This post was co-authored with Abhirami Ravishankar. On 10 May 2023, following the Federal Treasurer’s Budget announcement of additional funding for ASIC’s greenwashing surveillance and enforcement work, ASIC issued two noteworthy publications providing guidance for market participants on how, and how not to, display their green credentials. The first release was the ASIC Report 763 ‘ASIC’s recent … Continue Reading
Introduction In a landmark decision on the legal status of digital assets in Hong Kong handed down on 31 March 2023, the Court of First Instance, in Re Gatecoin Limited[1], has ruled that cryptocurrencies satisfy the definition of “property” under Hong Kong law and are capable of being held on trust. The case arose in connection … Continue Reading
The Insurance Ordinance (Amendment) Bill (the Bill) was published by the Hong Kong Government (Government) in the Gazette on 6 April 2023. The Bill seeks to amend the Insurance Ordinance (Cap.41) (the IO) and other relevant legislation to provide the legal framework for the implementation of a risk-based capital (RBC) regime for the Hong Kong … Continue Reading
The UK Government intends to introduce a new “failure to prevent fraud” offence as an amendment to its Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. On 11 April 2023, the Home Office published a fact sheet and tabled an amendment to introduce the failure to prevent fraud offence, which is supported by the Serious Fraud Office … Continue Reading
On 29 December 2022, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) published a report titled ‘Capital Markets Information Security Monitor’ (the Report). According to the AFM, business processes of capital market institutions (e.g. trading venues, proprietary traders, and clearing & settlement institutions) are heavily and increasingly dependent on complex IT … Continue Reading
On 26 October 2022, the Bank of England (the Bank) provided an update on the Data Standards Review, which has been commissioned by the Transforming Data Collection joint transformation programme being led by the Bank of England and FCA with industry. The joint transformation programme’s vision is that ‘The Bank of England and the FCA … Continue Reading
On 26 October 2022, the Bank of England updated its webpage on waivers and modification of rules. The webpage has updated its section on available waivers and modifications by consent to include the following: Modification by Consent of Rule 6.57 of Annex II of Part 6 (Templates and instructions) of the Reporting (CRR) part of … Continue Reading
On 26 October 2022, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal to make instant payments in euro available to all citizens and businesses holding a bank account in the EU and EEA countries. The proposal aims to ensure that instant payments in euro are affordable, secure, and processed without hindrance across the EU. The proposal, … Continue Reading
On 23 September 2022, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, unveiled the new ‘Growth Plan’. Key takeaways for the financial services sector announced within the plan include: Later this autumn the Government will bring forward an ambitious deregulatory package with its aim being to unleash the potential of the UK financial services sector. This … Continue Reading
How should we regulate virtual assets? This is a question on the mind of almost every financial services regulator in the world. Many have adopted a very cautious and in some cases a prohibitory approach. However, the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has taken a more innovative and pragmatic approach … Continue Reading
On 4 May 2022, the UK Government announced a ban on services exports to Russia, and as of 21 July 2022 that ban is now in force by virtue of regulation 54C of The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (as amended by The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 14) Regulations 2022) (the Regulations). … Continue Reading
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (the Act), which came into force in March 2022, aimed amongst other things, to give UK sanctions authorities greater power to take enforcement action and impose penalties on persons that breach sanctions restrictions, through the introduction of a “strict liability” test. These new powers of the UK’s … Continue Reading
Ahead of the anticipated FCA policy statement and final rules on the changes to the Appointed Representatives regime, which were expected to be published in H1 2022, in this briefing paper we consider some of the steps that firms should be taking to prepare for the anticipated changes in the FCA’s final policy.… Continue Reading
The FCA has recently conducted a review of financial crime controls at a sample of six challenger banks in order to identify the key financial crime risks to which such banks are exposed. The review was prompted by a substantial increase in the volume of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by challenger banks. Whilst the … Continue Reading
The pandemic, and the associated move to hybrid working, and the current geopolitical environment are creating a number of unique governance challenges for regulated firms across the financial services industry. Whilst regulators understand the broader backdrop that firms face, they have also remained clear throughout that firms must take reasonable steps to meet their regulatory … Continue Reading
The onset of the pandemic in March 2020 forced financial institutions (FIs) across the world to change their working practices. Large numbers of employees moved from working in an office five days a week to working from home as countries locked down. Today, it appears unlikely that FIs will return to their previous working models … Continue Reading
Since the pandemic began in March 2020, there has been a rise in fraudulent behaviour as fraudsters look to take advantage of members of the public and financial institutions (FIs). Phishing, text scams and small-scale fraudulent activity targeting the British public were up 285% in the first half of 2021; HM Revenue and Customs estimates … Continue Reading
The recording from our recent webinar ‘Financial Services in Focus: the new Consumer Duty series’ is now available and can be accessed here.… Continue Reading
Access the December issue for an overview of FINRA and SEC regulatory developments of interest to broker-dealers. Glen Barrentine is Of Counsel in the Denver office of Norton Rose Fulbright. His practice focuses broadly on SEC regulated financial service clients, including broker-dealers, securities exchanges, municipal advisors and investment advisers. Glen frequency represents clients in connection with … Continue Reading
As 2021 draws to a close, we look ahead to the trends and new requirements that we may see over the next twelve months for financial institutions (FIs) in the white collar crime sphere as regulators, legislators and individuals continue to adapt to the pandemic and prevailing public opinion. 1. An increase in fraud-related investigations … Continue Reading
Another episode of RT Plus is out now to stream and download. In this episode we are delighted to be joined by UK Finance’s Director of Strategy and Policy, Matthew Conway, for a lively discussion on the Treasury’s latest consultation paper on the Future Regulatory Framework Review. In this episode, Jonathan Herbst and Matthew Gregory … Continue Reading
3 More London Riverside SE1 2AQ 08 December 2021 | 08:50 – 09:30 GMT There have been many macro-economic factors driving enhanced deal volumes in the last few years, from Brexit to pandemic-related realignments. Transactions involving regulated entities present unique challenges to principles, as well as their lawyers and other advisors throughout the transaction timeline. … Continue Reading
Access the October issue for an overview of FINRA and SEC regulatory developments of interest to broker-dealers. Glen Barrentine is Of Counsel in the Denver office of Norton Rose Fulbright. His practice focuses broadly on SEC regulated financial service clients, including broker-dealers, securities exchanges, municipal advisors and investment advisers. Glen frequency represents clients in connection with SEC … Continue Reading
