Compliance Clarified – a podcast by Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence

In this episode Lindsey Rogerson, senior editor, is joined by Trond Vagen, senior editor for European Financial Markets Regulation, to discuss the mounting sustainability-related workload for bank and investment compliance officers. Trond discusses the European Central Bank’s (ECB) expectations for banks to accurately assess the climate and environmental risks on their balance sheets. With just nine months remaining before the deadline and the possibility of daily fines, increased capital requirements and a fit and proper assessment for institutions that get it wrong, time is running out.Lindsey runs through the additions to sustainability legislation made in the last few weeks. The EU parliament’s five-year term is drawing to an end and there has been a wave of regulations and directives in the sustainability space that will impact the work of compliance officers for years to come.There has also been some tinkering with regulations that have already passed as politicians seeking re-election strive to appease some of their more vocal voters. Links:Frank Elderson speech: https://www.bankingsupervision.europa.eu/press/speeches/speaker/vice-chair/html/index.en.html Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.

Podcast discusses how Russia is navigating sanctions amid war in Ukraine, challenges faced by financial firms, impact of Executive Order 14114, complexities of export controls, global cyber-enabled financial crime, and compliance challenges for financial services firms

Welcome to Compliance Clarified's 100th episode!This week Rachel Wolcott, senior editor and Lindsey Rogerson, senior editor in London speak to a specialguest Ann Francke Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute in London, a professional body for management and leadership. This International Women's Day podcast looks at the backlash that's hit efforts to get women into the workplace and on an equal footing. We focus on financial services, but this is an issue that reverberates throughout society. In financial services, there has been a backlash against environment, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and despite a lot of talk about diversity and inclusion, such efforts have stalled. Fear of ESG and D&I has been conflated into an anti-woke and in some places, anti-woman agenda and with some politicians and pundits describing measures to tackle climate change and inequality as a societal risk. Equality initiatives are also some of the first to get cut when things get tough.The Chartered Management Institute, for example, found that one in three male managers (31%) think that too much effort is going into ensuring workplace gender balance. So, how do companies, financial services firms and regulators who want to take D&I or ESG forward stand up to the political and societal backlash?More on Ann:She started her career at Procter & Gamble and has held senior executive positions at Mars, Boots, Yell and BSI. In 2020, Ann was awarded an OBE for services to workplace equality. Ann is an expert on gender balance in the workplace and speaks frequently in the media and conferences on this and other management topics. Her book (https://amzn.eu/d/bCRewdP) on gender balance - Create a Gender-balanced Workplace, published in September 2019.Links to previous International Women's Day podcasts:2023 Season 7, Episode 7: International Women’s Day special: How to ensure diversity and inclusion initiatives deliver meaningful outcomes - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/season-7-episode-7-international-womens-day-special/id1548510826?i=10006032625242022 Season 4, Episode 6: Celebrating International Women's Day -https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/season-4-episode-6-celebrating-international-womens-day/id1548510826?i=1000553278776 Contact usrachel.wolcott@thomsonreuters.comlindsey.rogerson@thomsonreuters.comMore information about Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence: https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/regulatory-intelligence Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.

Podcast discusses the recent insider dealing conviction by the UK FCA, highlighting loopholes in insider dealing lists and failed defense arguments. They explore market abuse, updates to the criminal regime, and connections to organized crime. The episode covers trading patterns, personal impacts, and regulatory challenges in combating insider trading.

Industrial scale money laundering originating in Southeast Asia's Mekong region has gone global. It's the infrastructure that handles the proceeds of pig butchering scams, child pornography, trade in human body parts, illegal gambling, drug trafficking and people trafficking. Cross-border crime networks fueled by cryptocurrency is linking the world's most dangerous criminals and allowing them to scale up and automate money laundering. This activity is increasingly linked to terrorist financing as well as sanctions evasion.In this episode Helen Chan, Regulatory Intelligence expert joins Rachel Wolcott, senior editor to discuss the scale and scope of crypto money-laundering-as-a-service and its origins in Southeast Asia's gambling industry. Helen and Rachel talk listeners through how crypto exchanges may be using regulatory arbitrage to get licensed, which in turn can open the door to organized crime groups. To date China and the U.S. have mounted the strongest regulatory and enforcement response, while other jurisdictions like the UK and the European Union seem to be operating on an outdated assumption that crypto money laundering is low risk. Links:UN Office on Drugs and Crime report: Casinos, Money Laundering, Underground Banking and Transnational Organized Crime in East and Southeast Asia: A hidden and accelerating threat: https://www.unodc.org/roseap/uploads/documents/Publications/2024/Casino_Underground_Banking_Report_2024.pdfANALYSIS: Highspeed wash: how organized crime's global crypto, gambling networks automated money launderingInside paywall: http://go-ri.tr.com/09c1JaOutside paywall https://regintel-content.thomsonreuters.com/document/I7F1F59A0CF4811EE95DBBC91F36F90D4 KYC: Firms marketing super-fast customer onboarding vulnerable to account-opening, mule attacks: https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/investigation-fraud-and-risk/kyc-update-customer-on-boarding/ IMPACT ANALYSIS: Fake regulators and VATPs surface on new fraud front in Hong Kong: http://go-ri.tr.com/VYGpP2 COLUMN: China’s crackdown on "pig butchering" invites domestic crypto scrutiny: http://go-ri.tr.com/kRawN7 Reuters report on Alvin Chau, Macao gambling tycoon: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/macau-court-sentences-junket-mogul-18-years-jail-tvb-2023-01-18/Connecting Chinese and American Scam Victims: https://www.chainargos.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Connecting-Chinese-and-American-Scam-Victims-9-January-2024.pdfCrypto exchange HTX's Seychelles strike off complicates asset recovery efforts, increases compliance risk for partner firms: http://go-ri.tr.com/htRT2h https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7118129918885961729/ Contact us:Helen.Chan@thomsonreuters.comRachel.wolcott@thomsonreuters.com Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.

Brett Wolf, a U.S. anti-money-laundering reporter, and Nick Kochan, a freelance financial crime journalist, discuss the escalating focus on bribery and corruption for 2024. They dive into the UK's Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, a major reform tackling economic crime. The conversation highlights challenges for the Serious Fraud Office under new leadership and anticipates changes in the U.S. Treasury's anti-corruption strategy, marking corruption as a national security threat. Get insights into the shifting political landscape impacting corporate accountability.

When it comes to crypto regulation the United States is a global outlier because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Gary Gensler its chief executive, steadfastly believe crypto assets are securities as defined by current legislation. Where the SEC sees issues, it pursues crypto businesses through the courts and in turn, sometimes companies sue the regulator.Litigation, not regulation, is how spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF) came to launch in mid-January despite SEC objections. Grayscale Investments sued the SEC last year after it refused its application to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF. The SEC declined to appeal and ultimately approved 11 ETF applications at the same time.In this episode, Todd Ehret, senior regulatory expert in the U.S. and Rachel Wolcott senior editor in London discuss spot BTC ETFs' launch, the SEC's Twitter fail, ETF fee wars, custody and what firms selling these products should be aware of in terms of customer suitability.Regulatory Intelligence published outlook pieces throughout January, including for crypto. Please see the link below for our rundown of crypto regulatory developments in the U.S., UK, Europe, Singapore, and Hong Kong.LinksINSIGHT: Compliance considerations for broker-dealers and investment advisers surrounding Bitcoin ETFs: www.regintel-content.thomsonreuters.com/document/IA098EF20BA3E11EEAE81D84738F78F00OUTLOOK 2024-Litigation vs regulation; divide opens between U.S. and rest of the world on approach to crypto: http://go-ri.tr.com/kiapX5Compliance Clarified Season 9, Episode 10: Cross-border crypto fraud enforcement and the globalization of money laundering as a service: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/season-9-episode-10-cross-border-crypto-fraud-enforcement/id1548510826?i=1000637022734Tether and pig butchering: chainargos.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Connecting-Chinese-and-American-Scam-Victims-9-January-2024.pdfCasinos and cryptocurrency: Major drivers of money laundering, underground banking, and cyberfraud in East and Southeast Asia: unodc.org/roseap/en/2024/casinos-casinos-cryptocurrency-underground-banking/story.html Contact us:Todd.ehret@thomsonreuters.comRachel.wolcott@thomsonreuters.com Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.

In this episode, Lindsey Rogerson, senior editor at Regulatory Intelligence is joined by Henry Engler, senior editor, to discuss what is happening with climate reporting for U.S. financial firms.Uncertainty looms large over sustainability regulation at the Federal level. The possible return to the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump and two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and their likely effect on climate rules in the financial sector are discussed.At the State level it is a different picture. California lawmakers passing California SB-253 Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB253) and SB-261 Greenhouse gases: climate-related financial risk Act (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB261) mean there is a lot for compliance, legal and risk professionals to be getting on with.Henry sets out what firms need to be doing now to ensure they are ready for the new rules by 2026. LinksRecording of Henry Stern speaking on a panel at COP28: www.youtube.com/live/lGTasIEUmzA?feature=shareESG: Navigating past the noise by Henry Engler, Lindsey Rogerson and Yixiang Zeng can be downloaded here: www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/esg/esg-navigating-past-the-noise/Green House Gas Protocol: https://ghgprotocol.org/scope-3-calculation-guidance-2 Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.

Trond Vagen and Mike Cowan discuss the challenges facing compliance officers in 2024 including geopolitical unrest, economic instability, crypto asset developments, and the impact of artificial intelligence solutions. They also touch on changes to traditional compliance areas such as culture, conduct, and financial crime prevention.

The United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP28) is underway in Dubai. Past COPs have led to governmental initiatives that have real consequences for financial services businesses in their day-to-day operations. Transition plans and internationally agreed sustainable reporting standards are two examples of this.In this episode of Compliance Clarified, Alexander Robson, managing editor of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence, is joined from Dubai by Lindsey Rogerson, senior editor for Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence, to discuss the key initiatives emerging from COP28 and what they will likely mean for financial market participants.The discussion includes the methane pledge and what that will mean for asset managers and banks' lending books, and the significance of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCOs) consultation of 21 good practices for integrity in carbon markets. It also considers some of the emerging winners in terms of asset managers winning multi-billion-dollar investment mandates.The Compliance Clarified podcast series covers a wide range of topics that affect compliance officers at financial institutions and aims to help them navigate the often challenging regulatory environment. It considers the significant challenges of the day and offers practical ideas for emerging best practices.The podcast is available on Google, Apple & SpotifyAdditional resources:Navigating Past the Noise Report from Thomson Reuters: www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/ESG_Navigating-Past-the-Noise.pdfAsset managers with proven green credentials to benefit from wall of money: http://go-ri.tr.com/qEbXTICentral banks announce task force on adaptation finance: http://go-ri.tr.com/tZIsYMNet Zero Banking Alliance unveils transition finance metrics to help banks better report on decarbonisation efforts: http://go-ri.tr.com/J9bIfxCFTC consults on voluntary carbon derivatives, as voluntary framework reached on environmental offset standards: http://go-ri.tr.com/WWCVNtIOSCO consults on good practices to promote integrity in voluntary carbon markets: http://go-ri.tr.com/2qPwFgIFRS launches sustainable knowledge hub at COP28: http://go-ri.tr.com/gEoJIo Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence.Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.