GRC Report Staff

In his closing speech at the Proportionality Conference in Bonn on September 16, 2026, BaFin President Mark Branson said the regulator will keep pushing for simpler, more proportionate, and more risk-oriented regulation, provided financial stability is not jeopardized. He tied the new flexibility to institutions' own governance and risk culture, and signaled that supervisors will scrutinize both more closely. Compliance teams should expect less rule-citing and more qualitative, institution-specific supervisory engagement.

A newly published declaration from Margarida Lima Rego, a member of the Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), affirms her independence and the absence of any conflicting interests under Article 59(6) of the ESA founding regulations. This is a routine governance filing, not a new obligation. It still matters to compliance teams because the Board of Appeal's independence underpins the integrity of appeals against EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA decisions.

The FCA has issued a clone firm warning about themoneycompass.net, which is fraudulently posing as the authorized firm Money Compass Limited (FRN 480594). Consumers who deal with the clone have no access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Compliance teams should treat this as a fraud typology and a brand-impersonation risk, and update their controls accordingly.

The Hong Kong SFC has endorsed the Chief Executive's first Five-Year Plan and 2026 Policy Address, which prioritize offshore RMB business, asset and wealth management, risk management, and capital markets competitiveness. The release imposes no new obligations, but it signals the direction of future SFC policy. Compliance teams should treat it as an early indicator of coming rule-making and supervisory focus.

Following a May-June 2026 risk-based inspection, Finanstilsynet identified elevated credit risk at Sparekassen Danmark and issued one formal order: the bank's compliance function must assess whether its compliance procedures and methods are effective, rather than relying mainly on document reviews. The solvency requirement was unchanged at 9.5 percent, but the findings show supervisory expectations for second-line testing and credit underwriting discipline that other institutions should heed.

The European Commission has preliminarily found that TikTok breached the European Union's Digital Services Act by failing to adequately assess and address the risks posed by its recommendation algorithm, which regulators say can repeatedly expose users to content involving mental health struggles, eating disorders and body image.

South Korean financial authorities say some listed companies have been suspected of changing the number of directors they appoint or adjusting election schedules to avoid new voting rules intended to strengthen minority shareholder representation. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Korea Exchange (KRX) announced revisions to corporate governance disclosure guidelines on November 6, requiring companies to provide more information about board appointments, potentially dilutive share issuances and shareholder returns.