GRC Report Staff

The Austrian Financial Market Authority's Bank Sales Report 2026 shows securities custody accounts rose 14% to 2.87 million in 2025, driven by digital neobrokers and foreign branches. Investment services complaints jumped 70%, and the FMA signaled a focus on a level playing field in supervision, expanded consumer protection, and extended consumer lending powers from November 2026. Compliance teams should expect heightened scrutiny of digital sales channels, complaint handling, and fraud controls.

ASIC's Form 410 (version dated 1 July 2022) is the prescribed application for reserving a company, foreign company, registrable Australian body, or Corporate Collective Investment Vehicle (CCIV) name under the Corporations Act 2001. It is an existing form and guide, not a new rule, and the document's 2026 date appears to reflect republication rather than substantive change. Compliance teams should still confirm that entity formation, renaming, and registration workflows follow its timing, declaration, and signature requirements.

Finansinspektionen (FI) has amended Chapter 10, Section 3 of FFFS 2013:10, which sets conduct and organizational requirements for AIFMs that advise clients on units or shares in alternative investment funds. The amendment takes effect October 1, 2026, and updates the cross-references to MiFID II Delegated Regulation articles and to FFFS 2017:2 on securities transactions. Affected AIFMs should confirm that their advisory activities comply with the revised provisions before the effective date.

The ECB's Q2 2026 supervisory statistics show significant institutions with a stable aggregate CET1 ratio of 16.00%, return on equity of 10.73% (the highest since the series began in 2015), and a cost/income ratio of 53.06% (the lowest on record). The ECB also launched system-wide statistics that combine significant and less significant institutions. This is an informational publication with no new obligations, but it provides updated benchmarks for peer comparison and supervisory dialogue.

The Bank of England is changing the criteria that determine which firms must submit Form BT monthly. Monthly submission will generally apply only to firms that also file specified monthly Money and Credit returns (Forms BE, BN, GT or ER), and some current monthly filers will move to quarterly. Compliance teams should confirm their status once the Bank contacts them, because the effective dates and notice periods have not yet been published.

The ECB's Q2 2026 supervisory statistics show significant institutions holding a stable aggregate CET1 ratio of 16.00%. Return on equity reached a series high of 10.73%, and the cost-to-income ratio hit a series low of 53.06%. Asset quality and liquidity remain sound, but the ECB has also launched system-wide statistics covering both significant and less significant institutions, which gives compliance teams a broader peer benchmark and signals where supervisory attention may focus.

The SEC has granted LCH SA conditional exemptive relief under Section 36 of the Exchange Act. LCH SA may file proposed rule changes for its RepoClear unit (the "Non-Registrable Business") solely under Section 19(b)(3)(A) and Rule 19b-4(f)(6), so they take effect on filing without an SEC approval order. This lets LCH SA admit US persons as RepoClear Clearing Members, and compliance teams at clearing agencies, clearing members, and their clients should understand the conditions and the remaining SEC oversight.