In March 2022, a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Treasury Committee published a report regarding the development, implementation and impact of economic sanctions on Russia (the 2022 Report). In brief, the 2022 Report found that: The UK’s sanctions framework has continued to evolve, with businesses left to navigate the increasing complexity of implementing … Continue Reading
In our latest podcast series, we look at transaction risk in the banking sector. Conversations with leading lawyers and experts to dive into the detail, highlighting the key issues you really need to know about. In the first episode, Corporate Partner and Global Head of Banks, Alan Bainbridge and Financial Regulatory Partner, Matthew Gregory focus … Continue Reading
On 27 December 2023, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly issued a public consultation paper on their legislative proposal to regulate issuers of stablecoin. The Hong Kong Government has decided that, in light of the important roles played by stablecoins in the Web3 and virtual … Continue Reading
On 3 January 2024, the European Commission (Commission) published for consultation a draft Delegated Regulation amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 272/2012 as regards harmonisation of certain aspects linked to fees charged by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to credit rating agencies (CRAs). Article 19(1) of Regulation 1060/2009 provides that ESMA shall charge fees to … Continue Reading
On 15 December 2023, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee published a draft report on the proposed Regulation on a framework for financial data access (FIDA). The FIDA proposal seeks to enable consumers and firms to more efficiently control access to their financial data beyond payments thereby allowing them to benefit from financial … Continue Reading
On 15 December 2023, the European Commission adopted certain draft implementing and delegated acts relating to the UCITS Directive and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) as regards notifications for cross-border marketing and cross-border management of alternative investment funds (AIFs) and undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS). The draft legislation follows a … Continue Reading
On 18 December 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published a joint policy statement (PS) on margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives: amendments to Binding Technical Standards (BTS) 2016/2251 (FCA PS23/19 and PRA PS18/23). Under the onshored European Market Infrastructure Regulation (UK EMIR), firms are required to exchange initial and … Continue Reading
On 14 December 2023, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued a consultation paper containing draft implementing technical standards (ITS) amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/451 on supervisory reporting referred to in Article 430(7) of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) concerning the output floor, credit risk, market risk and the leverage ratio. The EBA has issued … Continue Reading
On 14 December 2023, the FCA published a summary of the findings from its review of retail banking firms’ implementation of the Consumer Duty, which came into force for current (on sale) products on 31 July 2023. The multi-firm review looked at actions firms had taken for customers in financial difficulty, dealing with bank accounts … Continue Reading
On 30 November 2023, the FCA published the latest edition of the Regulatory Initiatives Grid from the Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum. The Forum is made up of representatives of the Bank of England, the Competition and Markets Authority, the FCA, the Financial Reporting Council, HM Treasury, the Information Commissioner’s Office, the Payment Systems Regulator, … Continue Reading
On 27 November 2023, the Bank of England (BoE) published a statement announcing that it has renewed its commitment to adhere to the Global Precious Metals Code (the Code), based on the revised Code dated December 2022. The Code sets out the standards and best practice expected from market participants in the global precious metals … Continue Reading
Introduction As anticipated in our previous horizon scan (see here), the end of 2023 has brought about significant developments in financial crime enforcement and a real focus on fraud. Looking ahead to 2024, we predict that developments affecting organisations doing business in the UK will include: a focus from organisations on fraud, in particular preparing … Continue Reading
If you are feeling a case of déjà vu after reading this headline, you are not alone. Just over two years since the unfair contract terms (UCT) regime came into effect for insurance contracts, a revamped regime commences on 9 November 2023. Insurers are yet again reviewing insurance contracts that may now be caught by … Continue Reading
On 31 October 2023, the Bank for International Settlement’s Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) published a report on considerations for the use of stablecoin arrangements in cross-border payments. The report highlights a range of considerations and challenges regarding the use of stablecoin arrangements in cross-border payments but does not recommend any particular features. … Continue Reading
On 16 October 2023 the Australian Federal Treasury released its public consultation paper regarding the proposed regulatory regime for digital asset platforms. The proposed framework highlights the Australian Government’s intention to ensure consistent oversight and safeguards for consumers by regulating digital asset platforms and other intermediaries within the existing Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) regime … Continue Reading
On 20 October 2023, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued for consultation draft guidelines on internal governance of issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) under the Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). By way of background, MiCA sets out governance requirements for issuers of ARTs and, in particular, stresses that the management body is responsible to … Continue Reading
On 16 October, the FCA published a speech by its Chief Executive, Nikhil Rathi, delivered at the City Dinner at Mansion House, entitled ‘Collaborate to compete: why we must all embrace a growth mindset’. In his speech, Mr Rathi flagged that in order to achieve the FCA’s new secondary objective of supporting international competitiveness and … Continue Reading
On 12 September 2023, the FCA published policy statement PS23/13 on the new regulatory gateway for firms that approve financial promotions. In this latest Regulation Tomorrow Plus podcast, Hannah Meakin, Georgia Jones and Anita Edwards discuss the FCA’s plans for implementing and operating the gateway, as well as highlighting some of the areas firms should … Continue Reading
On 20 September 2023, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter, in which it outlines its priorities for the funeral plans sector for 2023-25. The letter also updates firms on the specific risks of harm that the FCA is concerned about and what it expects firms to do about them. The FCA’s sector specific priorities … Continue Reading
On 7 September 2023, a joint trade association comprising of the EFAMA, BFPI Ireland, EACB, FIA EPTA, Federation of the Dutch Pension Funds, Finance Denmark, Nordic Securities Association, AIMA, ICI Global, FIA and ISDA published a statement on the European Commission’s (the Commission) proposed active account requirement (AAR) under EMIR 3.0. This proposal would require … Continue Reading
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has published a media release to confirm that the current transitional licensing relief for foreign financial services providers (FFSPs) providing financial services to Australian wholesale clients has been extended for a further 12 months to 31 March 2025. FFSPs who held the benefit of “sufficient equivalence relief” under certain ASIC class … Continue Reading
As 2022 came to a close, the regulators concluded the year with a busy month in December. Notably, ASIC ended the year by reminding stakeholders of the importance of ensuring that claims made in relation to a product were accurate, especially in the context of environmental claims, reflecting ASIC’s increased focus on greenwashing in 2022. … Continue Reading
On 6 February 2023 the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) held a joint public hearing on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (“Digital Operational Resilience Act” or DORA). As per a follow up press release, the event – held online – gathered over 2,000 representatives from credit … Continue Reading
On 1 February 2023, the European Commission published a Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) which amends the regulatory technical standards laid down in Delegated Regulation 2017/588 as regards the annual application date of the calculations of the average daily number of transactions for shares, depository receipts and exchange-traded funds for the purposes of the tick sizes. … Continue Reading
