Extract from Cassandra Morrison’s article “2022 Compliance and Surveillance Predictions: The Latest Trends”
At the start of the year, we shared some predictions around what the year ahead would deliver for compliance teams.
As we pass the midpoint of the year, it’s a great time to reflect on how close (or not!) those predictions have been to reality—and what significant topics have developed over the last six months. More specifically, within the market abuse area, we continue to see a strong emphasis placed on appropriate oversight and surveillance, along with a steady flow of sanctions by regulators globally.
Read on for a closer look at these and other developing trends for the year.
1. Bigger, Billion-Dollar Fines
Fines still keep coming with regularity—and large dollar values.
Notably, one astronomical fine of over $1.5 billion was imposed on a large commodity trading and mining company with pervasive bribery, corruption, and market manipulation behaviors. The severity of this action casts further shadows over that particular sector in the market.
Also noteworthy from a communications monitoring perspective are a series of now-infamous WhatsApp messages between a group of 12 English traders, which allegedly show that they pushed the price of WTI crude oil futures lower and, in doing so, yielded material profits. This will be one to watch going forward.
Furthermore, rather ironically, a recent case involves one of the largest accountancy firms, who have admitted that a number of their employees cheated on the ethics component of exams and training. It has resulted in a large $100 million fine and is another area where communication monitoring could have successfully identified the risk.
