On 26 July 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a research note on the repayment of credit card debt. The FCA partnered with four credit card providers to test in practice how more than 200,000 consumers repay credit card debt faster, seeking to understand the effect of different policy options on consumers. Where field
On 24 July 2018, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report setting out the outcome of its assessment of the European Commission’s call for advice on European Secured Notes (ESNs). The report makes 5 recommendations on key aspects for consideration by the European Commission when structuring the legislative framework for ESNs:
On 25 July 2018, the Bank of England (BoE) published its statement of compliance (as at 14 May 2018) with the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) principles for financial benchmarks.
The IOSCO principles, which the statement shows BoE in compliance with, ensure international best practice in the BoE’s administration of the Sterling Overnight Index
On 24 July 2018, HM Treasury outlined its plans to propose secondary legislation on the continuation of settlement finality protections (relating to the Settlement Finality Directive (98/26/EC) (SFD)) after Brexit.
HM Treasury envisages the legislation will:
On 25 July 2018, the FCA published final notices that it has issued to four former directors and shareholders of Secure My Money Limited (now dissolved), prohibiting them from performing any function relating to any regulated activity:
The final notices state that that
On 24 July 2018, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies and Core Activities) (Amendment) Order 2018 (SI 2018/897) (Amendment Order) was published.
The Amendment Order, which comes into force on 31 October 2018, amends the definition of “core deposit” in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies and Core Activities)
On 24 July 2018, the FCA published its approach to the temporary permissions regime (TPR) for EEA firms and funds passporting into the UK.
On 24 July 2018, HM Treasury published a draft version of the EEA Passport Rights (Amendment, etc, and Transitional Provisions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018.
Among other objectives, the draft Regulations aim to:
The FCA has published its Enforcement annual performance report 2017/18, which provides an overview of the FCA’s enforcement activities over the last year. In summary, the FCA is opening more cases, but the average financial penalty has fallen significantly by around 65% and, although the average cost of civil and regulatory cases is down,
On 24 July 2018, ESMA published a follow-up report to its peer review on suitability requirements under MiFID.
The report looks at the actions taken by National Competent Authorities (NCAs) since April 2016, when ESMA published its previous peer review report. Follow-up work was commenced in December 2017. The key points from the follow-up