Keyword

News

08.02.2024

News & Communication

Regulatory Outlook 2024

2024 is set to be a pivotal year for the European regulatory landscape, with Belgium commencing its presidency of the Council of the European Union. The financial landscape in the country is poised for significant changes, with the legislative agenda taking precedence in its program. To kickstart the year, Avantage Reply is keen to highlight our perspective on the key issues slated for attention.

19.06.2023

News & Communication

BCBS 239: A renewed ECB Priority

Since the release of the BCBS 239 Principles in 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been urging European banks to comply with these Principles. These Principles cover three main topics: Overarching governance and structure, risk data aggregation capabilities, and risk reporting practices (often referred to by the ECB as 'RDAR').

28.04.2023

News & Communication

How the EBA plans to increase personal accountability for compliance failures

The year 2022 has brought a new wave of financial crime enforcement with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) fines skyrocketing after a lull period during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fines have risen over 50% globally compared to 2021 and show no sign of slowing down in 2023.

20.03.2023

News & Communication

Impact of the new Dora Regulation on Luxembourg based Financial Institutions

The publication of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 on the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) for financial institutions in the Official Journal of the European Union on December 27, 2022, has significant implications for Luxembourg-based financial entities. Avantage Reply is actively assisting these entities to ensure they are prepared to meet this challenge.

26.04.2022

News & Communication

CSSF 22/806 ON OUTSOURCING ARRANGEMENTS

On April 22nd 2022, the CSSF published the longawaited Circular on outsourcing arrangements which sets out the new regulatory requirements applicable to in-scope entities as of June 30th 2022. The new Circular translates the EBA guidelines on outsourcing arrangements into locally adapted regulations.

01.02.2022

News & Communication

Alternative Reference Rates

The discontinuation of LIBOR requires the financial industry to shift to alternatives, the socalled Alternative Reference Rates (“ARR”), with implications on products that refer to variable interest rates. Major structural differences between LIBOR and the ARR necessitate a reconsideration of product design, operational processes and IT solutions.

07.12.2021

News & Communication

IT Outsourcing modified CSSF Circular

In the context of growing importance of cloud-driven solutions, National Competent Authority in Luxembourg provides further details in respect to regulatory requirements around contractual clauses and obligation of notification prior to outsourcing of material IT activities.

14.06.2021

News & Communication

AML PACKAGE 2021

The European Commission presented an AML package in July 2019, where it highlighted a number of deficiencies in implementation of the EU anti-money laundering framework, while the recent money laundering scandals led the need to develop a new comprehensive approach at the EU level.

27.05.2021

News & Communication

Avantage Reply UK announce partnership with ElysianNxt

Avantage Reply UK and ElysianNxt are pleased to announce that we have entered into a strategic partnership, bringing together Reply’s management and risk consulting expertise with ElysianNxt’s cutting edge risk technology.

28.04.2021

News & Communication

MiFID "Quick Fix"

The intention of the “Quick fix” amendments to MiFID 2 is to support economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The European Commission tries to achieve this via certain reliefs of administrative requirements on firms. Member states are required to transpose the changes into national law by 28 November 2021 and apply them by 28 February 2022.

09.04.2021

News & Communication

The EBA will make its Basel III Monitoring Exercise Mandatory

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published on 16th of March 2021 a decision, which changes the Basel III monitoring exercise from its current voluntary nature to a mandatory exercise from December 2021.

07.10.2020 / ESG

News & Communication

Survey on Credit Institution's Disclosure of Information Related to ESG Risks

After the European Taxonomy and the non-financial reporting directive (NFRD), the EBA is moving a step forward in its action plan on sustainable finance. Until the 16th of October, the market participants can answer a survey to develop draft implementing technical standards (ITS) on Pillar 3 disclosure of prudential information on ESG risks.

14.09.2020

News & Communication

The EBA advises the EU Commission to be pragmatic when it concerns AML/CFT in Financial industry

Since 2019, EBA has legal duty to lead, coordinate and monitor EU AML/CFT efforts of all EU financial institutions and competent authorities . The EBA making full use of its powers, continues to lead the development of EU AML/CFT policy and support its effective implementation to foster an effective, risk-based approach to AML/CFT.

11.09.2020 / Taxonomy

News & Communication

Delegated acts under the taxonomy regulation

The EU Taxonomy Regulation – the establishment of an EU classification system for sustainable activities - was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on the 22 June 2020 and entered into force on 12 July 2020. As a reminder, is a tool to help investors, companies, issuers and project promoters navigate the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and resource-efficient economy.

Covid-19

Briefing Note

Financial Institutions & SSM Supervision: what can we expect following the Covid-19 crisis?

This opinion paper aims to present and analyse the key facts regarding the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on how financial institutions might need to address the new challenges post the Covid-19 crisis and how it could interfere on ECB supervision agenda and SSM priorities.

16.04.2020 / LUXEMBOURG

News & Communication

Brexit for Luxembourg

Due to Brexit, financial institutions have been forced to reorganize and relocate their operations, leading to an overall increase in costs. These are caused by increased liquidity costs, more complex legal entity structures and regulatory reporting portfolios, especially in the banking sector. However, a handful of European cities have benefited from those implications.

27.03.2020 / Homeworking

News & Communication

Homeworking: Managing today and preparing tomorrow

Today, a worldwide virus forced homeworking in our lives. But at Reply we strongly believed in homeworking’s multiple benefits long before this virus changed our lives and habits. We analyzed numerous combinations, turned them into models, identified how to implement it smoothly and developed a strong methodology supported by a network of highly skilled experts to roll it out fast and efficiently.

24.01.2020

Blog

Regulatory Reporting: The Mote in The Banker’s Eye

Board members, Executives, Chief Financial Officers and Heads of Regulatory Reporting have plenty to fear as regulatory reporting by financial institutions comes under increasing scrutiny from regulatory bodies.

17.01.2020

Blog

Click here to kill everybody - especially if you work in financial services

The number one mistake people make regarding technology is they don’t realise that, with smart devices, the internet can kill people. This is a real and relevant risk to the financial services industry, too.

06.11.2019 / PRA

News & Communication

PRA: Dear CEO, we intend to commission a Section 166 report

The PRA has published on 31 October 2019, a “Dear CEO” letter regarding the reliability of regulatory returns. The letter is relevant to the responsible senior management, Executive Management and Board of your firm. The PRA has issued the letter following an independent review recommending the introduction of formal third-party reviews of key prudential information provided by firms.

11.06.2019 - 12.06.2019 / London

Event

Risk EMEA 2019

Avantage Reply takes part in the 8th Annual Risk EMEA 2019 Summit, the premier financial risk, regulation and technology summit, taking place in London on 11-12 June.

04.02.2019 / e*finance consulting Reply

News & Communication

E*FINANCE CONSULTING REPLY JOINS AVANTAGE REPLY IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

The Reply Group has been active in Belgium and Luxembourg with Avantage Reply, a pan-European management consultancy established in 2004 delivering change initiatives in the areas of Risk, Compliance, Finance (Capital Management and Treasury, Regulatory Reporting) and Operations.

07.11.2018 / BREXIT

News & Communication

BREXIT: Pet sounds?

The British agriculture ministry recently advised UK tourists planning to travel with their pets after Brexit to mitigate no-deal Brexit risk by seeking veterinarian clearance four months in advance. These pet sounds are a microcosm of a broader issue: whereas once cross-border activities were painless, post-Brexit, the future will be less so.

21.06.2017 / Luxembourg

News & Communication

Open Reply joins Avantage Reply in Luxembourg

As Avantage Reply celebrates its 10th anniversary in Luxembourg, its parent, the Reply Group, continues to expand and launches one of its flagship Digital Business Unit in Luxembourg, Open Reply. Open Reply combines management consulting skills and technology expertise to assist firms in developing business models to integrate processes, applications and devices, using new technology and communication paradigms.