On Thursday, 21 January, the Portuguese presidency of the Council holds its first working group on the review of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). The Council is still in its initial phase of examining the proposal. The Council Presidency Is taking an issue-by-issue approach, … Continue Reading
On 10 December 2020, the Department for International Trade issued a press release stating that the International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss MP, was in Singapore to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The press release added that the Secretary of State would also be travelling to Vietnam to conclude another rollover trade agreement. The press … Continue Reading
On 24 January 2020, the FCA announced that HM Treasury, with the advice of the Board of the FCA, has appointed Christopher Woolard as Interim Chief Executive. The appointment follows Andrew Bailey’s departure to become Governor of the Bank of England. HM Treasury will be running an open competition for the permanent Chief Executive and … Continue Reading
We wish all of our blog subscribers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our next blogs will be posted on Monday 6 January 2020, which means that they will arrive in your inbox on Tuesday 7 January 2020.… Continue Reading
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
On 8 November 2019, the UK Parliament updated its webpage on the Financial Services Duty of Care Bill 2019 (the Bill). Following the dissolution of the 2017-2019 Parliament, the Bill will make no further progress. For more information on the Bill, see our previous blog here. In October 2019, the FCA expressed its intentions to … Continue Reading
On 29 October 2019, the Financial Services Duty of Care Bill 2019-20 (the Bill) had its first reading in the House of Lords. If the Bill becomes law it will amend the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) by inserting a new section 137CA, “FCA general rules: duty of care”. This new section extends … Continue Reading
On 15 October 2019, the European Commission (Commission) and the Financial Services Agency of Japan (JFSA) published a joint statement (dated 11 October) on the inaugural meeting of the joint EU-Japan regulatory forum held in Tokyo. Senior officials present at the meeting included representatives from the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the European … Continue Reading
On 20 September 2019, the FCA announced that it had appointed Sheree Howard as its Executive Director of Risk and Compliance Oversight.… Continue Reading
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
On 7 August 2019, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published two updated memorandums of understanding (MOU) between itself and the FCA on concurrent competition powers, and the use of concurrent powers under consumer protection legislation. The MOUs have been updated to reflect the changes introduced by the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018, which … Continue Reading
On 31 July 2019, the Bank of England (BoE) published a policy statement on the fees regime for the supervision of financial market infrastructure (FMI). The policy statement provides feedback to responses from an earlier consultation paper published in April 2019 on the 2019/20 fees regime for FMI supervision. The policy statement also sets out: … Continue Reading
On 18 July 2019, HM Treasury published an updated memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Bank of England (BoE) (exercising its prudential regulation functions) and the FCA setting out the high-level framework they will use to co-ordinate and co-operate in carrying out their respective responsibilities. The MOU has been updated to reflect the expansion of … Continue Reading
Between 23 and 26 May 2019 citizens of 28 European Union (EU) Member States elected 751 new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). With a record high turnout of 51% across the EU-28, voters have expressed a powerful vote against some of the governing political parties. Here is our analysis of the preliminary results: Germany … Continue Reading
Markus Ferber, a German MEP, has been elected the new whip for the European People’s Party in the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). Mr Ferber previously was the first vice chair of the ECON committee and succeeds Burkhard Balz who is leaving the Parliament to join the board of German Bundesbank … Continue Reading
On 24 July 2018, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report setting out the outcome of its assessment of the European Commission’s call for advice on European Secured Notes (ESNs). The report makes 5 recommendations on key aspects for consideration by the European Commission when structuring the legislative framework for ESNs: Small and medium-sized … Continue Reading
On 25 July 2018, the Bank of England (BoE) published its statement of compliance (as at 14 May 2018) with the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) principles for financial benchmarks. The IOSCO principles, which the statement shows BoE in compliance with, ensure international best practice in the BoE’s administration of the Sterling Overnight Index … Continue Reading
On 24 July 2018, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies and Core Activities) (Amendment) Order 2018 (SI 2018/897) (Amendment Order) was published. The Amendment Order, which comes into force on 31 October 2018, amends the definition of “core deposit” in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies and Core Activities) … Continue Reading
On 6 July 2018, the FCA published its response to the recommendations made by the Environment Audit Committee in its June 2018 report, Greening Finance: embedding sustainability in financial decision making. The FCA’s comments included: The FCA will consult on rule changes requiring independent governance committees to report on their firm’s policies on evaluating environmental, … Continue Reading
On 24 July 2018, the FCA published two papers relating to the way it assesses the potential impact of its policies prior to implementing rules. The theme of the papers reflect the FCA’s increased focus on impact evaluation which was established in its Mission 2017. The first paper (How we analyse the costs and benefits … Continue Reading
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has made his Autumn Statement. The statement touches on the following financial services aspects: bank levy; information on lending to small and medium-sized enterprises; tax treatment of Solvency II compliant instruments; stamp duty in relation to exchange traded funds; and limited liability partnership reform. View Autumn Statement 2013, … Continue Reading
