GRC Report Staff

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded its consultation and published final revised guidance on assessing rivalry-enhancing efficiencies in mergers, now incorporated into its updated Merger Assessment Guidelines. Compliance and legal teams advising on UK transactions should review the final text, because it changes how efficiency arguments are framed and evidenced in merger reviews.

Norway's Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) has published a warning about a clone of an FCA-registered firm, "hanbury_financial_p1lanning (Clone)," which links to a corresponding UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warning. Clone firms use the identity of authorized firms to defraud consumers, so compliance teams should strengthen counterparty verification and fraud-monitoring controls.

In a keynote speech, a Bundesbank executive board member outlined Europe's need for greater financial and technological independence amid elevated geopolitical risk, and announced concrete supervisory and market-infrastructure steps. These include the end of dual large-loan reporting, the digital euro, and the first Wholesale CBDC availability through the Pontes Initial Launch this year. The speech is not binding, but it signals supervisory priorities on third-party dependency, payments resilience, and reporting simplification.

OSFI will hold its third Quarterly Release Day on September 10, 2026, followed by a virtual Industry Day on September 24, 2026. The sessions cover the final Capital Adequacy Requirements (CAR) Guideline 2027, the final crypto-asset capital and liquidity guideline, Guideline E-15 peer review expectations, AI-driven cyber threats, and Data Collection Modernization. Compliance teams at federally regulated institutions should register and prepare questions, since these topics carry near-term implementation obligations.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) announced that roughly 55 pension funds and APF circles plan to transfer to the new pension system after January 1, 2027, and that it will accelerate its assessments to meet the statutory deadline of January 1, 2028. DNB aims to issue decisions at least six months before each intended transfer date. Funds must submit high-quality notifications at least twelve months before transfer to avoid time pressure and a higher risk of unresolved findings.

The Norway Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) published a warning about WealthW-Group, which links to a UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) notice identifying it as a suspected clone of an FCA-authorized firm. Compliance teams should treat this as a fraud and impersonation alert, since the entity is not a legitimate authorized firm. It calls for updates to screening, onboarding, and customer-protection controls.

The Deutsche Bundesbank announced a 35-euro commemorative collector coin marking 125 years of the Wuppertal Suspension Railway, to be issued from September 17, 2026. The update is numismatic and not a regulatory change, so it creates no new compliance obligations. Compliance teams should treat it as a low-impact item, with attention only to cash handling, legal tender, and precious-metal product considerations.