Australia

Global Asset Management Quarterly – 14th edition now available online

The latest issue of Global Asset Management Quarterly is now available here. This issue contains the following articles: Europe European update Launch of IFR/IFD transition hub EU/UK regulatory roundup United Kingdom COVID-19: action points for boards to consider FCA Dear CEO letter: Asset management firms – prepare now for the end of LIBOR Extension of … Continue Reading

Monthly global FinTech regulatory updater

Every month we provide the Global Blockchain Business Council’s Post-Trade Distributed Ledger group with a global regulatory FinTech updater, the latest version of which can be found here. Post Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group is composed of over 40 prominent market infrastructure stakeholders whose shared vision of the use of distributed ledger technology has brought … Continue Reading

Financial services monthly wrap-up: March 2020

By Jon Ireland, Ray Giblett (AU), Matthew Farnsworth (AU), Stephen Putnins and Anjelica Balis on April 2, 2020 Posted in ASIC, Asset Management, Australia, Financial Services, Funds management, Investigations, Regulators, Regulatory Compliance, Uncategorized

March 2020 has seen a number of responses from the Government, regulators, associations and industry generally addressing issues and risks from the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). This update includes key regulatory responses in the wake of COVID-19 for the funds and financial services sector. Of the notable developments outside COVID-19, on 10 March 2020 … Continue Reading

Monthly global FinTech regulatory updater

By Hannah Meakin (UK) on March 17, 2020 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Fintech, Fintech, FinTech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

The new rules for foreign financial service providers in Australia: What now?

By Jon Ireland, Ray Giblett (AU), Matthew Farnsworth (AU) and Laura Taylor on March 16, 2020 Posted in ASIC, Asset Management, Australia, Financial Services, Funds management, Investment, Regulators, Regulatory Compliance

Introduction On 10 March 2020, following extensive consultation with industry, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released its new regulatory framework for foreign financial services providers (FFSPs). These new rules are critically important for foreign firms (including asset managers and funds, brokers, foreign banks and other offshore institutions) undertaking wholesale financial services business into … Continue Reading

What are the top AML and sanctions compliance challenges in 2020?

By Sven Stumbauer on March 13, 2020 Posted in Africa, Anti-corruption and business and human rights, Anti-money laundering, Anti-money laundering, Anti-Money Laundering, Asia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

We recently completed our global anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance survey that involved discussions with senior financial services executives. Our global analysis covers 375 participating financial institutions from 77 countries. Our initial analysis indicates several key trends: regulatory pressure on AML and sanctions compliance was significant in 2019 and is expected to continue increasing … Continue Reading

ASIC releases new regulatory framework for foreign financial service providers

By Jon Ireland, Ray Giblett (AU), Matthew Farnsworth (AU) and Anjelica Balis on March 11, 2020 Posted in ASIC, Australia, Financial Services, Funds management, Investment, Regulators, Uncategorized

On 10 March 2020, ASIC published its media release announcing the new regulatory framework for foreign financial services providers (FFSPs) providing financial services to wholesale clients in Australia. Existing licensing relief has been extended as follows: ASIC has provided a 2 year transition period until 31 March 2022 for FFSPs relying on the sufficient equivalence … Continue Reading

Financial services monthly wrap up – February 2020

By Jon Ireland, Charlotte Henry, Ray Giblett (AU), Matthew Farnsworth (AU), Stephen Putnins and Anjelica Balis on March 2, 2020 Posted in ASIC, Asset Management, Australia, Financial Services, funds management

The month of February 2020 has seen the passing of a number of bills implementing recommendations from the financial services Royal Commission, including measures strengthening the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) licensing, search warrant and banning powers as well as reforms to protect consumers. February has also seen the welcoming of proposals from both … Continue Reading

Financial services monthly wrap up: December 2019 to January 2020

By Jon Ireland, Charlotte Henry, Ray Giblett (AU), Matthew Farnsworth (AU), Stephen Putnins and Anjelica Balis on February 11, 2020 Posted in ASIC, Asset Management, Australia, Regulators, Uncategorized

The months of December 2019 and January 2020 have proven to be a busy time for our Government and regulators, with significant changes and proposals for the funds and financial services sector. In particular, Treasury have released 17 bills in response to 22 recommendations made by Commissioner Hayne in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in … Continue Reading

Monthly global FinTech regulatory updater

By Hannah Meakin (UK), Sean Murphy (UK) and Imogen Garner (UK) on February 11, 2020 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Fintech, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

Monthly global FinTech regulatory updater

By Hannah Meakin (UK) on February 4, 2020 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Fintech, Fintech, FinTech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

BEAR Extension (Australia)

By Charlotte Henry on January 23, 2020 Posted in Australia, BEAR

On 22 January 2020 the Australian Government released its proposal paper for extending the Banking and Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) in Australia to entities regulated by Australia’s prudential regulator, APRA. The extension, known as the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) is another step in implementing some of the commitments set out in the Government’s Financial Services … Continue Reading

Watch now: global asset management regulation webinar series

By Simon Lovegrove (UK), Martin Krause (DE) and Imogen Garner (UK) on January 15, 2020 Posted in Africa, Asia, Asset Management, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

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

Global Asset Management Quarterly – 13th edition now available online

The latest issue of Global Asset Management Quarterly is now available here. This issue contains the following articles: UK/Europe UK and European overview The new EU prudential regime for investment firms Navigating the AIFMD EU progresses on its Sustainable Finance Action Plan Contracting for indices EU/UK regulatory roundup Luxembourg update Ireland update Asia Pacific The … Continue Reading

Financial services monthly wrap up – November 2019

By Jon Ireland, Charlotte Henry, Ray Giblett (AU), Stephen Putnins, Matthew Farnsworth (AU) and Anjelica Balis on December 10, 2019 Posted in ASIC, Australia, Financial advice, Financial Services, Funds management

The month of November 2019 saw the much-anticipated updates to Regulatory Guide 97 ‘Disclosing fees and costs in PDSs and periodic statements’ released by ASIC, providing further reforms and guidance in relation to fees and costs disclosure requirements. In addition, APRA has released updated information sheets and prudential standards addressing concerns such as governance, culture, … Continue Reading

Insurance claims handling soon to be a financial service

By Ray Giblett (AU), Matthew Ellis (AU) and Timothy Chan (AU) on December 4, 2019 Posted in ASIC, Australia, Financial Services, Insurance, Uncategorized

Following the release of the Royal Commission final report earlier this year, the Treasury has now released draft legislation that will make insurance claims handling a financial service under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). This will give the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) greater supervisory responsibility over claims handling and require that these activities … 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

Financial services monthly wrap up – October 2019

By Jon Ireland, Charlotte Henry, Matthew Farnsworth (AU) and Anjelica Balis on November 7, 2019 Posted in ASIC, Australia, Financial advice, Financial Services, Funds management

In October 2019, the much-anticipated bill to end grandfathered conflicted remuneration was passed, with the ban effective from 1 January 2021. There have also been recent developments in the Courts in relation to the definition of personal advice as well as a joint ASIC report on the role and shortcomings of disclosure in financial services. … Continue Reading

New webinar series: Global asset management regulation

By Imogen Garner (UK) on October 28, 2019 Posted in Asset management, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Seminars and webinars, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

To be successful with the launch of an overseas fund, asset managers need to familiarize themselves with legal structures and operational differences as well as an array of regulatory requirements, which can differ between investors and jurisdictions. Our global financial services regulatory team have launched an on-demand webinar series exploring the key issues and requirements … 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