On 20 May 2019, the Dutch Minister of Finance (the Minister) published the Decree implementing the registration of ultimate beneficial owners of companies and other legal entities (Implementatiebesluit registratie uiteindelijk belanghebbenden van vennootschappen en andere juridische entiteiten, the Implementation Decree) for public consultation. The Implementation Decree contains further detail on the ultimate beneficial owner register … Continue Reading
On 20 May 2019, the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published its latest amendment to the Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on the mapping of credit assessments of External Credit Assessment Institutions (ECAIs) for credit risk under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). The Implementing Regulation on the mapping of ECAIs under the CRR, … Continue Reading
On 20 May 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the official translations of its consolidated guidelines on the application of the endorsement regime under Article 4(3) of the Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) Regulation. The guidelines concern particular matters relating to credit ratings issued in third countries and endorsed pursuant to Article 4(3) … Continue Reading
Partners from our global FinTech team flew in from Hong Kong, Vancouver, London and Dallas to join our New York team to attend Consensus and Blockchain week in NYC (13-15 May). Consensus is an annual global conference which brings together the world’s most innovative minds to explore and debate the future of blockchain and crypto. … Continue Reading
On 16 May 2019, ESMA published a speech from Verena Ross, ESMA Executive Director, on transitions and challenges for European securities markets and their regulators. The speech broadly covers sustainable finance; benchmarks; and regulatory priorities for 2019. Key takeaways from the speech include: in March this year, European co-legislators agreed to a Regulation on Environmental, … Continue Reading
On 17 May 2019, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published two consultations on benchmark fallbacks – the first consultation covers adjustments that would apply to fallback rates in the event certain interbank offered rates (IBORs) are permanently discontinued, and the second consultation relates to pre-cessation issues for LIBOR and certain other IBORs. Specifically, … Continue Reading
A new video is now available as part of our ESG video series. In this video, Simon Lovegrove and Beth Duff discuss the European Commission’s action plan on sustainable finance, and specifically the proposal for a Regulation for disclosures. In our next video, Imogen Garner will discuss the current UK developments surrounding ESG.… Continue Reading
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has initiated work on a broad review of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653 on key information documents (KID) for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs). In a speech delivered by Evert van Walsum, Head of Investors and Issuers Department at ESMA, on 13 May 2019, it was announced … Continue Reading
On 15 May 2019, the European Commission (Commission) published a letter (dated 20 March 2019) that it sent to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) regarding technical advice on the report to be submitted by the Commission under Article 38 of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). Under Article 38 of MAR, the Commission is … Continue Reading
On 15 May 2019, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) and the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (the SFC) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Recognition of Funds (the MoU). The MoU will allow eligible Dutch Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and … Continue Reading
On 14 May 2019, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/758 of 31 January 2019 supplementing Directive (EU) 2015/849 with regard to regulatory technical standards for the minimum action and the type of additional measures credit and financial institutions must take to mitigate money laundering and terrorist … Continue Reading
On 14 May 2019, the European Council announced that it had adopted the European Commission’s banking package reforms (relating to the revised Capital Requirements Regulation / Directive, and the revised Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, and Single Resolution Mechanism Directive). Our extended blog on these reforms can be found here. The proposals implement reforms agreed … Continue Reading
On 14 May 2019, the European Council announced that it has adopted the EMIR Refit Regulation at first reading. The announcement states that the Regulation adopted by Ministers amends and simplifies the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) “to address disproportionate compliance costs, transparency issues and insufficient access to clearing for certain counterparties.” It also notes … Continue Reading
The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, the AFM) has invited market parties to respond to its consultation on the ‘Principles for Information Security’. This policy statement (beleidsuiting) describes the expectations of the AFM with regard to information security as part of the controlled and sound operations of financial institutions and accounting … Continue Reading
On 13 May 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the keynote speech that Evert van Walsum (Head of Investors and Issuers Department, ESMA) gave at the Swedish Fund Association’s Annual Conference. In his speech Mr van Walsum covers sustainable finance, costs and fees borne by investors buying funds and investor protection more … Continue Reading
The European Court of Justice (Court of Justice) has ruled that a temporary prohibition on the activities of a tied agent fall outside the scope of MiFID. Facts A request for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice was made in proceedings between Mr Antonio Pasquale Mastromartino and the Commissione Nazionale per le Società … Continue Reading
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published a report on the use of Big Data Analytics in motor and health insurance. The report reveals a trend for increasingly data-driven business models throughout the insurance value chain in both health and motor insurance.… Continue Reading
On 7 May 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a letter it sent to the Director General for Financial Stability at the Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA), dated 5 March 2019, regarding the European Commission’s call for advice (CFA) for the purposes of a benchmarking of national loan enforcement frameworks (including insolvency … Continue Reading
On 7 May 2019, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee) published its sixteenth progress report on the adoption of the Basel III regulatory framework. The report sets out the adoption status of the Basel III standards for each Basel Committee member jurisdiction as of end-March 2019. Key updates as regards the adoption of … Continue Reading
On 7 May 2019, the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) published for consultation a draft of Guidance Note 7 (GN7) on Sharīʻah-compliant lender-of-last-resort (SLOLR) facilities. GN7 is primarily intended to serve as a benchmark for Central Banks (CBs) in establishing and operationalising an SLOLR framework that applies to full-fledged Islamic commercial banks and Islamic commercial … Continue Reading
On 2 May 2019, Advocate General Szpunar provided an opinion following a request for a preliminary ruling from the Austrian Supreme Court concerning the interpretation of Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 (the SEPA Regulation). The Advocate General’s opinion makes the following conclusion: “On a proper construction of Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No … Continue Reading
On 3 May 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its technical advice to the European Commission (Commission) on sustainable finance initiatives to support the European Commission’s Sustainability Action Plan in the areas of investment services and investment funds. The final reports contain technical advice to the Commission on the integration of sustainability … Continue Reading
On 2 May 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a consultation on the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the mapping of derivative transactions to risk categories, on supervisory delta formula for interest rate options and on determination of long or short positions in the standardised approach for counterparty credit risk under Article 277(5) … Continue Reading
On 2 May 2019, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) announced that it has designated The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB) Ltd (DSB) as the service provider for the future Unique Product Identifier (UPI) system. As the sole issuer of UPI codes, the DSB will also be the operator of the UPI reference data library. The designation … Continue Reading
