Germany

BIS publishes working paper on embedded supervision in blockchain finance

On 16 September 2019 the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a working paper by its Monetary and Economic Department on Embedded supervision: how to build regulation into blockchain finance. The working paper suggests that asset tokenisation and the use of the underlying distributed ledger technology (DLT) in finance provides new avenues for the supervision … Continue Reading

HM Treasury letter concerning proposed Regulation on recovery and resolution of CCPs

By Hannah Meakin (UK) on September 18, 2019 Posted in Clearing and Settlement, Clearing and settlement, Clearing and settlement, Clearing and settlement, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 16 September 2019, HM Treasury published a letter from John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury to Sir William Cash, House of Commons European Committee Chair, providing an update on the current status of the proposal for an EU Regulation on the recovery and resolution of central counterparties (CCPs). Mr Glen states that the … Continue Reading

Commission FAQs on PSD2 and SCA

By Albert Weatherill (UK) on September 16, 2019 Posted in France, Germany, Italy, Regulation and Compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 13 September 2019, the European Commission (Commission) published a set of FAQs on the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The FAQs provide an overview of PSD2 and how it benefits consumers. They also detail the requirements of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), which came into force on 14 September 2019, and set out the exemptions … Continue Reading

EEA Joint Committee Decision incorporating Benchmarks Regulation into EEA Agreement

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on September 13, 2019 Posted in Germany, Italy, Regulation and Compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 12 September 2019, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU, Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 190/2019 of 10 July 2019 amending Annex IX (Financial services) and Annex XIX (Consumer protection) to the EEA Agreement. The decision states that Annexes IX and XIX to the EEA Agreement should be amended … Continue Reading

Amendment to the maximum amount per SCT Inst transaction to 100,000 euros

By Albert Weatherill (UK) on September 13, 2019 Posted in Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 10 September 2019, the European Payments Council (EPC) decided to amend the maximum amount per Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) transaction to 100,000 euros, effective as of 1 July 2020. For the time being, the maximum amount an originator can transfer via a single SCT Inst transaction is set … Continue Reading

Supervising international banks: Revision of the Branch Return

By Jochen Vester (UK) on September 13, 2019 Posted in Germany, Italy, Regulation and Compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 12 September 2019, the PRA published Policy Statement 17/19: Supervising international banks: Revision of the Branch Return (PS17/19). PS17/19 is relevant to all existing and prospective PRA-supervised branches of deposit takers and PRA-designated investment firms which are not UK headquartered firms. In PS17/19 the PRA provides feedback to responses to Consultation Paper 8/19: Supervising … Continue Reading

IOSCO consults on UTC clock synchronisation of timestamped events

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on September 12, 2019 Posted in Financial Institutions, Germany, Italy, Regulation and Compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 11 September 2019, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a consultation paper (CR04/19) recommending that trading venues and their participants synchronise the business clocks used to record the time and date of a reportable event with co-ordinated universal time (UTC). The proposal follows a recommendation from an earlier IOSCO report published in … Continue Reading

New leadership of the European Commission announced: Valdis Dombrovskis to keep financial services portfolio

By Anna Carrier (BE) on September 10, 2019 Posted in France, General, General, General, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 10 September 2019 the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the list of Commissioner-designates and the allocation of their respective portfolios. Under a new structure of the College of Commissioners with its eight Vice-Presidents, the responsibility for DG Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) will remain … Continue Reading

EBA to clarify prudential treatment applicable to own funds instruments at the end 2021

By Jochen Vester (UK) and Simon Lovegrove (UK) on September 10, 2019 Posted in Capital Adequacy, Capital adequacy, Capital adequacy, Capital adequacy, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 9 September 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) announced that it intends to provide clarity on the appropriate treatment of legacy instruments at the end of 2021. When the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) entered into force, grandfathering provisions were introduced to ensure that institutions had sufficient time to meet the requirements set out by … Continue Reading

EBA speech on AML and CTF powers

By John Coley (UK) and Lisa Lee Lewis (UK) on September 6, 2019 Posted in Anti-Money Laundering, France, Germany, Italy, Money laundering, Money laundering, Money laundering, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 5 September 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a speech given by Jose Manuel Campa, EBA Chair, on the EBA’s current and future anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) powers. Mr Campa discusses the limitation of the EBA’s existing powers in relation to enforcing its standards and guidelines and to promote … Continue Reading

ESMA publishes stress simulation framework for investment funds

By Imogen Garner (UK) and Iona Wright (UK) on September 6, 2019 Posted in Collective Investment Schemes, Collective investment schemes, Collective investment schemes, Collective investment schemes, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 2 September 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a final report on guidelines on liquidity stress testing in UCITS and AIFs (the Guidelines). In April 2018, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) published a set of recommendations to address liquidity and leverage risk in investment funds. One of the ESRB’s recommendations … Continue Reading

PSD2: German regulator postpones strong costumer authentication requirements for online credit card payments

By Michael Born (DE) and Alisa Kuznetsova on September 6, 2019 Posted in Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Germany, Italy, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and Compliance, Regulation and compliance, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) will allow payment service providers domiciled in Germany to execute credit card payments online without strong customer authentication (SCA) as a temporary measure after 14 September 2019. Pursuant to a press release published on 21 August 2019, BaFin will not object to such transactions for the time being in order … Continue Reading

ECB Chair introductory statement to European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on September 5, 2019 Posted in Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 4 September 2019, the European Central Bank (ECB) published the introductory statement given by its chair, Andrea Enria, at the first ordinary hearing in 2019 at the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. Among other things, the statement lists the ECB’s work and priorities for the near future. In particular, the ECB will: … Continue Reading

EBA adds Securitisation Regulation to its online Interactive Single Rulebook and Q&A tools

By Jochen Vester (UK) on September 4, 2019 Posted in Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 2 September 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) updated its Interactive Single Rulebook and Q&A tool on the “simple, transparent and standardised” (STS) Securitisation Regulation. The update allows users to review all the EBA’s final technical standards and guidelines associated with the Securitisation Regulation by navigating through the legislation on an article by article … Continue Reading

ESMA final guidance on liquidity stress test guidance for investment funds

By Imogen Garner (UK) on September 3, 2019 Posted in Collective Investment Schemes, Collective investment schemes, Collective investment schemes, Collective investment schemes, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 2 September 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final guidance regarding liquidity stress testing of investment funds – applicable to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and Undertakings for the Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS). The report follows an earlier consultation in February 2019 (see previous blog post here) on draft … Continue Reading

EPC update on Brexit and SEPA transactions involving UK-based participants

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on September 3, 2019 Posted in Brexit, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 2 September 2019, the European Payments Council (EPC) published recommendations for all participants in Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) schemes in the event of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October 2019. The guidance follows an earlier EPC decision in March 2019 that approved an application from UK Finance for the continued participation of UK … Continue Reading

HM Treasury letter addressing concerns on proposed crowdfunding legislation

By Matthew Gregory (UK) on September 2, 2019 Posted in France, Germany, Italy, Regulation and Compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 30 August 2019, HM Treasury published a letter (dated 27 August 2019) from John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury to Lord Boswell of Aynho, House of Lords EU Committee Chair, addressing concerns regarding uncertainty around the content of the European Commission’s (the Commission) proposed Regulation on European crowdfunding service providers for business and … Continue Reading

Commission update on work relating to cryptoassets

By Hannah Meakin (UK) and Albert Weatherill (UK) on August 30, 2019 Posted in Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 28 August 2019, the European Commission (the Commission) published an answer given by Valdis Dombrovskis (Vice-President European Commission, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) concerning cryptoassets. In its response, the Commission refers to an announcement made in its 2018 Action Plan on FinTech (see previous blog post here) that it is looking … Continue Reading

ECB decisions on adopting decisions on passporting, acquisition of qualifying holdings and withdrawal of authorisations of credit institutions

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on August 29, 2019 Posted in Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 28 August 2019, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU, the following decisions relating to the Regulation on the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM): Decision (EU) 2019/1376 of the European Central Bank (ECB) on delegation of the power to adopt decisions on passporting, acquisition of qualifying holdings and withdrawal of authorisations of … Continue Reading

EBA reports on funding plans and asset encumbrance

By Jochen Vester (UK) and Simon Lovegrove (UK) on August 29, 2019 Posted in Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 28 August 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published the following: a report on funding plans. The purpose of the report is to assess the feasibility of EU banks’ funding plans submitted for the banking system in the EU. The EBA’s findings include, among other things, that the total assets of banks increased in … Continue Reading

ECB communication on supervisory coverage expectations for NPEs

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on August 23, 2019 Posted in Capital Adequacy, Capital adequacy, Capital adequacy, Capital adequacy, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 22 August 2019, the European Central Bank (ECB) issued a communication on supervisory expectations for non-performing exposures (NPEs). The communication begins by stating that addressing non-performing loans (NPLs) has been one of the key priorities for ECB Banking Supervision since its inception. The overall objective of developing the supervisory approach to NPLs is to … Continue Reading

Joint EBA and ESMA response to the letter of 19 July 2019 on crypto-assets

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on August 22, 2019 Posted in Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, Fintech, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 20 August 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Banking Authority (together the European Supervisory Authorities) published a letter in response to an earlier letter from Valdis Dombrovskis (Vice-President European Commission, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) concerning crypto-assets, including so-called ‘stablecoins’. The letter outlines some of the European … Continue Reading

Report by the ECB working group on euro risk-free rates

By Hannah Meakin (UK) on August 20, 2019 Posted in Benchmarks, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 19 August 2019, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) working group on euro risk-free rates published a report that focuses on the impact that the transition from the current euro overnight index average (EONIA) to the ECB’s euro short-term rate (€STR) will have on cash and derivatives products. In the report, the working group analyses … Continue Reading

ECB decision on oversight of systemically important payment systems

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on August 19, 2019 Posted in Banking, Banking, Banking, Banking, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

On 16 August 2019, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ), the European Central Bank (ECB) decision of 26 July 2019 on the procedure and conditions for exercise by a Member State competent authority of certain powers in relation to the oversight of systemically important payment systems (SIPs). In April 2012, … Continue Reading