United States

UNEPFI – Guidelines for Climate Target Setting for Banks

On 21 April 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) published guidelines for climate targets setting for banks. The guidelines outline key principles to underpin the setting of credible, robust, impactful and ambitious targets in line with achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The guidelines outline four principles for target-setting: Banks shall … Continue Reading

NYDFS settles cybersecurity regulation matter for $3 million

By David Kessler (US) and Susan Ross (US) on April 22, 2021 Posted in Regulation and compliance, United States

The New York Department of Financial Services recently reached a settlement with National Securities Corp. related to multiple cybersecurity violations.… Continue Reading

The LIBOR Transition – Guidance for assessing FRB-supervised firms planned transition away from LIBOR

By Patrick Dolan (US), Kathleen Scott (US) and Mary Kate Fields (US) on April 21, 2021 Posted in Banking, General, LIBOR, Regulation and compliance, United States

Following up on our past posts on the transition away from the use of the London Interbank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”) as a reference rate, recently, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) issued a letter setting forth guidance for FRB examiners to assist in their assessment of the progress of FRB-supervised firms … Continue Reading

Basel Committee publishes work programme and strategic priorities for 2021-22

On 16 April 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee) published its work programme for 2021-22. The work programme focuses on three key themes: COVID-19 resilience and recovery. This includes ongoing monitoring and assessment of risks and vulnerabilities to the global banking system. Horizon scanning and mitigation of medium-term risks and trends. This … Continue Reading

Part 7: The Biden Presidency and new and improved anti-money laundering tools

By Kathleen Scott (US), Clarinda Grundy, Lisa Lee Lewis (UK), Weronika Sowa, Jeremy Moller, Tim Stewart, Rajaee Rouhani and Nathan Condoleon on April 19, 2021 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Money laundering, Money laundering, Money laundering, Money laundering, Money laundering, Money laundering, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

2021 Financial crime Outlook series Senior management and boards are increasingly acknowledging the threat of financial crime as a critical risk to their business that must be addressed. This has been exacerbated in the last 12 months through the impact of the pandemic as well as rising domestic and international tensions. Our financial crime compliance … Continue Reading

Basel Committee report on climate-related risk drivers and their transmission channels

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on April 15, 2021 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, ESG, ESG, ESG, ESG, ESG, ESG, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

On 14 April 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee) published a report ‘Climate-related risk drivers and their transmission channels’. The report explores how climate-related financial risks can arise and impact both banks and the banking system. By synthesising existing literature, it illustrates how physical and transition climate risk drivers affect banks’ financial … Continue Reading

ABC Risk assessments: FAQs

By Ruth Cowley (UK), Christian Dargham (FR), Andrew Reeves (UK), Ilana Sinkin (US) and Claudia Culley on April 14, 2021 Posted in Anti-Money Laundering, France, Regulation and Compliance, Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, Seminars, webinars and podcasts, United Kingdom, United States

Last month we hosted a webinar on anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) risk assessments. This was the first in our series of ABC compliance webinars marking the 10th Anniversary of the UK Bribery Act coming into force. You can listen to the audio recording of the webinar on-demand here. We have put together a selection of … Continue Reading

Global Asset Management Quarterly – new issue

The latest issue of our Global Asset Management Quarterly publication is now available. In this issue we cover: Europe European update EU/UK regulatory roundup United Kingdom Asset managers and the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures UK funds regime review Germany German Draft Fund Jurisdiction Promotion Act Australia Greenwashing: International initiatives taken to address the … Continue Reading

Global Securities Financing Data Collection and Aggregation: FAQs

On 12 April 2021, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) issued FAQs to promote a common approach on the national implementation of the SFT Data Standards. In November 2015 the FSB developed the data standards and processes for collecting and aggregating global data on securities financing transactions (SFTs) (the SFT Data Standards). These built on the … Continue Reading

Beware the use of WhatsApp at work: practical steps for firms with a view to avoiding some common pitfalls

By Katie Stephen (UK), Sonya Zywko (UK) and Celia Cohen on April 12, 2021 Posted in Regulation and compliance, Regulation and compliance, United Kingdom, United States

A year ago we wrote about the risks and challenges of using of WhatsApp at work. Twelve months on and we have seen a number of developments including recent guidance from the FCA which stated that it has acted against individuals and firms for misconduct which involved the use of WhatsApp and other social media … Continue Reading

The LIBOR Transition – NY LIBOR Legislation Enacted

By Patrick Dolan (US), Kathleen Scott (US) and Mary Kate Fields (US) on April 10, 2021 Posted in General, LIBOR, United States

On April 6, 2021, New York Governor Mario Cuomo signed into law legislation tackling the uncertainties surrounding the LIBOR transition, particularly for legacy contracts. The new law amends the New York State General Obligations Law by adding a new Article 18-C, and is limited to contracts governed by New York law that are either silent … Continue Reading

GFXC publishes request for feedback on proposed changes to the Code and draft disclosure templates

On 8 April 2021, the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) announced that as its review of the FX Global Code was nearing completion it was issuing a request for feedback on proposed changes to the Code and draft disclosure templates. The GFXC’s request for feedback covers proposals for updating the Code’s guidance in the following … Continue Reading

G20 – Communique of 2nd Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting

On 7 April 2021, there was published an official communique following the second meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under the Italian G20 Presidency. During the meeting the discussion spanned from issues covering the global economy, efforts to push forward the economic recovery and promoting more sustainable growth, to supporting the most … Continue Reading

Regulation Tomorrow Podcast – Episode 6 out now

By Kevin Harnisch (US), Claudine Salameh, Matthew Gregory (UK), Simon Lovegrove (UK) and Arup Sen on April 9, 2021 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Seminars, webinars and podcasts, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Episode 6 of the Regulation Tomorrow Podcast is out now. In the latest edition of our monthly podcast, we take a look at some of the main regulatory news stories from across the globe in the financial services space. We begin with a look at the Woolard Review in the UK with Matthew Gregory, who … Continue Reading

Navigating global crypto-custody requirements

29 April 2021 09:00 – 10:00 BST / 16:00 – 17:00 HKT 16:00 – 17:00 BST / 11:00 – 12:00 EDT As the global crypto-economy continues to grow and mature, one area stands out as a critical core capability: custody. In this webinar, members of our global financial services team will compare notes on their … Continue Reading

Financier Worldwide Magazine feature – Regulatory futures: challenges and opportunities in 2021

Throughout 2020 and 2021, financial services firms have had to respond and adapt to a number of regulatory challenges in an unprecedented fashion. Firms now have to navigate a diverging regulatory landscape as a result of Brexit, at the same time as continuing to respond to an array of pandemic-related risks that have arisen. Nevertheless, … Continue Reading

FSB chair updates G20 on COVID-19 support measures, and a roadmap to address climate-related financial risks

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on April 7, 2021 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, ESG, ESG, ESG, ESG, ESG, ESG, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

On 6 April 2021, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a letter from its Chair, Randal K. Quarles, to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors ahead of their virtual meeting on 7 April. The FSB also delivered to the G20 a report on factors to be considered in extending, amending and ending COVID-19 support … Continue Reading

FSB final report – evaluation of the effects of too-big-to-fail reforms

On 31 March 2021, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published the final report on its evaluation of the effects of too-big-to-fail (TBTF) reforms for systemically important banks (SIBs). The evaluation examines the extent to which the reforms have reduced the systemic and moral hazard risks associated with SIBs, as well as their broader effects on … Continue Reading

Basel Committee issues principles for operational resilience and risk

On 31 March 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued Principles for operational resilience, designed to make banks better able to withstand, adapt to and recover from severe adverse events. The Basel Committee has also issued revisions to its Principles for the sound management of operational risks reflecting the natural relationship between operational resilience … Continue Reading

FINRA (and selected SEC) regulatory matters at a glance: What compliance officers need to know

By Glen Barrentine (US) on April 6, 2021 Posted in Brokers and Intermediaries, Regulation and compliance, United States

Access the March 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

AML Act of 2020: Topics of interest for international banks

By Kathleen Scott (US) on April 3, 2021 Posted in Asset management, Banking, Brokers and Intermediaries, Commodities & Derivatives, General, Money laundering, Regulation and compliance, United States

The National Defense Authorization Act became law on January 1, 2021, after the U.S. Congress overrode a presidential veto. Division F of the Act is the “Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020” (AMLA). In her latest The New York Law Journal column, “ AML Act of 2020: Topics of interest for international banks,” Kathleen Scott, Senior … Continue Reading

Monthly Global FinTech regulatory updater

Every month we provide the Global Blockchain Business Council’s Post-Trade Distributed Ledger group with a global regulatory FinTech updater, the latest version of which can be found here. Post Trade Distributed Ledger (PTDL) Group is composed of over 40 prominent market infrastructure stakeholders whose shared vision of the use of distributed ledger technology has brought … Continue Reading

Monthly Global FinTech regulatory updater

Part 6: The changing world of sanctions regimes

By Lisa Lee Lewis (UK), Weronika Sowa, Kathleen Scott (US) and Jeremy Moller on March 26, 2021 Posted in France, Germany, Italy, Money laundering, Money laundering, Money laundering, Money laundering, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

2021 Financial Crime Outlook Series Senior management and boards are increasingly acknowledging the threat of financial crime as a critical risk to their business that must be addressed. This has been exacerbated in the last 12 months through the impact of the pandemic as well as rising domestic and international tensions. Our financial crime compliance … Continue Reading