On 6 April 2020, the European Commission published for a four-week consultation period a draft implementing decision on the equivalence of the legal and supervisory framework applicable to benchmarks in Japan in accordance with the Benchmarks Regulation. The decision is applicable to the specified administrators of financial benchmarks that are specified as specified financial benchmarks … Continue Reading
On 3 April 2020, the European Commission updated its consultations (banking and finance web page) extending the following consultation: A retail payments strategy for the EU – deadline extended to 26 June 2020 A new digital finance strategy for Europe / FinTech action plan – deadline extended to 26 June 2020 Revision of the non-financial … Continue Reading
On 20 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced that it was extending the response date for a number of ongoing consultations with a closing date on, or after, 16 March 2020 by four weeks. The consultations include those on the MiFIR report in systematic internalisers and draft technical standards under the … Continue Reading
On 20 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a public statement aimed at clarifying issues regarding the application by firms of the MiFID II requirements on the recording of telephone conversations. In the public statement ESMA: reminds firms that it has issued numerous Q&As to assist firms in the application of … Continue Reading
In our latest financial services video Jonathan Herbst discusses the regulatory issues that firms should consider in light of Covid-19.… Continue Reading
On 12 March 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced a number of measures to ensure that its directly supervised banks can continue to fulfil their role in funding the real economy. Key points in the announcement include: the ECB will allow banks to operate temporarily below the level of capital defined by the Pillar … Continue Reading
On 12 March 2020, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued a statement on actions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the EU banking sector. Key points in the statement include: the EBA will postpone the EU-wide stress test exercise to 2021. This is intended to allow banks to focus on and ensure continuity of … Continue Reading
On 12 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a public statement which makes certain recommendations to market participants as regards the impact of COVID-19. The statement touches on: Business continuity planning; Market disclosure; Financial reporting; and Fund management.… Continue Reading
The way in which investment firms are to be treated for the purposes of prudential regulation is changing. Set to take effect from June 2021, the Investment Firms Regulation (IFR) and Investment Firms Directive (IFD) will make significant alterations to the framework governing investment firms. The new regime will mean higher regulatory capital requirements for … Continue Reading
On 10 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a consultation paper reviewing the transparency regime for non-equity instruments and the trading obligation for derivatives under the Market in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). The first part of the consultation paper focuses on the Level 1 review required under Article 52(1) and (6) … Continue Reading
On 9 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2020 Supervision Work Programme, detailing the areas of focus for its supervision of credit rating agencies, trade repositories and the monitoring of third country central clearing counterparties and central securities depositories.… Continue Reading
On 3 March 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) issued a letter to significant institutions concerning their contingency preparedness in the context of COVID-19. In the letter the ECB makes the point that supervised entities are expected to review their business continuity plans and consider what actions can be taken to enhance preparedness to minimise … Continue Reading
On 2 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a report on C6 energy derivatives and related obligations under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). In particular, the report looks into the impact, cost, adequacy and feasibility of C6 energy derivative contracts being made subject to: (i) the clearing obligation set out … Continue Reading
On 28 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority made available the results of the annual transparency calculations for equity and equity-like instruments. The calculations include: the liquidity assessment as per Articles 1 to 5 of Commission Delegated Regulation 2017/567; the determination of the most relevant market in terms of liquidity (MRM) as per … Continue Reading
On 24 February 2020, ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council published its guide to reporting repo transactions under the EU Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR). The guide is intended to support ICMA members in their SFTR implementation efforts. It offers help to interpret the SFTR regulatory reporting framework specified by the European Securities and Markets … Continue Reading
On 17 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As on the implementation of investor protection topics under MiFID II and MiFIR. The updated Q&As now include new answers on MiFID II practices for firms selling financial instruments subject to the resolution regime under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. The … Continue Reading
On 17 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As on the Regulation on credit rating agencies (CRA Regulation). The updated Q&As now provide clarification on what steps should a CRA take in order to ensure a sufficient level of quality and transparency in the periodic review of credit ratings conducted … Continue Reading
On 7 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its public register with the latest set of double volume cap (DVC) data under MiFID II. The update includes DVC data and calculations for the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 as well as updates to already published DVC periods.… Continue Reading
On 7 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published seven opinions on position limits regarding commodity derivatives under MiFID II / MiFIR. The opinions agree with the proposed position limits regarding: ICE Endex Dutch TTF Gas contracts; EEX Phelix DE Base Power contracts; EEX Capesize TC5 Freight contracts; EEX Spanish Power Base … Continue Reading
On 6 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a statement providing an update on the progress made on implementing its supervisory briefing on pre-trade transparency in commodity derivatives under MiFIR, which was published in June 2019. In the statement, ESMA explains that all Member State national competent authorities (NCAs), except for … Continue Reading
On 5 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced the launch of a common supervisory action (CSA) with Member State national competent authorities (NCAs) concerning the application of the suitability requirements under the MiFID II Directive. The CSA will enable ESMA and the NCAs to assess the progress made by intermediaries in … Continue Reading
On 4 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published amended guidelines for Member State national competent authorities (NCAs) undertaking enforcement of financial information under the Transparency Directive. ESMA’s amendments to the guidelines require NCAs to further harmonise: the way they select issuers for examination, by requiring that their selection should be based … Continue Reading
On 4 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a consultation paper on the transparency regime for equity and equity-like instruments, the double volume cap (DVC) mechanism and the trading obligation for shares under MiFIR. Article 52 of MiFIR requires ESMA to submit a report on the impact in practice of the … Continue Reading
On 3 February 2020, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a benchmarking report on diversity practices in credit institutions and investments firms, following on from a previous exercise in 2015. The Capital Requirements Directive introduced the requirement for institutions to take into account the diversity of the management body when recruiting new members and implement … Continue Reading
