A New York federal court held that virtual currencies can be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as commodities.
Blog postings over Easter
There will be no blog postings on 29 March 2018. Our next blogs will be posted on Wednesday 4 April 2018.
Update on the regulatory approach to preparations for EU withdrawal
On 28 March 2018, the Bank of England (BoE) published a news release providing an update on the regulatory approach to preparations for EU withdrawal.
The BoE welcomes the agreement between the UK and the EU27 that there should be an implementation period until the end of 2020 as part of the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement
FCA proposed guidance on financial crime systems and controls: insider dealing and market manipulation
On 27 March 2018, the FCA issued Guidance Consultation 18/1: Proposed guidance on financial crime systems and controls: insider dealing and market manipulation (GC18/1).
The FCA is proposing to update the financial crime guide for firms (Guide) with an additional chapter on insider dealing and market manipulation. The new chapter will outline the FCA’s observations
PS18/7: Staff incentives, remuneration and performance management in consumer credit
On 27 March 2018, the FCA published Policy Statement 18/17: Staff incentives, remuneration and performance management in consumer credit (PS18/17). In PS18/7 the FCA provides its response to the feedback it received to Consultation Paper 17/20: Staff incentives, remuneration and performance management in consumer credit. It also publishes the final rules for
EBA consults on extending the Joint Committee Guidelines on complaints-handling to new institutions under PSD2 and MCD
On 27 March 2018, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued a consultation proposing to extend the scope of application of the existing Joint Committee Guidelines on complaints handling (the Guidelines) to the new institutions established under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD).
The Guidelines are addressed to Member State
ESMA temporary product intervention measures applied to retail CFD and binary option products
On 27 March 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) agreed measures on the provision of contracts for differences (CFDs) and binary options to retail investors in the EU.
The agreed measures include:
- Binary options – a prohibition on the marketing, distribution or sale of binary options to retail investors; and
- CFDs – a
ESMA updates Q&As on MiFID II commodity derivatives topics
On 27 March 2018, ESMA updated its frequently asked questions and answers on MiFID II commodity derivatives topics. The section on position limits and position reporting has been updated.
ESMA clarifies MiFIR quoting obligations for SIs
On 26 March 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report on proposed amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/587 (RTS1) which details the transparency requirements for equity instruments, including the quoting obligations for systematic internalisers (SIs). The final report has been submitted to the European Commission (Commission). The Commission has
PS18/6: Advising on Pension Transfers
On 26 March 2018, the FCA published Policy Statement 18/6: Advising on Pension Transfers (PS18/6). PS18/6 follows Consultation Paper 17/16: Advising on pension transfers and sets out final rule changes on advice given to consumers about converting or transferring safeguarded benefits. In light of this PS18/6 will primarily be of interest to firms advising on