Compliance & Ethics

Australia's corporate regulator secured approximately $579 million (A$830 million) in court-ordered civil penalties during the 2025–26 financial year, with major cases involving ANZ and derivatives trading misconduct accounting for much of the total. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also helped secure more than $405 million (A$580 million) in repayments and refunds for consumers and investors, according to its annual report released October 19.

From a $315 million opioid settlement in the United States to cybersecurity penalties in Australia and export-control violations involving China, enforcement records reveal how corporate safeguards can deteriorate long before regulators intervene. An examination of selected cases finds recurring weaknesses in management oversight, internal reporting, specialist expertise and the authority to act on known risks.

A new survey from EY found that 87% of participating banking institutions plan to use AI-powered tools within the next one to three years, with half expecting to develop those capabilities internally. The findings point to a broader reconsideration of how banks produce regulatory information, oversee its accuracy and organize the teams responsible for submitting it.

A New York investigation that began with the Panama Papers disclosures a decade ago has resulted in a $33 million penalty against Swedish banking group Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) for failures in its anti-money laundering controls and transaction monitoring operations.

The UK government and Serious Fraud Office have opened a joint consultation reviewing the whistleblowing framework under the Employment Rights Act 1996, alongside proposals for a new SFO scheme offering financial rewards to individuals reporting economic crime. Compliance teams should monitor this closely, as any resulting reforms could significantly increase whistleblower activity and reporting incentives across UK operations.

The Austrian FMA has sanctioned a natural person with a EUR 5,000 fine for providing unauthorized investment advice, including recommending clients liquidate existing investments to fund new financial instrument purchases. While the monetary penalty is modest, the case underscores the FMA's continued enforcement focus on unlicensed advisory activity and serves as a reminder that individuals acting as business partners of issuers must hold proper authorization under WAG 2018.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority has approved the proportional spin-off of the investment services provider licence held by Weilburg Family Office GmbH into a newly established entity, Weilburg Invest GmbH. Compliance teams engaging with either entity should update counterparty due diligence records and confirm the new entity's licensing status and scope of authorization.