott and Lindsey Rogerson, both senior editors at Regulatory Intelligence in London, are joined by Dr Louise Ashley of Queen Mary University’s London School of Business and Management and Centre for Research on Equality and Diversity. Louise has spent a decade researching social inclusion in the City...

"Do as I say, not as I do," is an adage that will echo through the ages. But rarely do we hear it uttered within the hallowed halls of financial regulators. In Australia, this month, the adage is ringing loudly and clearly at the financial conduct regulator. A misconduct investigation involving the most senior staff at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has highlighted the...

This episode of Compliance Clarified looks at the UK enforcement outlook for 2023 and, notably, the work of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Change is in the air with the arrival of Ashley Alder as chairman from Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission and the upcoming departure this spring of Mark Steward, the FCA's long-serving enforcement director. In this episode, Alexander Robson,...

The U.S. SEC’s annual list of examination priorities is a key document setting the agenda for financial services compliance professionals on Wall Street and Main Street. This year the regulator signals it will be examining investment advisers and broker-dealers in light of the “tumult and change” caused by geopolitical and economic events, as well as by rule changes it has imposed in recent years....

If there is one certainty for compliance professionals in the year ahead, it's that they need to be ready for the unexpected. This episode looks at the top regulatory trends for financial services firms in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023. Discussion topics include cyber risk, the war in Ukraine, the post-pandemic economic recovery, and emerging market economic crises, which all set the stage for a...

This episode looks at top concerns for U.S. financial services compliance professionals this year. Among the biggest emerging issues: Regulatory scrutiny over Wall Street’s involvement in the crypto sector, a proposed revamp of the securities market structure, increased scrutiny of private equity and accounting, and new regulatory exam priorities. In this episode of Compliance Clarified, Randall M...

In the first episode of the new series of Compliance Clarified we discuss 10 things UK and EU Compliance officers need to consider in 2023. In 2022, the financial services sector was influenced by many different factors. On a global level geopolitical, climate and economic risks dominated government’s agendas. Financial services firms were having to find new and innovative ways to address these ch...

This episode of Compliance Clarified explores the obligations of U.S. investment advisers under a new regulation that gives giving them more opportunities to advertise. The marketing rule adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission took full effect in November. It is designed to let advisers use many methods long practiced in other industries, including testimonials, endorsements, perfo...

The first significant post-Brexit changes to UK financial services regulation were announced on December 9 by Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer. The so-called 'Edinburgh Reforms' represent an attempt to honour government election manifesto promises and include possible changes to the Senior Mangers Regime, short selling, Solvency II and research rules under MiFID 2, among others. In this ep...

This episode of Compliance Clarified considers the regulatory future of digital assets following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The failure has turned as many as 1 million customers from account holders into bankruptcy creditors, and cost its backers hundreds of millions of dollars. Regulators around the world are investigating what FTX’s new CEO called a “complete failure of corpora...

The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) aims to ensure that all participants in the financial system have the necessary safeguards in place to mitigate cyber-attacks and other risks. The legislation will require firms to ensure that they can withstand all types of ICT-related disruptions and threats. It complements existing laws such as the Network and Information Security Directive (NISD...

Australian gambling giant Star Entertainment Group was last month fined A$100 million for failing to stop money laundering at its Sydney casino. The group's licence to operate the casino has also been suspended. Casino operators in Australia have been under great pressure to reform their gambling operations following reports of widespread criminal activity. The record penalties were announced in r...

This episode examines two consultations published by securities regulators at the COP27 climate conference designed to foster fair and efficient carbon markets. One deals with voluntary carbon credits and the other deals with so-called CCMs (compliance carbon markets) and aims to assist with the establishment and supervision of national/governmental schemes. In this episode, Alexander Robson, mana...

Financial crime teams are being urged to pay greater attention to illicit transactions linked to money laundering, illegal betting and corruption. The problem is particularly endemic in the Asia-Pacific region, where gambling is a major way of life. Banks, casinos and other reporting entities are largely oblivious to the extent that organised crime groups have infiltrated the sector, according to...

This episode examines the impact of Hurricane Ian and, more broadly, climate change, on the insurance industry. The September storm killed at least 119 people and caused at least $50 billion in damage in Florida alone. It may be the state’s costliest storm ever but is only the latest in a series of increasingly severe storms, droughts and wildfires that scientists say are consistent with predicted...

This episode examines the UK Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, now before the House of Commons. The legislation is the second part of the government's economic crime plan, announced under the then Cameron government, and which was given fresh impetus by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a determination to crack down on dirty and kleptocratic money in London. In this episode of Complia...

This episode examines a crackdown by U.S. regulators against “off-channel” communications on Wall Street. In September 11 major firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America were fined a total of $1.8 billion for regulatory violations involving the use of unauthorized communications including texts and WhatsApp instant messages. The violations involved tens of thousands of mess...

In the tenth and final episode of season 5 of the Compliance Clarified podcast, Susannah Hammond is joined by Helen Chan and Lindsey Rogerson to take another look at personal liability and accountability in financial services. Many jurisdictions have introduced personal accountability regimes in order to drive better risk aware behaviours by senior managers. The practical impact of which was highl...

In the ninth episode of season 5 of the Compliance Clarified podcast, Susannah Hammond is joined by her co-author of the Cost of Compliance report Mike Cowan to take a look at the key findings from the 2022 report. The 2022 cost of compliance report is 13th annual survey report focusing on the challenges expected to be faced by risk and compliance functions at financial services firms around the w...

In the eighth episode of season 5 of the Compliance Clarified podcast, Susannah Hammond is joined by Lindsey Rogerson, Todd Ehret and David Bickley (from Thomson Reuters Practical Law) to take a look at the future of financial services and the sheer breadth of the regulatory change agenda. Compliance officers will be all too familiar with regulatory change – it is the gift that keeps on giving and...

In the seventh episode of season 5 of the Compliance Clarified podcast, Susannah Hammond is joined by Mike Cowan to look at the compliance challenges posed by data governance. In a digital age more than ever, firms need to embrace the fact that data is a vital strategic asset and from there build a business-wide approach to data aggregation, management, storage, security, retrieval, and destructio...

In the fifth episode of season 6 of the Compliance Clarified podcast, Susannah Hammond is joined by Rachel Wolcott and Brett Wolf to look at the compliance challenges posed by financial crime in general and sanctions in particular. Links to content referenced in the discussion: European Banking Authority new guidelines for MLROs which come into effect on December 1 2022 https://www.eba.europa.eu/s...