GRC Report Staff

Hong Kong’s market regulator laid out a blunt assessment of what it found while reviewing the account opening practices of 12 securities brokers. Some firms accepted questionable or forged documents during onboarding. Some performed inadequate due diligence on account opening materials. Others showed weaknesses in the way they handled cross-border correspondent relationships with overseas intermediaries. The regulator’s language became noticeably sharper when discussing the misuse of investment accounts for suspicious or illicit transactions and the corresponding rise in money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

The European Commission has published its third annual report on the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), outlining a year marked by enforcement actions, expanding investigations, and continued efforts to shape competition rules for some of the world’s largest digital platforms.

The latest System Risk Outlook from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is, on paper, a reassuring document. Australia’s financial system remains strong. Banks are well capitalized. Insurers hold solid liquidity positions. Stress testing suggests the system can withstand severe shocks, including a deep global recession combined with funding stress and operational disruption.

On Tuesday, the FTC said it had warned 12 companies that they appear to be failing to comply with the Take It Down Act, the federal law that officially entered enforcement this week after a one-year compliance period. The problem, according to the FTC, is not especially complicated. The companies allegedly do not appear to provide victims with a legally compliant process for requesting the removal of nonconsensual intimate images appearing on their platforms.

On Wednesday, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre ordered Bankstown District Sports Club to appoint an external auditor after raising concerns that the club’s anti-money laundering controls may not be strong enough to prevent criminal exploitation.

There was a line in Chee Hong Tat’s speech that probably would have sounded strange to anyone expecting the usual polished climate conference choreography.

A debate over heat maps was always going to draw attention at SWISS GRC DAY 2026. Not because anyone in governance genuinely loves them anymore, but because they still sit everywhere, from inside board decks, quarterly reports, audit presentations, and risk committee updates long after many organizations quietly stopped trusting them.