Financial Regulatory Forum

By Mark Davies, contributing author for Compliance Complete

LONDON, Apr. 18 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – Continuing efforts by financial regulators and by firms themselves to monitor and offset risk have affected almost all areas of firms’ operations, including the management and maintenance of data. The overhaul of global systems following the financial crisis has led to an audit of data, and specifically of the information which firms hold about themselves and their counterparties or clients, known as business entity reference data.

More regulation

This “data exploration” is being driven by the cumulative effect of several individual pieces of regulation, including the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) and Solvency II in Europe and the Dodd-Frank Act and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in the U.S., all of which are likely to have an impact globally. The primary goal of these proposals, with the exception of FATCA, is to improve risk management in the financial system.  (more…)

By Stuart Gittleman, Compliance Complete

NEW YORK, Dec. 21 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - A “highly polarized (and) politicized environment” had made the job of defending against a regulatory investigation particularly challenging, Lawrence Zweifach, a Gibson Dunn law partner, told attendees at a New York City Bar Association program last week. But there are steps a firm can to take to face the challenges.

The high-pressured atmosphere is affecting judges, regulators and legislators, and leading to cases “that will not stand up in the long run” to be brought, said Andrew Levander, a Dechert law partner. (more…)

By Emmanuel Olaoye, Compliance Complete

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday approved a final rule that would require firms registered with the agency to record the oral communications of their brokers for up to a year.

Firms would have to start recording conversations on telephones, voicemail, cell-phones and other media if they trade in a “commodity interest”.  (more…)

By Brett Wolf

WASHINGTON, July 18 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - After widespread anti-money laundering (AML) failures at HSBC that continued for years due to lax regulatory oversight, a U.S. bank regulator has vowed to take a broader view of institutions’ compliance programs during examinations.

“The agency was much too slow in responding and addressing what are significant weaknesses or violations at this institution. Going forward, I would hope that we would be much more nimble and take into account the entire picture,” Thomas Curry, who took over as Comptroller of the Currency less than four months ago, said on Tuesday during a hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. (more…)

By Martin Coyle and Julie DiMauro

NEW YORK/LONDON, June 1 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – The collapse of U.S. law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf underscores the importance to financial companies of gaining access to their legal records, ensuring continuity of advice, and safeguarding privileged information, according to regulatory lawyers and experts. Dewey, once one of the largest U.S. law firms with deep ties to Wall Street, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week after failing to find a willing merger partner, and its UK unit was placed under administration. The former legal giant was saddled with $100 million debts, a criminal investigation and the departure of senior staff. It is likely to be liquidated. The failure is the biggest in the history of U.S. law firms. (more…)

HONG KONG/NEW YORK, March 26 (Business Law Currents) – China’s bourse regulators and the nation’s IPO watchdog, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, have been busy brainstorming improvements to legislation governing the disclosure requirements of listed companies in the PRC.

Aiming to bring increased transparency and other investor protection merits often associated with a disclosure-based securities regulatory framework, the CSRC is contemplating models from Hong Kong, the United States and other jurisdictions where listed companies are required to publicly disclose corporate and financial statements in a timely manner. (more…)