GRC Report Staff

The UK’s audit watchdog is turning its attention to the backbone of the economy (small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)) with a new push to make audit requirements more proportionate and accessible. On July 17, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) released emerging findings from its ongoing market study into the SME audit landscape, alongside a public consultation on draft guidance aimed at helping auditors take a more tailored approach with smaller businesses.

When things are going well—when markets are humming, innovation is booming, and everyone feels flush—it’s tempting to believe the system is safer than it actually is. That’s exactly the moment risk professionals should be most concerned.

France’s financial markets watchdog has imposed a total of €1,890,000 in fines on eight individuals and two legal entities, including ski infrastructure developer MND and its director, for a series of serious market abuse violations ranging from late disclosure of inside information to insider trading and breaches of professional obligations.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) recently announced that all companies listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) will be required to submit corporate governance reports starting in 2026.

J.P. Morgan Securities has agreed to pay more than $2.18 million to settle charges that it let a pattern of unsuitable short-term trades go unchecked, leaving retail clients with losses while the firm and its representatives raked in fees.

The European Commission is facing scrutiny from the European Ombudsman over its failure to follow its own Better Regulation Guidelines when preparing legislative changes to corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence rules. A formal inquiry led by Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho has revealed that the Commission bypassed critical procedural steps (namely, a public consultation, an impact assessment, and a climate consistency review) without providing adequate justification.

What was once dubbed the “tragedy of the horizon” has now become a clear and present danger. That’s the message from two recent ECB blog posts detailing the urgent economic and financial risks posed by climate change—not just in the long term, but over the next five years. Together, the entries highlight both the growing sophistication of climate risk modeling and the ECB’s sharpened supervisory expectations for banks across the euro area.