GRC Report Staff

Recently, Mr. Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Minister for Transport, Second Minister for Finance, Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and evident professional multitasker, spoke at the Equities Market Review Group Media Conference, laying out a vision for the country’s equities market. The plan relies on changes to both regulations and investments that will help foster an environment where businesses and investors can thrive together.

The Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has recently released its 2025 Activity Plan, which contains a clear set of objectives aimed at strengthening Spain’s financial market oversight. Carlos San Basilio, Chairman of the CNMV, highlighted the need for the Commission to adapt to the new challenges that the financial markets face, emphasizing that the CNMV must be both more agile and more transparent as it responds to an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

The European Commission has officially rolled out two comprehensive legislative packages - Omnibus I and Omnibus II - aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on businesses while advancing sustainability efforts and unlocking new investment opportunities. These changes represent a significant shift for businesses across the EU, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by simplifying compliance with sustainability reporting, due diligence, and carbon emissions rules.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has released an advisory designed to clarify its approach toward self-reporting, cooperation, and remediation in its enforcement actions. This new framework aims to provide clear guidelines for companies and individuals seeking to mitigate potential penalties through voluntary disclosures, cooperation with the agency, and efforts to remediate violations.

In a move that feels more like a privacy rollercoaster than a tech update, Apple has pulled its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service from the United Kingdom. If you’re scratching your head wondering why this matters, ADP is a service that provides end-to-end encryption for iCloud data. That means your photos, notes, and other personal files are only accessible by you—unless, of course, someone gets a backdoor key. And that's exactly what the UK government has been asking for.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has recently put its foot down on PwC Israel (Kesselman & Kesselman C.P.A.s) for a serious lapse in integrity that undermined professional standards. The firm, a member of the global PricewaterhouseCoopers network, has been slapped with a $2.75 million fine, a public censure, and a raft of corrective measures after it was found guilty of allowing improper answer sharing on internal training exams over a span of five years.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has reached a settlement with several major banks over the unlawful exchange of competitively sensitive information. The settlement centers on the secretive sharing of details related to UK government bonds—commonly known as gilts—which play a crucial role in financing public spending.