We have launched a new video series in which members of our financial services team discuss key regulatory developments within the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) sector. In our first video of the series, Imogen Garner, Beth Duff and Simon Lovegrove discuss the evolving ESG regulatory landscape.
On 18 April 2019, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter which explains its view of the key harms that brokerage firms operating in wholesale financial markets pose to their clients and markets. The letter also sets out the FCA’s strategy to mitigate the drivers of those harms.
In terms of Brexit, the letter states:
On 18 April 2019, the Bank of England (BoE) and the PRA co-published a joint Policy Statement which includes final versions of policy materials for a hard Brexit including EU Exit Instruments, Supervisory Statements and a Statement of Policy, which were published as ‘near’ final on 28 February 2019.
This version of the Policy Statement
On April 17, 2019, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it had designated Banco Central de Venezuela (Banco Central), the country’s Central Bank, as subject to U.S. economic sanctions. A current director also was sanctioned; several other Banco Central management and directors previously had been designated for economic sanctions.
The designation means that all property and interest in property of Banco Central and the director and any entity that is owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by either of them, that are in the United States or in possession or control of the United States, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. All dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States that involve property or an interest in property of blocked or designated persons generally are prohibited.
Further to our earlier blog post, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) has taken national measures mirroring ESMA’s product intervention measures. These measures – included in two separate Decrees, one dealing with binary options and the other with contracts for differences (CFDs) – were
On 17 April 2019, the FCA published the latest issue of Market Watch (no. 59), its newsletter on market conduct and transaction reporting issues.
This issue of Market Watch covers:
On 17 April 2019, the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published its first comprehensive report, A call for action: climate change as a source of financial risk.
The NGFS, launched at the Paris One Planet Summit on 12 December 2017, is a group of central banks and supervisors willing, on a voluntary
On 17 April 2019, the FCA set out its Research Agenda.
The FCA’s research interests fall across five broad and complementary themes:
On 17 April 2019, the FCA published Consultation Paper 19/16: FCA regulated fees and levies: rates proposals 2019/20 (CP19/16). In CP19/16 the FCA consults on its periodic fees for the next financial year (1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020) and any proposed changes to application fees and other fees. The FCA also consults on
On 15 April 2019, the PRA published its latest Business Plan setting out its strategy, workplan and budget for 2019/20.
The PRA’s strategy for 2019/20 will be delivered through its strategic goals. Such goals include: