Moody’s Analytics Wins Contract to Fight Financial Crime in European Union

Moody’s Analytics has won a framework contract worth up to €34 million from the European Commission to strengthen its anti-fraud, money laundering and financial crime effort. The four-year contract will be managed by the Commission’s European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and will use the Orbis database operated by Bueau van Dijk, a Moody’s Analytics subsidiary, to access company data, information on connected individuals, and risk indicators.

Organisations working with the Orbis data will include the European Court of Auditors, European Banking Authority, European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Europol and up to 30 Directorate Generals of the EC. They will apply the data to form a comprehensive understanding of the increasing threat of fraud and financial crime in the EU.

FIX Protocol Includes Digital Token Identifier

The Digital Token Identifier (DTI) ISO standard has been added to the Financial Information eXchange (FIX) Protocol, the industry-standard messaging protocol for electronic communication. The addition means financial institutions will be able to use the FIX Protocol to send messages with DTIs both internally and externally.

The DTI standard is increasingly being used as it uniquely identifies digital ledgers, digital tokens and cryptocurrencies using publicly available information. It can also be used by regulators to monitor digital asset trades for anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing requirements, and for monitoring systemic risks arising from trading of global stable-coins and other digital assets. The DTI has also been recommended by ESMA as a risk management measure under the DLT Pilot regime.

RepRisk Makes ESG Data Accessible from Snowflake Marketplace

RepRisk’s ESG risk data is now available on Snowflake Marketplace, giving sustainable market professionals easy access to the Swiss company’s content without having to adapt their internal processes.

Through Snowflake’s platform, RepRisk says customers can be assured of data security, scalability, assessment and governance. Its data is collated from sources other than corporate self-disclosures to ensure investors are provided with independent information.

ISS ESG Provides US Cyber Risks Visibility for Sustainability Investors

ESG investors are now able to monitor companies’ cyber risks through a new service provided by ISS ESG. The ISS ESG US Cyber Risk Index offers clients visibility into which corporates face the highest risk of digital intrusion based on their cyber security provisions.

ISS ESG, the sustainable investment unit of Institutional Shareholder Services, said the index is based on is Cyber Risk Scores.

European Parliament Adopts CSRD

The European Union’s parliament has endorsed the creation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the regulation that’s intended to oblige larger non-financial companies to disclose their ESG performance. The parliament overwhelmingly approved the formation of the framework, which is to be implemented by the end of next year.

Financial Institutions Spend $1,500 to $3,000 to Complete One Client KYC Review

Financial institutions are spending millions of dollars every year inefficiently onboarding and maintaining clients, according to research from Fenergo, a provider of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) software solutions. A global study of over 1,000 C-level executives across corporate and institutional banks found that, on average, over half are spending between $1,500 and $3,000 to complete just one client KYC review.

The findings also show over half of financial institutions spending between 61 and 150 days on KYC reviews for clients, much of which is spent gathering and inputting data across multiple systems. Overall, more than 80% of respondents have between 1,000 and 2,500 employees working on KYC tasks. Some 90% said labour-intensive KYC impacts their ability to make better risk decisions. However, the data also shows financial institutions now focusing investment on automation with 62% prioritising spend for technology.

Many Firms Are Not Data-Ready for SFDR Level 2

Many financial institutions have yet to grasp the data implications of the European Union’s ESG reporting regulations, while others are scrambling to put in place processes to comply with the developing set of disclosure rules. Read the full story on ESG Insight here.

Many Firms Are Not Data-Ready for SFDR Level 2

Many financial institutions have yet to grasp the data implications of the European Union’s ESG reporting regulations, while others are scrambling to put in place processes to comply with the developing set of disclosure rules. Read the full story on ESG Insight here.

RiskBusiness Acquires Gold Operational Loss Database

RiskBusiness Services has acquired the Global Operational Loss Database (Gold) from partner UK Finance, the former British Bankers Association (BBA). RiskBusiness, a UK-based provider of SaaS-based compliance solutions, plans to offer the Gold database to allow firms to benchmark and measure their exposures to operational risk.

Mike Finlay, CEO and Chief Product Architect, RiskBusiness, says: “As the regulatory community have recognised that theoretical capital calculation models do not, in of themselves, reduce a firm’s exposure to operational risk, so have firms recognized that there are other uses for external loss data than just for capital modelling purposes. If a firm wishes to manage operational or non-financial risk within its risk appetite, then it needs to be able to benchmark and measure itself against its peers in the industry. Gold by RiskBusiness provides exactly the necessary, high quality, external dataset to facilitate proactive risk management, benchmarking and informed decision making.”

Euroclear to Use Taskize for CSDR Penalty Appeals

Euroclear is expanding its use of Taskize’s collaboration tools as the preferred channel for its 2,000+ members to appeal penalties at both the International Central Securities Depository (ICSD) and its domestic CSDs, under the upcoming CSDR Settlement Discipline Regime. Using a Taskize Bubble that has been specifically built around a penalty appeal template, Euroclear members will have a single digital channel to manage the penalties and appeals process.