GRC Report Staff

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has joined forces with the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) through a newly announced Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This partnership signals a renewed commitment to protecting individuals' data as digital threats become increasingly sophisticated. With the CPPA’s exclusive focus on privacy and the FCC’s broad regulatory powers, both agencies are set to enhance their collaborative efforts to ensure consumers are informed and safeguarded in today’s complex digital landscape.

As the call for transparency in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices intensifies, a recent survey by Ernst & Young (EY) uncovers a troubling reality: both investors and finance leaders are increasingly skeptical about the credibility of nonfinancial reporting. This growing skepticism, exacerbated by perceptions of greenwashing and inconsistent data, highlights the critical role that ESG and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) professionals must play in elevating reporting standards.

Global data protection authorities have issued a follow-up joint statement highlighting new measures for social media companies to enhance protections for personal information, as mass data scraping continues to pose risks, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence. This latest statement reflects insights from recent discussions between 17 data protection authorities and some of the largest social media platforms, deepening the collaboration initially sparked by a joint statement on data scraping in 2023.

In a world where sustainability is no longer just a buzzword, asset managers find themselves facing complex, often thorny challenges around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) recently put this into focus with an in-depth study, pulling back the curtain on the hurdles asset managers face in risk management and compliance tied to ESG.

In a strong message to UK organizations, Information Commissioner John Edwards has emphasized the critical need to prioritize data protection and privacy in order to mitigate the devastating ripple effects of data breaches.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has agreed to pay $433.5 million to settle a securities fraud class action lawsuit in Manhattan federal court. This settlement, once approved by the court, will rank among the 50 largest securities class action settlements in U.S. history since the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator, has released its European Common Enforcement Priorities (ECEP) for 2024 corporate reporting. This annual guidance aims to harmonize supervision across the EU and outlines areas that ESMA, alongside European national enforcers, will focus on as they review corporate reports in 2025.