AI Governance

The Basel Institute for Governance published a reflective piece examining whether businesses, particularly SMEs, would maintain strong governance and anti-corruption practices absent regulatory requirements. The article argues that governance, compliance, and culture are interdependent, and that proportionate, principles-based governance frameworks can strengthen organizational resilience and stakeholder trust even amid reduced regulatory pressure and ESG retrenchment.

FinCEN has issued a renewed Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) imposing additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements on certain money services businesses (MSBs) operating along the Southwest border. This action requires affected MSBs to report cash transactions at lower thresholds than standard Bank Secrecy Act requirements, reflecting continued regulatory concern over cross-border illicit finance, including drug trafficking and smuggling proceeds. Compliance teams at impacted MSBs must promptly update transaction monitoring and reporting procedures to remain compliant with the order's specific geographic and dollar-threshold triggers.

BaFin has issued a public warning against the website 37mh(.)com, which is offering cryptocurrency services in Germany without the required authorization and falsely claiming BaFin supervision. This serves as a reminder to compliance teams of ongoing enforcement against unlicensed crypto operators and the importance of verifying regulatory claims made by third parties or counterparties.

Japan's Financial Services Agency has issued a consumer alert warning of "secondary damage" scams in which fraudsters target victims of failed real estate specified joint enterprise investments, falsely promising recovery of lost funds in exchange for fees or purchase of additional investment products. Compliance teams at financial institutions and real estate joint venture operators should note the heightened regulatory scrutiny on the sector and ensure customer-facing staff can recognize and redirect potential victims to appropriate consumer protection channels.

BaFin has issued a public warning that east-stock(.)com is offering financial and securities services in Germany without required authorization and is falsely claiming BaFin supervision. Compliance teams should treat this as a consumer protection and fraud alert, ensuring internal watchlists and client communications reflect this unauthorized entity.

APRA has appointed David Bradbury as Deputy Chair for a five-year term, with responsibility for oversight of the superannuation sector. This appointment finalizes APRA's Executive Board, providing superannuation trustees and industry participants with clarity on the regulator's leadership structure and supervisory focus going forward.

The Deutsche Bundesbank's Baden-Württemberg main office is hosting a virtual educational training session on January 27, 2027, covering Eurosystem monetary policy, German economic indicators, and foreign trade/balance of payments topics. This is an educational outreach event rather than binding regulatory guidance, and has limited direct compliance impact but may offer value for staff economic literacy.