GRC Report Staff

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.

In her keynote at the European Capital Markets Dialogue, outgoing ESMA Chair Verena Ross outlined a vision for the "next chapter" of European supervision centered on simplification, outcome-focused regulation, and deeper EU-level supervisory integration. While not introducing binding requirements, the speech signals the direction of future ESMA policy and the ongoing Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP) negotiations, which compliance teams should monitor closely.

At the G20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel noted stronger-than-expected German GDP growth driven by exports and fiscal expansion, while warning of rising inflation near 3 percent and growing debt levels. Compliance teams should monitor the upcoming ECB Governing Council meeting in Berlin for potential monetary policy signals affecting rate-sensitive products, lending, and capital planning.

The Bank of England's latest payment and settlement statistics show RTGS total settlement values reached £902,018 Million daily average in Q2 2026, with CHAPS volumes and values continuing their upward trend. Compliance teams at participating institutions should review the data for operational risk benchmarking, particularly regarding service availability incidents and settlement delays disclosed across RTGS infrastructure, CREST, and retail net settlement systems.

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.