Compliance & Ethics

In its Supervisory Priorities for 2026, the Malta Financial Services Authority outlines a roadmap that leans heavily into financial crime compliance and consumer protection, while continuing to track digital transformation and cross-border risks. The document reflects a regulator balancing two pressures at once: keeping pace with sweeping EU reforms and reinforcing domestic standards across a diverse financial services landscape.

New figures released by Australian Securities and Investments Commission show that between July and December 2025, the watchdog secured $230.9 million (AUD $349.8 million) in court-ordered civil penalties, the highest six-month total in its history. Over the same period, its actions set in motion $385.1 million (AUD $583 million) in refunds, remediation payments, and investor returns.

Spain’s competition authority is once again turning its attention to Apple and Amazon, and this time not for the original conduct that led to a €194 million fine, but for what it says was a failure to stop it quickly enough.

Ofcom has announced it has fined adult content provider 8579 LLC a total of £1.4 million for failing to put age checks in place, as required under the Online Safety Act.

Sweden’s financial watchdog has opened a fresh investigation into Swedbank, this time zeroing in on whether the bank has complied with money laundering regulations, and, more specifically, whether it has done enough to truly know its customers.

A federal judge in Manhattan has handed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a win in its case against purported investment adviser Bluesky Eagle Capital Management, entering a final judgment by default after the firm failed to defend itself against allegations that it made material misrepresentations in an SEC filing.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has reached a $1,720,000 settlement with IMG Academy, concluding a case that stretches across five academic years and nearly 90 transactions tied to individuals sanctioned under U.S. counternarcotics laws.