Compliance & Ethics

The Bundesbank, on behalf of the federal government, will hold a multi-ISIN auction on September 21, 2026, to increase two outstanding 12-month Bubills by a combined EUR $5 Billion. This is routine market guidance, but members of the Federal Bidding Group must meet strict bid, timing, and settlement requirements, so compliance and operations teams at participating institutions should confirm readiness.

ASIC published results for the 34th Financial Advisers Exam cycle: 220 candidates sat the exam and 149 (67.73%) passed. First-time candidates passed at 72.3% (125 of 173). The results matter for compliance teams because they affect adviser onboarding pipelines, supervision capacity, and registration timing under the education and training standards.

The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) has published a newsletter article clarifying that registration as an insurance intermediary permits mediation in insurance products and the provision of financial planning services. Compliance teams should confirm that any non-insurance offerings to clients stay within this perimeter to avoid unauthorized activity.

EIOPA has forwarded Question 3650 to the European Commission, asking how intra-group loans and reinsurance should be treated in the volatility adjustment (VA) and credit spread sensitivity ratio (CSSR) calculations for consolidated technical provisions under Method 1. No answer has been issued, so the treatment remains unresolved. Group compliance and actuarial teams should document their current approach and prepare for possible recalculation of the group VA.

The Danish FSA (Finanstilsynet) issued a risk statement to Nordea Kredit after its lending growth to other businesses reached 15.7 percent in Q2 2026, exceeding the 15 percent supervisory diamond benchmark. The regulator considers this a significantly increased credit risk and expects growth to stay below 15 percent. Compliance teams at Danish mortgage credit institutions should treat this as a signal of supervisory expectations on growth monitoring and credit quality.

An ECB staff working paper (No 3286) finds that firms borrowing from banks brought under Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) oversight cut their share of intangible assets relative to firms with nationally supervised lenders. The paper is research, not a rule, but it points to a link between more stringent supervision, tighter collateral standards, and weaker lending to small, young, and innovative borrowers. Compliance and risk teams should treat it as a signal of possible supervisory and credit-policy side effects.

Japan's Financial Services Agency published its September 18, 2026 List of Financial Institutions, covering 1,476 firms that have adopted the Principles for Customer-Oriented Business Operations. It also released analysis of common KPIs for investment trusts and foreign currency-denominated insurance as of March 31, 2026. Firms seeking inclusion or continued listing must submit reports by January 8, 2027, and may be delisted if their actual practices diverge from their published commitments.