Following their call for evidence in November 2022, on 1 June 2023, the European Supervisory Authorities (“ESAs”) published their first progress reports on greenwashing (the “Reports”) to better identify the phenomenon and to assess which areas of the sustainable investment value chain (“SIVC”) are more exposed to greenwashing risks. In the Reports the ESAs have … Continue Reading
In this edition of Regulation Around the World we review the position regarding beneficial ownership registers which has come into the spotlight following work by the Financial Action Task Force and the introduction of reforms in a number of jurisdictions. Identifying beneficial owners has always been a difficult task for both regulators and financial institutions … Continue Reading
We have now updated our two guides on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), which has now been in force for approximately nine years. Both guides are now in their fifth iteration. The first guide considers whether the AIFMD marketing passport is working in practice and is a useful tool for managers as it … Continue Reading
New measures regarding crypto-related services providers have now been passed. Following a lengthy consultation process that began in 2018, the decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance that was approved on 13 January 2022 (the “Decree”) has been published on the Official Journal on 17 February 2022 and entered into force the next day. … Continue Reading
A recent webinar hosted by Consob (the Italian authority for the supervision of financial markets) in the context of the 2021 IOSCO World Investor Week offers the opportunity to briefly recall the initiatives undertaken by the Italian authority in respect of ESG matters. As a starting point, in its annual review published in March 2021, … Continue Reading
Amid emergency initiatives aimed at coping with the Covid-19 emergency, Italy has taken two steps aimed at easing the modalities for concluding contracts online, both of which are particularly significant for the financial services sector. It is worth reminding that banking and financial contracts under Italian law are valid only if entered in writing. Furthermore, … Continue Reading
Consob’s final report on initial coin offers (ICOs) and crypto-assets exchanges On 2 January 2020, following the publication of a discussion document on 19 March 2019 (on which you can find our previous article here), Consob (the Italian regulator supervising financial markets and listed companies) released its final report on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and … Continue Reading
On 19 March 2019, Consob (the Italian competent authority for the supervision on markets and listed companies) published a discussion document about initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crypto-assets exchanges (the “Document”), that may lead to the introduction of specific regulation in this field. The Document summarises the main items Consob is considering in the development … Continue Reading
On 19 February 2019, the Bank of Italy published a communication (the “Communication”) addressed to UK-based banks, payment institutions and e-money institutions operating in Italy under a branch or services passport as well as by availing themselves of a network of agents (the “UK Intermediaries”). The Communication – transmitted individually to UK Intermediaries on … Continue Reading
On 24 January 2019, the Ministry of Economic and Finance issued a press release to inform the market that the Italian Government is preparing the necessary measures to ensure the continuity of markets and intermediary business should a hard Brexit occur (i.e. exit with no deal). The press release is available at this link (in … Continue Reading
Consob, the Italian financial sector regulator, has launched a consultation on the abrogation of the obligation to publish a prospectus for unit-linked and index-linked insurance products. The proposed change is intended to end the peculiar Italian regime requiring insurers to draft a prospectus for unit-linked and index-linked insurance products, introduced in 2005 when the EU … Continue Reading
