Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

GRECO’s 32nd Plenary Meeting will be devoted to the examination of reports within the framework of the First and Second Evaluation Rounds (19-21 March) and to a Start-up Training Workshop for the launching of the Third Evaluation Round (22-23 March).

GRECO will examine for adoption the draft Joint First and Second Round Evaluation Report on Ukraine. It will also examine for adoption draft Addenda to the First Round Compliance Reports on Albania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”; as well as draft Second Round Compliance Reports on Belgium, Denmark, France and Sweden.

The Start-up Training Workshop for the Third Evaluation Round on the theme of Transparency of Party Funding, which is designed for GRECO evaluators will involve a number of international experts in this area (hyperlink to agenda of workshop). The Third Evaluation Round was launched on 1st January 2007 and the first evaluation visits are scheduled to take place in Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom in June/July 2007.

GRECO will also adopt its Seventh General Activity Report related to work carried out in 2006. This seventh edition includes a section devoted to the protection of whistleblowers.


Questionnaires relating to the Third Evaluation Round

Dr. Thomas F. Huertas, Director Wholesale Firms Division and Banking Sector Leader, FSA, was speaker in the framework of the Fourth Annual Complinet Compliance Conference a few weeks ago.
His topic was : Counting on compliance: The implications of more principles-based regulation.
His conclusion was that Compliance continues to play a key role under more principles-based regulation. Compliance should effectively act as the conscience of the firm: make sure that people get strong signals about what is right and what is wrong, and, over time, weed out wrong-doing, and, if necessary, wrong-doers.

See speech

A couple of weeks ago, Callum McCarthy, Chairman, FSA, was speaker in the framework of the British American Business London Insight Series And Financial Services Forum.
His topic was : Financial regulation: Myth and reality

See speech