Compliance & Ethics

For nearly four years, motorists pulling into nine Mobil-branded petrol stations across north and central Queensland were told they were filling up with “Mobil Synergy Fuel”, a product marketed as containing additives designed to protect engines and improve performance. They weren’t. Recently, an Australian Federal Court ordered Mobil Oil Australia to pay $10.4 million (AUD 16 million) in penalties after finding the company had made false or misleading representations about the fuel sold at those sites, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

Nearly a decade after Carillion collapsed in one of the UK’s most high-profile corporate failures, the Financial Conduct Authority has formally censured the company for misleading the market in the year before its liquidation and fined its former chief executive for his role in the affair.

Norway’s financial watchdog has laid out a year of active enforcement, expanding surveillance and deeper scrutiny of sustainability reporting in its 2025 supervisory reports. The documents, published this week by Finanstilsynet, provide a detailed account of inspections, market monitoring, licensing matters and regulatory development across the financial sector. They also address broader themes such as anti-money laundering, crypto-asset supervision, European cooperation, digital resilience and risk monitoring in both Norwegian and international markets.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is intensifying its review of Microsoft, broadening its inquiry into the company’s licensing structure, cloud strategy, and integration of artificial intelligence tools, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

The Financial Conduct Authority has updated its public overview of how it regulates cryptoassets, setting out in clearer terms which digital assets fall inside its remit, how crypto firms are supervised for anti-money laundering purposes, and the rules governing how crypto is marketed to UK consumers.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is pressing Congress to act on cryptocurrency legislation, arguing that a federal framework for digital assets should be finalized and sent to President Donald Trump for signature before the end of the spring.

China’s market regulator on Friday released new anti-monopoly guidelines for internet platforms aimed at curbing collusion and unfair pricing practices, as authorities continue tightening oversight of the country’s digital economy.