United States

Australian Federal Budget 2021-22: Changes for foreign financial services providers relief and licensing

On 11 May 2021, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg delivered the Australian Federal Budget 2021-2022, which contained an announcement as to future changes to the licensing and relief regime for foreign financial service providers. Our update can be found here.… Continue Reading

First New York City C-PACE Financing Closes

By Patrick Dolan (US), Randy Mayer (US) and Leslie Teng (US) on June 16, 2021 Posted in Energy, General, United States

Norton Rose Fulbright represented Petros PACE Finance, LLC, a leading commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) lender, as the lender in the first New York City C-PACE financing which closed in early June. The C-PACE loan of $89 million on an existing building in the Wall Street area will be used to make the building … Continue Reading

Outsourcing and third-party risk – Overview of responses to FSB public consultation

On 14 June 2021, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a note which summarises the main issues raised by respondents to its discussion paper on regulatory and supervisory issues relating to outsourcing and third party relationships. In the FSB discussion paper financial institutions and third parties were invited to provide comments on: The key challenges … Continue Reading

BIS and BoE launch Innovation Hub London centre

On 11 June 2021, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Bank of England announced the launch of a BIS Innovation Hub London Centre, the fourth new Innovation Hub Centre to be opened in the past two years. The launch is part of a plan to expand the Hub’s global reach, which also includes … Continue Reading

Basel Committee consults on prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures

On 10 June 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) launched a public consultation on the prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures by credit institutions. Following on from the BCBS’ December 2019 discussion paper where it sought stakeholders’ views on a range of issues relating to the prudential treatment of cryptoassets, the current consultation document … 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 them … Continue Reading

NGFS publishes the second vintage of climate scenarios for forward looking climate risks assessment

On 7 June 2021, the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) announced the following new documents: A new set of climate scenarios. In this second vintage, the NGFS scenarios have been brought up to date, including by incorporating countries’ commitments to reach net-zero emissions. They have also been enriched with an expanded set of … Continue Reading

TCFD public consultation

On 7 June 2021, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) issued two documents for public comment: Proposed Guidance on Climate-related Metrics, Targets, and Transition Plans. When the TCFD issued its Final Recommendations in 2017, it was aware of the limitations of reporting certain metrics as well as the nascency of climate-related reporting at … Continue Reading

Basel Committee discusses effects of Covid-19 on banks, assesses post-crisis reforms and agrees public consultation on cryptoassets

On 7 June 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee) issued a press release following its meeting on 4 June 2021. During this meeting the Basel Committee took stock of COVID-19 risks to the banking system and discussed policy and supervisory initiatives. In terms of crypto-assets the press release notes that the Basel … Continue Reading

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

By Glen Barrentine (US) on June 8, 2021 Posted in Brokers and Intermediaries, Regulation and compliance, United States

Access the May 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

FSB issues statements to support a smooth transition away from LIBOR by end 2021

By Hannah Meakin (UK) on June 3, 2021 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Benchmarks – IBOR transition, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

On 2 June 2021, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published the following documents relating to the transition away from LIBOR by the end of 2021: An updated global transition roadmap that, drawing on national working group recommendations, summarises the high-level steps firms will need to take now and over the course of 2021 to complete … Continue Reading

IOSCO statement – benchmarks transition

On 2 June 2021, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) issued a statement reiterating the importance of ensuring a smooth and timely transition away from LIBOR. Among other things in the statement IOSCO: Supports the guidance issued by US Banking Supervisors in November 2020 and March 2021. These noted that, while the mid-2023 end … Continue Reading

NYDFS settles another cybersecurity enforcement action

By David Kessler (US), Susan Ross (US) and Patrick Burke (US) on June 3, 2021 Posted in cybersecurity, data protection, General, Regulation and compliance, United States

On May 13, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a $1.8 million settlement with two related insurance companies, relating to violations of two different requirements of the NYDFS cybersecurity regulation during the period 2018 to 2019. Read a discussion of the May 13 settlement by David Kessler, Susan Ross and Patrick … Continue Reading

Top practical tips on the preservation, collection and review of mobile data in investigations.

By Andrew Reeves (UK) and Claudia Culley on June 3, 2021 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Investigations, Investigations and enforcement, Italy, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Remote working has accelerated the merger of work and private data, particularly on mobile phones and instant messaging services such as WhatsApp. While employees are performing their jobs, mobile access may be putting their employers at risk – because work-related communications on unapproved platforms are frequently not preserved in accordance with regulatory requirements (where applicable), … Continue Reading

FSB seeks feedback on its proposals for quantitative targets for enhancing cross-border payments

On 31 May 2021, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) issued a consultative document regarding targets for addressing the four challenges of cross-border payments – cost, speed, transparency and access. The FSB explains that these targets are a foundational step in the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments. The consultative document: (i) describes the principles, and … Continue Reading

IOSCO issues industry surveys on conduct risks in leveraged loans and collateralized loan obligations

On 24 May 2021, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) issued four questionnaires for industry participants on conduct risks in leveraged loans (LL) and collateralized loan obligations (CLO) targeting bank lenders, CLO investors, CLO managers and LL sponsors. The purpose of the questionnaires is to support IOSCO’s project by furthering its understanding of the … Continue Reading

A global perspective on derivatives regulation

On 17 May 2021, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a speech by Ashley Alder (CEO Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and IOSCO chair) entitled A global perspective on derivatives regulation. Key points in the speech include: Global regulatory authorities are still monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of the post-crisis reforms in … Continue Reading

Episode 7 of the Regulation Tomorrow Podcast is out now

By Anna Carrier (BE), Matthew Gregory (UK), Joe Bamford (UK), Simon Lovegrove (UK) and Arup Sen on May 13, 2021 Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Seminars and webinars, Seminars, webinars and podcasts, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

Episode 7 of the Regulation Tomorrow podcast is now available to listen to and download. In this month’s podcast we speak to Celia Cohen in New York about recent enforcement trends in the US, with a focus on whistle-blowing; we hear from Anna Carrier in Brussels who discusses the new European commodities regime and we … Continue Reading

Mobile data and investigations

By David Harris (UK), Andrew Reeves (UK), Claudia Culley, Mayling Blanco and Celia Cohen on May 13, 2021 Posted in Seminars, webinars and podcasts, United Kingdom, United States

UNEPFI guidance on financial inclusion and financial health target setting

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) on May 12, 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 11 May 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme published guidance on financial inclusion and financial health target setting. The guidance supports signatory banks in their efforts to set targets for financial inclusion and financial health, in line with the requirements of the Principles for Responsible Banking. Using the guide, banks can understand how to … Continue Reading

GFXC publishes Request for Feedback on draft guidance papers for pre-hedging and last look

On 11 May 2021, the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) announced that it was seeking industry feedback on draft guidance papers for the usage of ‘pre-hedging’ and ‘last look’ within foreign exchange markets. When finalised the guidance papers will not be part of the FX Global Code but should instead be read alongside it. The … Continue Reading

IOSCO report – thematic review on business continuity plans with respect to trading venues and intermediaries

On 6 May 2021, the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a report on a thematic review that was conducted on the extent to which participating IOSCO member jurisdictions have implemented regulatory measures consistent with the two recommendations and the two standards set out in the 2015 IOSCO reports on business … Continue Reading

BCBS, CPMI and IOSCO survey clients and non-bank intermediaries on margin calls

On 5 May 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions announced that they had issued a survey on the use of margin calls as part of an examination into liquidity shortfalls during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This work … Continue Reading

ROC consultative document – Harmonisation of critical OTC derivatives data elements – revised CDE Technical Guidance

On 5 May 2021, the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) of the Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System published a consultative document, Harmonisation of critical OTC derivatives data elements – revised CDE Technical Guidance. The Technical Guidance for the Harmonisation of critical OTC derivative data elements (Technical Guidance) provides technical guidance on the definition, format and … Continue Reading