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Relief Over SFTR Alignment Following Treasury Statement
The UK Treasury released a statement last week confirming plans to align post-Brexit legislation with the EU’s Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR), the first phase reporting requirements of which are due to come into force in July, 2020 (delayed from the original 13 April deadline to to COVID-19 pressures). The regulation requires firms to report…
FATF Echoes SmartSearch in Call for Digital Onboarding
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a multinational body that sets a global approach to fighting money laundering and financial crime, has backed a call by UK-based anti-money laundering software specialist SmartSearch urging businesses to employ digital customer onboarding processes during the coronavirus lockdown. SmartSearch stresses that firms relying “outdated paper-based ID checks” should switch…
IBM and Fenergo Join Forces on Financial Crime
Client lifecycle management (CLM) specialist Fenergo has partnered with IBM for an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreement that will allow the two firms to collaborate on the development of new financial risk solutions for their clients that combine Fenergo’s CLM offering with IBM Watson’s anti-money laundering and KYC portfolio. As a result of the partnership,…
SEC Delays CAT Reporting Due to COVID-19 Concerns
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed a delayed start for Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) reporting, upon condition of compliance with certain other obligations, including milestones related to testing and releases of CAT functionality, as well as all other compliance dates for broker-dealer reporting to the CAT. Although the original reporting deadline for…
SmartSearch Hailed in Sunday Times Profit Track List
Yorkshire-based anti-money laundering software specialists SmartSearch have achieved 15th position in the 2020 Sunday Times Profit Track list, which recognises the British companies with the fastest-growing profits over the last three years. The firm has seen an increase of more than 80% in profits over the past year, and a six-fold rise over the three-year…
Industry Associations Warn that COVID-19 Could Cause Problems for SRD II
The International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) has joined forces with a multitude of other industry associations to urge a 12-month delay in the implementation of the regulation, laid out in an open letter to the European Commission. Currently scheduled to come into force on 3 September 2020, the regulation is an amendment to SRD I…
Evidology Integrates RegTech Platform with Microsoft Office 365
London-based compliance management specialist Evidology Systems has integrated its second-generation RegTech platform QED with Office 365, bringing the visibility of principles-based regulations into daily business workflows. The QED (Quality and Evidence Driven) platform, launched back in November 2019, combines real-time specialist legal opinion with principles-based regulations compliance software. Using an industry-standard visualisation tool and intranet…
FCA Business Priorities Could Be Derailed By COVID-19
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has laid out its business priorities for the year ahead, but warns that it will focus on the challenges presented by the coronavirus epidemic, which could lead to a shift in priorities as the year progresses. The FCA identifies four primary objectives for the coming year: including enabling effective consumer…
Westpac Provisions $900m for Record AML Fine
Australian bank Westpac has reportedly set aside $900 million to cover its “potential liability” in what could be the biggest corporate fine in Australia’s history, following accusations by AUSTRAC (the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, a government financial intelligence unit set up to combat financial crime) of 23 million breaches of AML and counter…
ESMA and MAS Sign MOU on Singapore’s Financial Benchmarks
ESMA, the EU’s securities markets regulator, has signed an agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) completing the process to allow the use of Singapore’s financial benchmarks in the EU. Under the MOU, ESMA and MAS will share information and supervisory activities on Singapore-regulated financial benchmarks. The signing of the MOU follows the European…