On 18 February 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As on the Prospectus Regulation. Two new Q&As have been added that provide clarification on: the number of additional pages that can be included in a summary where there is more than one guarantor; and the number of additional pages that can … Continue Reading
On 9 February 2020, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) published a revised version of its model equity selling restrictions to reflect the UK’s withdrawal from the EU until the end of the implementation period. The updated version of the equity selling restrictions are in substantially the same form as the version published … Continue Reading
On 10 February 2020, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published the fourth in a series of legal guidelines for smart derivatives contracts. The ISDA Legal Guidelines for Smart Derivatives Contracts – Equities (2020): provide an overview of equity derivatives transactions and different product types; explain how equity derivatives transactions are documented under both … Continue Reading
On 10 February 2020, the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) submitted a letter to the European Commission and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) regarding the Regulation on reporting and transparency of securities financing transactions (SFTR). Specifically the letter concerned the SFTR scope of non-EU alternative investment funds (non-EU AIFs), and its conflict in … Continue Reading
On 31 January 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a letter to the European Commission in response of its request for technical advice on general equivalence criteria for prospectuses drawn up under the laws of third countries under Article 29(3) of the Prospectus Regulation. After careful analysis of its mandate, ESMA concludes … Continue Reading
On 5 December 2019, the Council of the EU (Council) published a press release stating that the Council and the European Commission (Commission) have adopted a joint statement on stablecoins. The statement calls for a co-ordinated global response to tackle the challenges raised by global stablecoins and a emphasises the need to ensure legal clarity … Continue Reading
On 4 December 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report on the draft regulatory technical standard (RTS) amending the Prospectus RTS Regulation, which contains RTSs under the new Prospectus Regulation. The Prospectus RTS Regulation outlines the key financial information needed for the prospectus summary, the data for classification and publication … Continue Reading
On 4 December 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published an updated version of its Q&As on the Prospectus Regulation. The updated Q&As insert a new question and answer (13.2) clarifying that it is not possible to include a pro-forma summaries in base prospectuses. The updated Q&As also insert a new question and … Continue Reading
On 29 November 2019, the European Commission (Commission) adopted two Delegated Regulations containing regulatory technical standards (RTS) for securitisation repositories relating to mandates under the Securitisation Regulation: Commission Delegated Regulation on RTS on securitisation repository operational standards for data collection, aggregation, comparison, access and verification of completeness and consistency and Annex. Article 10(7)(a) and 17(2) … Continue Reading
On 26 November 2019, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published an updated version (dated 25 November 2019) of its regulatory framework for haircuts on non-centrally-cleared securities financing transactions (SFTs). The framework aims to address financial stability risks associated with SFTs. The framework includes numerical haircut floors to apply to non-bank-to-non-bank SFTs that were finalised after … Continue Reading
On 12 November 2019, the European Commission published a Delegated Regulation supplementing the Securitisation Regulation with respect to regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the information to be provided in accordance with the ‘Simple, Transparent and Standardised’ (STS) notification requirements, together with annexes. Article 27(6) of the Securitisation Regulation mandates the European Securities and Markets Authority … Continue Reading
On 4 November 2019, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) released a statement on a study of stablecoin initiatives with a potential global reach (Global Stablecoins). IOSCO’s FinTech Network (the Network), which is chaired by the FCA and was established in May 2018 to facilitate exchanges among IOSCO members on their experiences relating to … Continue Reading
On 16 October 2019, the European Commission (Commission) published a Delegated Regulation supplementing the Securitisation Regulation with regard to regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the information and the details of a securitisation to be made available by the originator, sponsor and securitisation special purpose entity (SSPE). Article 7(3) and (4) of the Securitisation Regulation mandates … Continue Reading
On 1 October 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final guidelines on risk factors under the Prospectus Regulation. There are minor amendments to the draft guidelines published in March 2019 (see previous blog here) including the insertion of 1 December 2019 as the date from which the guidelines will apply, but otherwise … Continue Reading
On 12 July 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a public consultation on draft guidelines on disclosure requirements under the Prospectus Regulation (PR). The purpose of the draft guidelines is to ensure that market participants have a uniform understanding of the relevant disclosure required in the various annexes included in ‘Commission Delegated … Continue Reading
On 21 June 2019, there was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ): Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/979 of 14 March 2019 supplementing the Prospectus Regulation with regard to regulatory technical standards on key financial information in the summary of a prospectus, the publication and classification of prospectuses, advertisements for securities, supplements … Continue Reading
On 27 May 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published an updated version of its Q&As on the Securitisation Regulation. The updated Q&As contain multiple new and amended Q&As across various topics relating to the Securitisation Regulation.… Continue Reading
On 30 April 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the official translations of its guidelines on internalised settlement reporting under Article 9 of the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR). The guidelines apply to Member State competent authorities (NCAs) designated under Article 11 of the CSDR and to settlement internalisers as defined in … Continue Reading
On 29 March 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a final report containing guidelines on risk factors under the Prospectus Regulation (PR). ESMA is mandated to provide the guidelines under Article 16(4) of the PR to assist Member State competent authorities in their review of the specificity and materiality of risk factors … Continue Reading
On 25 March 2019, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published its annual work programme for 2019. The IOSCO Board has identified, amongst other things, five priority issues for 2019, namely: crypto-assets: In 2019, IOSCO will focus on how platforms where crypto-assets are traded are regulated and will also examine regulation of investment funds with … Continue Reading
The Prospectus Regulation does not apply to an offer of securities to the public with a total consideration in the EU of less than 1 million EUR calculated over a period of 12 months. Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Regulation also provides that Member States may decide to exempt offers of securities to the public … Continue Reading
On 1 February 2019, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a consultation report on sustainable finance in emerging markets and the role of securities regulators (the Consultation). Based on analysis by IOSCO’s Growth and Emerging Markets Committee (GEMC), the Consultation proposes a set of 11 recommendations that member jurisdictions should consider when issuing … 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
On 22 January 2019, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published a memoranda of FAQs on Brexit. The FAQs address the possible UK position post-Brexit, and the responses to these FAQs involve an assessment of the various outcomes of the exit negotiations (including a no-deal outcome either on 29 March 2019 if the draft … Continue Reading
