Assistant lawyer Natājlija Ķīse compiled the material.
Banking and finance
EBA issues new guidelines to combat money laundering and terrorism financing in fund and crypto transfers
Published: 4 July 2024
New guidelines on the “travel rule” have been announced by the European Banking Authority (EBA) to address the issue of money laundering and terrorism financing through the transfer of funds and cryptocurrency assets. The information that must be included with such transfers is outlined in these Guidelines, along with the procedures that payment service providers (PSPs), intermediate PSPs (IPSPs), crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), and intermediary CASPs (ICASPs) must follow to identify and address any incomplete or missing data.
See also: Press release.
EBA and ESMA publish guidelines on suitability of management body members and shareholders for entities under MiCAR
Published: 27 June 2024
Under the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCAR), the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) jointly published guidelines aimed at improving the governance and regulatory supervision of asset reference tokens (ARTs) and crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). By laying out precise standards for judging the fitness of shareholders and management bodies, these rules hope to strengthen the legitimacy and dependability of the crypto-assets market.
See also: Press release.
Data protection
Commission sends preliminary findings to Meta over its “Pay or Consent” model for breach of the Digital Markets Act
Published: 1 July 2024
The Commission notified Meta earlier today of its preliminary conclusions that the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is incompatible with its “pay or consent” advertising model. The Commission claims that this binary option does not provide users a less customised but comparable version of Meta’s social networks; instead, it compels users to consent to the combining of their personal data.
See also: Press release.
Commission requests information to Amazon under the Digital Services Act
Requested: 5 July 2024
The Commission is asking Amazon to provide more details about the steps the platform has taken to adhere to the DSA requirements concerning the parameters and transparency of recommender systems, as well as the requirements regarding the upkeep of an ad repository and its risk assessment report. Amazon is requested to furnish comprehensive details regarding its adherence to the regulations pertaining to the transparency of recommender systems, including the input factors, features, signals, information, and metadata utilized by these systems, as well as the choices available to users to choose not to be profiled for recommender systems.
See also: Press release.
Additionaly, similar requests the Comission has sent to online marketplaces Temu and Shein. See here.
Trade
EU imposes new sanctions on Belarus for involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine
Adopted: 29 June 2024
These measures seek to mirror existing sanctions on Russia and prevent circumvention of those sanctions due to the economic integration between Russia and Belarus. The Council has expanded the export ban on dual-use and advanced goods and technologies to Belarus, along with introducing further restrictions on maritime navigation goods, luxury goods, and goods that could enhance Belarusian industrial capacities.
See also: Press release.
ESG
EU exits Energy Charter Treaty to align with climate goals
Published: 28 June 2024
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), a multinational agreement set up in 1998 to regulate trade and investment in the energy industry, is officially being withdrawn from effect by the European Union (EU). After the EU and Euratom give formal notice to Portugal, the treaty’s depositary, the ECT will no longer be applicable. This is because it was determined to be incompatible with the EU’s energy and climate goals as outlined in the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement.
See also: Press release.
Competition
Commission challenges Microsoft over Teams tying practices
Published: 25 June 2024
The European Commission has sent Microsoft a Statement of Objections, claiming that the business violated EU antitrust laws by linking Teams, its communication and collaboration tool, to its popular Office 365 and Microsoft 365 productivity suites for enterprises. According to this initial assessment, these behaviors might have limited competition in the market for items that facilitate communication and collaboration.
See also: Press release.
