In recommendations submitted to the European Commission as part of its review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, ESMA called for tougher rules on crypto marketing, greater transparency over costs and new requirements for staking, lending and borrowing. It also wants stronger powers to confront unauthorized firms, fraudulent websites and services tied to stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA.
The PCAOB has revised QC 1000 just months before the new quality control standard is due to take effect, removing several requirements and giving audit firms more flexibility over how their quality control systems are structured, evaluated and documented.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is proposing tighter governance requirements for the financial institutions whose decisions carry the greatest consequences, while easing some of the same rules for firms that pose less risk to customers and the financial system.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, or UOKiK, has imposed more than $3.5 million (PLN 13.5 million) in fines after finding that contractors coordinated their behavior in 11 tenders organized by electricity distributor PGE Dystrybucja. The contracts covered the construction and modernization of electricity grid infrastructure, including switching and disconnection points.
Enterprise risk management has reached the top of the audit committee’s priority list. AI governance is not far behind, though the people charged with overseeing it are considerably less certain they have the machinery in place to do the job.
FINRA has ordered American Portfolios Financial Services to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution and fined the firm $400,000 over supervisory failures that left hundreds of investors paying unnecessary costs and fees on unit investment trusts.
Swiss financial regulator FINMA has found serious risk management and anti-money laundering failures at Julius Bär, concluding an enforcement proceeding that exposed weaknesses in more than $1.26 billion (CHF 1 billion) of private debt lending and in the bank’s handling of clients linked to two Russian politically exposed persons.