On 16 March 2023, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter on its priorities for payments firms. The letter was sent to CEOs of firms within the FCA’s payments portfolio, including those authorised or registered under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs) and the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMRs). The letter explains that the FCA … Continue Reading
In the latest in our podcast series, Split the difference, which explores divergence between the EU and UK regulatory regimes in the markets space, Hannah Meakin, Albert Weatherill, Floortje Nagelkerke and Anna Carrier explore some of the markets dimensions of the regulatory reforms involving cryptoassets.… Continue Reading
This note provides a high-level comparison of some of the key areas of MiCA and the HMT Proposals. It is relevant to participants in EU and UK cryptoasset markets, including service providers and issuers, as well as institutional and retail investors. Readers should note that, since neither regime has been finalised yet, there may be … Continue Reading
By now you may have had the chance to review in greater detail the proposals published by HM Treasury on 1 February 2023 setting out the future direction of the UK’s regulatory framework for cryptoassets. If you haven’t you can read our summary here and our online briefing note here. Many in the industry are … Continue Reading
We have published a new briefing note, ‘HM Treasury consults on next steps for the regulation of cryptoassets‘. The note looks at HM Treasury’s Consultation Paper on its proposed next steps for cryptoassets.… Continue Reading
On 16 February 2023, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a report on the financial stability risks of decentralised finance (DeFi). The report describes DeFi as an umbrella term commonly used to describe a variety of services in crypto-asset markets that are intended to replicate some functions of the traditional financial system by seemingly disintermediating … Continue Reading
On 7 February 2023, the Bank of England (BoE) published a speech by Sir Jon Cunliffe (Deputy Governor, Financial Stability), given at UK Finance, on the digital pound. The speech begins by setting out the headline conclusions from the recent report from the BoE – HM Treasury Taskforce on the introduction in the UK of … Continue Reading
On 8 February 2023, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published the keynote speech by Jose Manuel Campa at the AFORE’s 7th annual conference on fintech and regulation. In his speech, Mr Campa acknowledges the progress made, such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act and the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA). Furthermore, the proposal for the … Continue Reading
On 7 January 2023, HM Treasury and the Bank of England (BoE) published a joint Consultation Paper on the digital pound: a new form of money for households and businesses? Introduction In this consultation HM Treasury and the BoE are consulting on a proposal for a retail UK central bank digital currency (CBDC). A UK … Continue Reading
On 3 February 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Questions and Answers (Q&As) on the Prospectus Regulation. The Q&As have been updated to include the following Q&A: Question: Article 1(4)(d) of the prospectus regulation states: “The obligation to publish a prospectus set out in Article 3(1) shall not apply to any … Continue Reading
On 1 February 2023, HM Treasury issued its latest proposals for the UK’s financial services regime for cryptoassets. It also issued a policy statement on its approach to the regulation of cryptoasset financial promotions. In this podcast Jonathan Herbst is joined by Albert Weatherill and Hannah Meakin who provide their views on the key headlines … Continue Reading
Introduction On 1 February 2023, HM Treasury issued its latest proposals concerning the regulation of cryptoassets. These proposals build on HM Treasury’s previous work which focused on stablecoins and the financial promotion of cryptoassets. They deliver on the government’s announcement last April setting out plans for the UK to become a global hub for cryptoasset … Continue Reading
The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the oversight body of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, met on 16 December to endorse its finalised prudential standard on banks’ cryptoasset exposures and the Committee’s work programme and strategic priorities for 2023-24. The standard provides that unbacked cryptoassets and stablecoins with ineffective … Continue Reading
On 16 December 2022, the FCA, Payment Systems Regulator, HM Treasury and the Competition and Markets Authority published a joint statement providing an update on their plans for the vision of the future of open banking and proposals for a new entity to succeed the Open Banking Implementation Entity. In the statement the regulators confirm … Continue Reading
On 8 December 2022, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published a Consultation Paper: Authorised push payment scams measure 1 Metric C process: revised approach. In November 2021, the PSR consulted on a package of measures to tackle authorised push payment (APP) scams. The measures focussed on the publication of scam data, industry efforts to improve … Continue Reading
On 8 December 2022, the European Payments Council (EPC) published its annual report on payment threats and fraud trends. The report provides an overview of the most important threats and other “fraud enablers” in the payments landscape, including engineering and phishing, malware, Advanced Persistent Threats, Distributed Denial of Service ((D)DoS), botnets and monetisation channels. For … Continue Reading
On 7 December 2022, the European Commission published the following proposals which follow up on its commitment to simplify EU listing rules, as detailed in Action 2 of the 2020 Capital Markets Union Action Plan: Proposal for a Directive on multiple-vote share structures in companies that seek the admission to trading of their shares on … Continue Reading
On 2 December 2022, the FCA updated their webpage on the notification and disclosure of net short positions. The webpage now includes a new section providing an update on the FCA’s review of the UK list of exempted shares. The FCA published an initial UK list of exempted shares on 31 December 2020. This list … Continue Reading
On 30 November 2022, the European Payments Council published the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) Scheme Rulebook. The Rulebook becomes effective on 30 November 2023.… Continue Reading
On 21 November 2022, the Bank of England (the Bank) published a speech by Jon Cunliffe at Warwick Business School’s Gilmore Centre Policy Forum Conference on Defi and Digital Currencies. In his speech, Mr Cunliffe reflects on recent crypto market developments and the work the authorities are doing on the regulation of crypto stablecoins and … Continue Reading
On 27 October 2022, the European Payments Council (EPC) announced that they have published version 1.1 of the 2023 EPC SEPA Instant Credit Transfer rulebook and related document on the SCT Inst maximum amount. This version of the rulebook replaces, with immediate effect, version 1.0 of the 2023 SCT Inst rulebook, published in May 2022. … Continue Reading
On 25 October 2022, the FCA published Discussion paper DP22/5 on the potential competition impacts of Big Tech entry and expansion in retail financial services. The Discussion Paper notes that Big Tech firms’ presence internationally and in UK financial services markets has been increasing, with the potential to grow and change market outcomes quickly. Big … Continue Reading
On 11 October 2022, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) released Policy Statement 22/3 ‘Extending confirmation of payee coverage’ (PS22/3). In PS22/3 the PSR confirms its plans to direct about 400 payment service providers (PSPs) to implement a system to offer the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) name checking service to their customers (both as payers and … Continue Reading
On 28 September 2022, the European Commission launched a consultation on consumer rights – adapting out-of-court dispute resolution to digital markets. The consultation aims to collect views of various interested organisations and businesses on how to increase the efficiency of retail markets in the EU, how to ensure a level playing field among traders operating … Continue Reading
