Category: Financial Services

Regulatory Watch News

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  Hungary: GRECO publishes three compliance reports on corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, top executive functions and law enforcement agencies

  GRECO

  October 15, 2026

  GRECO has made public today three Compliance Reports on Hungary under the Fourth and Five Evaluation Rounds, setting out an assessment of the progress made by Hungary in implementing GRECO’s recommendations to prevent corruption and promote integrity in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, central government (top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies.

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  Italy: EPPO targets suspected criminal association in public contract corruption scheme

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  October 15, 2026

  At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Palermo (Italy), a judge has ordered precautionary measures against seven individuals suspected of participating in a criminal association involved in corruption and the steering of public contracts in Syracuse, including an EU-funded project to expand accommodation for seasonal agricultural workers in Cassibile (Sicily). The measures, issued on 12 October by the judge for preliminary investigations at the Court of Syracuse, include pre-trial detention for a Carabinieri officer, house arrest for a local political figure and a construction entrepreneur, and a 12-month ban on carrying out business activities involving applications for EU or national funding for four other individuals. The judge has also summoned another suspect, a municipal public official, for questioning before deciding on the requested precautionary measure.

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  Two plead guilty after clients lose £2m in fraud case

  Financial Conduct Authority

  October 14, 2026

   

  Two people who worked at financial advice firms have pleaded guilty to fraud after 4 clients lost £2m.

  Kerry Nelson, the director of Nexus Independent Financial Advisers Limited and Nexus Investment Managers Limited, and Jacqueline Stephens, the firms' business operations manager, admitted all charges brought by the FCA at Portsmouth Crown Court. They admitted defrauding clients between January 2019 and January 2023 and using false documents as part of the fraud. Nelson has also admitted a money laundering offence after money was withdrawn from the firms, which she used to fund her extravagant lifestyle.