On 13 August 2018, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published a draft report on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Crowdfunding Service Providers for Business. An explanatory statement is provided on page 79 of the document. The Rapporteur for the proposed … Continue Reading
On 9 August 2018, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ) the following legislative measures supplementing the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR): Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1105 of 8 August 2018 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to procedures and forms for the provision of information by competent authorities to ESMA under … Continue Reading
On 7 August 2018, a group of international standard setting bodies (the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions) published a consultative document on incentives to centrally clear over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. The international standard setting bodies reconvened the … Continue Reading
On 6 August 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its transitional transparency calculations (TTCs) for equity derivatives, equity and equity-like instruments, and the tick size band assessment under MiFID II / MIFIR. Further detail on the calculations can be found in section E of ESMA’s FAQs on MiFID II transitional transparency calculations.… Continue Reading
On 1 August 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published data for the systematic internaliser (SI) calculations under MiFID II. The data on the total volume and number of transactions executed within the EU has been published to help market participants in the performance of the SI test under article 4(1)(20) of MiFID … Continue Reading
On 2 August 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a notice of intention to include additional data and analysis into a confidentiality ring following publication of the provisional decision report, as part of their investment consultants market investigation. The notice outlines the CMA’s intention to disclose further data and analysis on the relationship … Continue Reading
On 31 July 2018, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a final report containing draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the method, means and details of cooperation in the supervision of payment institutions operating on a cross-border basis as mandated under Article 29(6) of revised Payment Services Directive. The draft RTS will be submitted to … Continue Reading
On 1 August 2018, the FCA published Consultation Paper 18/21: General standards and communication rules for the payment services and e-money sectors (CP18/21). CP18/21 will be of interest to payment service providers and e-money issuers as well as the trade bodies representing them. It will also be of interest to credit institutions providing payment services … Continue Reading
On 30 July 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published an updated version of its Q&As on temporary product intervention measures on the marketing, distribution or sale of contracts for differences (CFDs) and binary options (BO) to retail clients. The updated Q&As cover whether: turbo certificates are within the scope of the CFD … 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 24 July 2018, the FCA published its approach to the temporary permissions regime (TPR) for EEA firms and funds passporting into the UK. The TPR is designed to enable EEA firms currently operating in the UK to continue using their passport for a limited period after Brexit (the draft Regulations envisage a 3 year … Continue Reading
On 24 July 2018, ESMA published a follow-up report to its peer review on suitability requirements under MiFID. The report looks at the actions taken by National Competent Authorities (NCAs) since April 2016, when ESMA published its previous peer review report. Follow-up work was commenced in December 2017. The key points from the follow-up report … Continue Reading
On 24 July 2018, a draft version of the Central Counterparties (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 were published together with an explanatory memorandum. The purpose of the Regulations are to ensure that the regulatory regime for central counterparties (CCPs) established by EMIR functions effectively after Brexit, following the implementation of EMIR … Continue Reading
On 24 July 2018, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published draft terms of reference for a proposed market review into the supply of card-acquiring services in the UK (MR18/1.1). The review is designed to ensure that card-acquiring services remain competitive and fair for both merchants and consumers. The review is prompted by concerns that card … 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
On 23 July 2018, the G20 published a communique following the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Buenos Aires this month. Amongst other things, the G20: welcomes progress on the Roadmap to Infrastructure as an Asset Class. The G20 endorses the Principles for the Infrastructure Project Preparation Phase which will help deliver … Continue Reading
On 20 July 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) released a template to be used to publish the first set of figures necessary for investment firms to assess whether they are systematic internalisers in specific financial instruments. This follows numerous requests in advance of 1 August 2018, to make the template available to … Continue Reading
On 18 July 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a provisional decision report concerning its investment consultants market investigation. The CMA is carrying out this investigation following a reference from the FCA in September 2017. The report states that the CMA has provisionally found that there is an adverse effect on competition and … Continue Reading
On 18 July 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published supplementary guidance on the application of the endorsement regime for non-EU credit ratings under the Credit Rating Agencies Regulation. The supplementary guidelines assist EU credit rating agencies (CRAs) in assessing whether a third-country CRA’s internal requirements meet the as stringent as test. This … Continue Reading
On 17 July 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published an updated version of its Q&As on the Benchmarks Regulation. The Q&As have been updated to amend the definitions of calculation agents (Q5.3) and regulated data benchmarks (Q5.7).… Continue Reading
On 16 July 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued its first set of technical standards on simple, transparent and standardised securitisations (STS) under Articles 27(6), 27(7) and 28(4) of the Securitisation Regulation. The draft technical standards relate to: Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) specifying the information that the originator, sponsor and SSPE are … Continue Reading
On 16 July 2018, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a self-assessment questionnaire for prospective Unique Product Identifier (UPI) service providers, alongside an explanatory note. The primary purpose of the UPI is to identify the product that is the subject of a particular over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transaction. A UPI would be assigned to each product, … Continue Reading
On 13 July 2018, the European Commission adopted ten Delegated Regulations setting out regulatory technical standards (RTS) under the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR): Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) supplementing the BMR with regard to RTS specifying further the contents of, and cases where updates are required to, the benchmark statement to be published by the administrator of … Continue Reading
The FCA has published a speech by its Chief Executive, Andrew Bailey, on transitioning from LIBOR to alternative interest rate benchmarks. Highlights in the speech include: the absence of ways to remedy the current underlying weakness in LIBOR lead to the conclusion that the best option is to actively transition to alternative benchmarks; the most … Continue Reading
