NEWS: Florence cathedral managers scammed out of €1.5m in email fraud

Regulatory Watch News

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  SEC Establishes Joint Data Standards as Required Under the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022

  SEC

  June 8, 2026

  Washington D.C., June 8, 2026 —

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission established joint data standards under the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022. The final rule establishes technical standards for data submitted to certain financial regulatory agencies. Eight additional agencies have established or are expected to act on establishing the joint standards: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The joint standards are designed to promote interoperability of financial regulatory data across the agencies by establishing common identifiers for entities, geographic locations, dates, and certain products and currencies.

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  FCA secures confiscation order against Ponzi scheme fraudster

  Financial Conduct Authority

  June 8, 2026

  Mr Pugh, 36, is serving a 7 years and 6 months prison sentence for defrauding investors out of £1.3m. Run from his bedroom in Devon, Pugh used Facebook adverts to target investors and promised them wholly unrealistic returns, claiming these would be generated by trading across various markets. Only 19% of the funds collected from investors were traded and the scheme was, in effect, a Ponzi scheme, which was run with another individual. At a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 5 June 2026, Mr Pugh was ordered to pay £452,286.80. This represents the total value of the assets the court found available for recovery. The funds will be used to compensate the victims of his crimes.

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  Italy: EPPO seizes assets in investigation into subsidy fraud involving RRF funds for SMEs

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  June 8, 2026

  (Luxembourg, 8 June 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Naples (Italy), last week the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) conducted searches and seized assets at the residence of five suspects in Naples, Caserta and the surrounding province, as part of an investigation into possible subsidy fraud involving RRF funds for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME).   Assets to the value of €305 500 were ordered to be seized by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations in Santa Maria Capua Vetere (Caserta), including cars, real estate, and funds held in the suspects’ bank accounts.