Africa

Watch now: global asset management regulation webinar series

The recordings from our global asset management regulation webinar series are now available to watch on demand. In this series, our financial services team explored the key issues and requirements firms should be considering when looking to launch an overseas fund in Europe, Asia Pacific, the United States and Canada. Watch now: The AIFMD re-examined … Continue Reading

Global anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance survey

An increasingly globalised business environment, together with technological innovation, political uncertainty and ongoing regulatory change, present a number of challenges for financial institutions when it comes to protecting themselves against financial crime. Our global anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance survey will explore how financial institutions across the globe are managing their compliance programs in light of the … Continue Reading

New global asset management regulation webinar: The use of Canadian investment funds by non-Canadian managers

By Michael Bunn (CA) and Imogen Garner (UK) on January 6, 2020 Posted in Africa, Asia, Asset Management, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

In our latest asset management regulatory webinar, Michael Bunn discusses the use of Canadian investment funds by non-Canadian managers, including types of Canadian investment funds; structuring considerations; and the regulation of Canadian funds. Previous webinars in our global asset management regulation series can be found on our Asset Management Regulation hub located on the NRF … Continue Reading

UK General Election and next steps for Brexit

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on December 13, 2019 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brexit, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

Following the UK General Election the Conservative Party has won a majority of at least 76 seats in the House of Commons, its biggest election victory since 1987. With one constituency left to declare at the time of writing, the Conservatives have 364 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 48, the Liberal Democrats 11, the DUP … Continue Reading

Piecing together the consultancy puzzle

By André Vos and Andrew Keightley-Smith on December 10, 2019 Posted in Africa, Regulation

In the last decade, there has been an increased use of simulated consultancy agreements in Southern Africa, as a mechanism to facilitate fraud or corrupt dealings. Recent examples of such agreements include: the “consultancy arrangements” between the Middle Eastern ship manufacturer Privinvest and former Credit Suisse bankers Andrew Pearse and Surjan Singh, in regards to the … Continue Reading

Singapore FinTech Festival 2019 – key takeaways

By Kerri Gevers (ZA), Stella Cramer (SG), Etelka Bogardi (HK) and Hannah Meakin (UK) on November 22, 2019 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Fintech, United Kingdom, United States

Partners from our global FinTech team flew in from Hong Kong, Vancouver, London, Dallas, Johannesburg and Melbourne to join our Singapore team at the SFF 2019 (Singapore FinTech Festival) 11-13 November. The SFF is the world’s largest annual FinTech conference, bringing together over 45,000 FinTech enthusiasts to explore, collaborate and discuss the future of FinTech. … Continue Reading

One million visitors and counting

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on November 11, 2019 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, France, General, Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

We have recently passed one million visitors to our Regulation tomorrow blog! My thanks to my colleagues for their contributions to the blog and to clients and contacts for using this resource.… Continue Reading

Updated briefing slides: Doing business in the EU

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on October 3, 2019 Posted in Africa, Australia, Brexit, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Regulation, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and Compliance, Regulatory Compliance, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

We have recently updated our briefing slides on the measures that Member States are implementing for a no-deal Brexit. In particular, the slides include a new section on Luxembourg and updates to the following jurisdictions: Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Finland and Spain. The briefing slides can be accessed here. Our Brexit Pathfinder hub is a … Continue Reading

New webinar recording – Brexit: the final countdown?

The recording from our latest 40 minute briefing webinar is now available. In this webinar our London team discuss what they are seeing in the market as firms make their preparations for a no deal Brexit. They also cover the PRA and FCA temporary transitional relief powers and ask the question of what legal and … Continue Reading

Financial services monthly wrap up – June 2019

By Jon Ireland, Charlotte Henry, Matthew Farnsworth (AU) and Cate Shirley (AU) on July 2, 2019 Posted in Australia, Banking, Banking, Banking, Financial Services, Regulation, Superannuation

In June 2019 ASIC released its estimates for the Industry Funding levy for the 2018-19 financial year. Further, ASIC and APRA have formally commenced consultation on product intervention powers and product responsibility under the Banking Executive Accountability Regime respectively. 1 July 2019 also marks the commencement date of a variety of new and updated legislation … Continue Reading

Open Banking around the world | A global comparative guide

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) and Alan Bainbridge (UK) on June 20, 2019 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Canada, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

The UK continues to be the global pioneer in open banking through the implementation of the EU PSD2 and the CMA open banking initiative. However, through regulatory reforms and/or market-led initiatives, many jurisdictions are now catching up. Working with our colleagues across the globe, we have produced a comparative guide to open banking as part … Continue Reading

Consensus New York & Blockchain week – key takeaways

By Hannah Meakin (UK) and Etelka Bogardi (HK) on May 21, 2019 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Fintech, Fintech, FinTech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

Partners from our global FinTech team flew in from Hong Kong, Vancouver, London and Dallas to join our New York team to attend Consensus and Blockchain week in NYC (13-15 May). Consensus is an annual global conference which brings together the world’s most innovative minds to explore and debate the future of blockchain and crypto. … Continue Reading

Competition Amendment Bill 2018 aims to protect market participation of non-dominant firms

By Rosalind Lake (ZA) on August 16, 2018 Posted in Africa, General

The overriding intention of South Africa’s Competition Amendment Bill of 2018, introduced in parliament on 12 July 2018, is to address perceived high levels of concentration and the skewed ownership profile of the South African economy. The competition authorities have consistently expressed concerns about the large number of dominant firms operating in the economy which … Continue Reading

SA poised to follow suit in utilisation of non-competition merger control to protect State security in foreign mergers

By Jason van Dijk (ZA) on August 16, 2018 Posted in Africa, General

A controversial introduction in the latest draft of South Africa’s Competition Amendment Bill of 2018 is the inclusion of a section that requires the State President to constitute a standing committee of cabinet ministers and public officials to consider whether a merger, involving a foreign acquiring firm, will be adverse to national security interests in … Continue Reading

New comparative guide on state of bank recovery and resolution laws in Africa

By Alan Bainbridge (UK) and Simon Lovegrove (UK) on May 17, 2018 Posted in Africa, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

Norton Rose Fulbright has launched a comparative guide on the state of recovery and resolution laws for banks in Africa. The new interactive guide provides an overview of the bank recovery and resolution requirements applicable to over 20 jurisdictions across Africa. The online guide allows clients to build their own comparative reports regarding the key … Continue Reading

Asset management in South Africa – Ten things to know

By Shawn Barnett (ZA) on March 18, 2018 Posted in Africa, Banking

1. Licensing of asset managers South African asset managers must register as financial service providers (FSPs) with the Financial Services Board (FSB) under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). Any person carrying on asset management business in South Africa, or from abroad directed at South African clients, whether in a discretionary or non-discretionary capacity … Continue Reading

South Africa: Insurance Act assented by State President

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) and Adriaan Louw (ZA) on January 24, 2018 Posted in Africa, Insurance

On 18 January 2018, the Insurance Act was published in the Government Gazette after it had been assented to by the State President. It is known as the Insurance Act 2017. The Insurance Act, which was tabled in the National Assembly in January 2016 and completed its journey through the parliamentary process in December 2017, … Continue Reading

South Africa: POPI regulations published for comment

By Kerri Gevers (ZA) on September 11, 2017 Posted in Africa, Regulation

The South African Information Regulator published draft regulations under the Protection of Personal Information Act 2013 (POPI) for public comment by 7 November 2017. The regulations cover various procedural items, including: the manner of objecting to the processing of personal information; requests for correction or deletion of personal information; the application form for industry codes of conduct; … Continue Reading

South Africa: Twin Peaks signed into law

By Desiree Reddy (ZA) and Sascha Graham on August 23, 2017 Posted in Africa, Regulation

The Financial Sector Regulation Bill was signed into law by President Zuma on 21 August 2017. The commencement dates for the new Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSR Act) are not yet known. The act provides the architecture for the new ‘twin peaks’ method of regulation to be adopted across the South African financial services industry, and is … Continue Reading

South Africa: Licence restrictions as deprivation of property

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on August 10, 2017 Posted in Africa, Regulation

A licence restriction in legislation is not a deprivation of property for the purposes of section 25 of the Bill of Rights unless the right that has been taken away from licensees constitutes a right or interest worthy of protection and is substantial enough that its removal constitutes deprivation. The SA Diamond Producers Organisation complained that … Continue Reading

South Africa: Comment on the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill extended to 10 August 2017

By Kerri Gevers (ZA) on July 31, 2017 Posted in Africa, General

A revised draft of the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill was tabled in Parliament in February 2017. See our previous post on the major changes to the original draft published for public comment in August 2015. At the beginning of July 2017, the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services called for public comments on the revised draft. The original … Continue Reading

South Africa: Law Commission report on medico-legal claims for comment by 30 September 2017

By Donald Dinnie and Sandra Sithole (ZA) on July 31, 2017 Posted in Africa, Regulation

The South African Law Reform Commission has issued a lengthy paper on the investigations into medico-legal claims with proposals for the reform of the law in connection with those claims. The paper discusses the current situation and the legal principles underlying claims for damages for medical negligence, state liability, the basis for payment of compensation (including some … Continue Reading

South Africa: Sugar tax

By Andrew Wellsted on June 5, 2017 Posted in Africa, Regulation

Before purchasing a sugar sweetened beverage (SSB), spare one thought for the health consequences and another for your wallet. Late 2017 is likely to see the introduction of a new tax in South Africa in the form of a health promotion levy (or sugar tax). Empirical evidence suggests that the quality of human health has … Continue Reading

South Africa: Laws amendment to accommodate demarcation regulations

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on April 24, 2017 Posted in Africa, Insurance

The pending changes to the Medical Schemes Act and the Long-term and Short-term Insurance Acts to accommodate the demarcation regulations were made on 1 April 2017 including the new definition of ‘business of a medical scheme’. The definition of ‘business of a medical scheme’ in the Medical Schemes Act 1998 makes it clear that if you … Continue Reading