MyComplianceOffice Blog

2020 has been a scary year and there have been a few things that have spooked the most experienced compliance officer. Covid-19 compliance, regulatory updates and deadlines,  and a few large fines and sanctions haunted firms throughout the year. In this blog, we share our thoughts about recent events that unnerved normal compliance operations and should be considered as we move towards 2021.

Why companies are investing in compliance automation in the first place? The automation conversation is being highlighted like never before thanks to the growing interest in the efficiency of compliance activities and the understanding that without technology firms are relying on weak compliance monitoring.

On September 23rd, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a set of outcomes and recommendations on the Market Abuse Regulation. The report has the objective to review the functionalities of MAR since its implementation in 2016 and draft suggestions to improve the regulation. The report is based on a 2019 consultation and covers buy-back programmes, the delayed disclosure of inside information, the usefulness of insider lists, managers’ transactions, the retention period of personal data among other topics.

With the increased challenges for financial Control Rooms, global regulators continue to pressure firms concerning the flow of confidential information. To manage the flow on confidential information and implement an effective risk control, firms are expected to continue working on the modernization of regulatory, legal and compliance risk management programs. These modern programmes in addition to effective technology can ensure that material non-public information (MNPI) is only available to staff as and when required and does not leak to other parties.