When a US financial services regulated firm hits the magic $10 billion in assets, along with this milestone, comes heightened regulatory scrutiny and exams.

This is a constant challenge for firms as they struggle to understand what this really means for their operating model.

We recommend firms consider carrying out an “independent health check” which will provide recommendations to enable you to confidently manage your regulatory risk and where necessary, prepare for regulatory examinations.

We will work with your internal teams to manage the process seamlessly so contact us to find out how we support our clients in risk management.

Fines In excess of EUR 1 Billion (USD 1.2 Billion) were imposed in 2021 under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) across the EU and UK.  This is a huge seven-fold increase on total fines in 2020, which amounted to EUR 159 million.

Across Europe, Regulators are taking GDPR non-compliance and notification of data breaches very seriously.  

Failure to comply can result in potentially signifiant fines —  of up to 4% of a company’s annual global revenues or EUR 20 million (USD22.8 million), whichever is the larger amount.

Given the increase in regulatory focus and magnitude of fines, are you comfortable with your firms GDPR policies and procedures?

We can help you establish a robust framework, or carry out an independent review for you.

Contact us to find out more.

Happy New Year to you, your families, friends, and colleagues, from all of us at Meji Partners.

We wish you all a healthy, positive, and prosperous year ahead.

Best wishes.

Meji Partners would like to wish all of our friends, colleagues, partners, and clients a very Happy Christmas.

Thank you for your support throughout the year, we look forward to working with you all in 2022.  

Stay safe everyone!

It’s the start of September!

Summer holidays are over, and its Back to Work, ...and office login passwords are forgotten (...again)

It’s also now less than 6 months counting down to March 2022 when a number of important regulatory deadlines are due.

Here is a “post-summer” reminder of the upcoming regulatory deadlines that may affect your business:

UK Firms are to complete their preparation for full compliance with UK FCA regulations post Brexit (for MIFID, SFTR, MAR, CASS, and others) when the Temporary Transition Power Regime ends on the 31 March 2022

Firms to have Strong customer authentication implemented by 14 March 2022

FCA new deadline for all UK crypto-asset businesses to have MLR registration in place is the 31 March 2022

By 31 March 2022, firms must also have identified any vulnerabilities, which is the first key deadline for compliance with Operational Resilience

As firms gradually modify their work patterns, many are returning to a fluid model of both on-site and off-site work.⁠

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It is important that financial services firms are able to maintain their operational resiliency within the flexible and varied work pattern.⁠

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The FCA recently highlighted that operational disruptions caused by resiliency issues, pose a risk to market integrity and cause instability. Ongoing disruptions caused by Covid also mean firms must understand how to protect the services they offer and invest in their resilience.⁠

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By 31 March 2022, firms must also have identified any vulnerabilities in their operational resilience, and no later than 31 March 2025, they must have performed mapping and testing so that they are able to remain within impact tolerances for each important business service.⁠

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These changes require substantial and necessary investments to enable firms to operate consistently within their impact tolerances.⁠

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If you want to discuss what this means for your firm, get in touch. ⁠

In line with recent OCC updates, fintech services and platforms for digital assets will be a part of the future economy, however, firms must oblige with the general regulations.

More recently, it has also updated its framework and has interpreted crypto custody services as part of the business of banking. It will also analyze its crypto guidelines and firms should expect some changes in the near future.

In the UK, the FCA has extended the end date of the Temporary Registrations Regime for existing crypto-asset businesses from 09 July 2021 to 31 March 2022 while they work through the assessment of MLR applications.

If you want to discuss what the upcoming regulation means for your firm, we are happy to have a chat ….

Despite the Brexit transition period ending 31 Dec 2020, ongoing transitory arrangements still remain in several regulations.

Under EMIR (European Markets Infrastructure Regulation), The London Clearing House is recognized as a third country CCP based on temporary equivalence. This comes to an end on 30 June 2022. The EU’s future decision on its location policy for EU clearing could have a significant impact on LCH’s position of being a near-monopoly on clearing euro-denominated derivatives.

Firms will need to understand what the upcoming EU regulatory decision may mean for their OTC derivatives business, and also manage the workflow using streamlined regulatory technology solutions.

We can assist you in implementing an innovative workflow tool to manage the regulatory impact of this transition.

The OCC, SEC, FCA, and other international regulatory authorities are showing a lower tolerance for firms experiencing operational resiliency issues when caused by outsourcing their critical functions/”important business services” to other third parties.

Board members and senior managers within firms will be expected to identify their firm’s operational resilience vulnerabilities and drive improvement in their third-party risk management, where weaknesses are found.

Firms will also need to develop better controls and identify potential threats to their outsourced functions by adopting effective third-party risk management programs.

Are your firm’s definitions of a critical function or important business service in line with regulatory guidance?

Have you conducted an assessment of your outsourced critical functions and the operational resiliency tolerances you should adhere to?

Speak to us at Meji Partners to discuss recent regulatory updates on operational resiliency and third-party risk management and what this means for your firm.

The first public listing of a cryptocurrency exchange in the US took place yesterday with Coinbase, a valuation of $85.8billion.

Digital payment networks are rapidly evolving the future of both fiat currency and digital asset payments.

Regulation is also evolving, and AML regulations, in particular, are progressing to reduce the risk of money laundering within the networks.

For firms in this space, your digital API strategy will need to be both customer-led and regulatory compliant.

Contact us @MejiPartners.com to discuss how your firm can stay ahead of the regulations.

We are pleased to announce that we are now collaborating with Broyd Partners LLC.

Broyd Partners are a financial services consulting firm operating primarily from New York and London.

They are industry leaders in LIBOR transition, trading misconduct, digital assets, and behavioral analytics.

Meji and Broyd Partners are delighted to be working together. We strive to support clients in providing solutions across multiple industry issues and challenges, by combining our complementary skillset's we are able to successfully deliver a full suite of consulting services.

Meji Partners is pleased to announce our partnership with Regulation Technology firm Infobelt, Inc.

Compliance and risk professionals use Infobelt to form a strong relationship with regulators and gain transparency into all compliance activities.

We have the first-hand experience in recognizing the impact of Infobelt's solutions against risky and disparate compliance processes.

Meji Partners and Infobelt are excited to join forces and provide clients with comprehensive, effective, and efficient solutions to managing regulatory compliance.

The FCA recently established a Temporary Registration Regime to allow existing crypto-asset firms, who have applied to be registered with the FCA, to continue trading.

The FCA is also actively advising customers of Crypto firms not registered with the FCA to withdraw their crypto assets or money from those firms.

Firms can still be part of the Temporary registration Regime between now and the 9th July 2021.

Below is a link to firms currently registered with the FCA.

https://lnkd.in/gXtRZCE

Speak to us at www.mejipartners.com to help you get ahead of upcoming crypto regulations or to assist you with the FCA registration process.

Now is a good time to also remediate your business for AML and ensure your business continuity and compliance are not compromised as new regulations emerge.

Global regulatory scrutiny relating to financial crime is increasing. Fines are growing in both frequency and size. ⁠

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Globally financial services firms were fined approx. USD$14.4bn in aggregated fines and anti-money laundering was the most common breach.⁠

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Many new reforms are increasing the scrutiny and will have a financial impact on your firm.⁠

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New reform Fact: Did you know that the US AML Act’s whistle blower provision now permits individuals with information on money laundering and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act to file anonymous and confidential reports to the Secretary of the Treasurer and qualify for monetary awards up to 30% of sanctions obtained from the US authorities.⁠

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Activity in the Crypto industry has grown exponentially but remains very susceptible to financial crime therefore regulation of the crypto industry is increasing.

Global regulators are now closing regulatory gaps in the industry.

New Update: In the UK, the FCA has established a Temporary Registration Regime to allow existing crypto-asset firms, who have applied to be registered with the FCA, to continue trading.

The FCA is also advising customers of Crypto firms not registered with the FCA to withdraw their crypto assets or money from those firms before 10 January 2021

FCA establishes a Temporary Registration Regime for crypto-asset businesses. Link:

https://lnkd.in/diN_Stn

Speak to us at www.mejipartners.com about an AML Audit that will help your firm get ahead of the Crypto regulations. Now is a good time to remediate and ensure your business continuity and compliance are not compromised as new regulations emerge.

Transitionary Temporary Powers" does not apply to MiFID, EMIR, CASS, or any areas where the FCA needs to use data from customers to determine a fully functioning market.

Rules in these areas will be made by the FCA / PRA under the UK regulatory framework from 01 January.

Are you ready for these changes and to start reporting directly to the FCA? Talk to us at www.mejipartners.com - we can help with an independent audit of your operational readiness or if you need support with your post-transitional readiness. Please reach out for a chat.

Will your organization be fully compliant with regulations when passporting ends on 31 December 2020?

Are you sure you know what your regulatory obligations are from January?

Talk to us at www.mejipartners.com - we can help you with your questions about onshoring or any other regulatory questions.

There are a lot of imminent changes happening in the regulatory space, we can help. Please reach out for a chat.

Concerned about regulatory change management?

Not sure which way to turn on Brexit, MIFID, or LIBOR transitioning?

Contact Us