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The regulator has significantly rowed back on aspects of the proposals following industry and government feedback.

By Andrea Monks, Rob Moulton, Nell Perks, Anna James, and Charlotte Collins

On 28 November 2024, the FCA published revised proposals for announcing enforcement investigations. The original consultation, launched in February 2024, proved to be one of the most controversial proposals put forward by the regulator and received an unprecedented response from industry and the government (for more detail on the original proposals, see this Latham blog post). The FCA has attracted a great deal of criticism since the launch of the first consultation, culminating in an evidence session before the House of Lords Financial Regulation Committee a few weeks ago, which made for uncomfortable viewing.

In light of the feedback received, the FCA has made some significant changes to its proposals, and acknowledges that it ought to have handled their communication better by signalling the proposals to the market in advance of their publication. The regulator also acknowledges the importance of considerations around its secondary objective relating to international competitiveness and growth in relation to these proposals.

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The UK Chancellor announces a growth-focused agenda for financial services.

By Rob Moulton, Nicola Higgs, Becky Critchley, and Charlotte Collins

On 14 November 2024, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered her first Mansion House speech. She used her speech as an opportunity to announce reforms designed to drive growth and competitiveness in financial services, stating that many of the regulatory changes introduced to eliminate risk after the financial crisis had “gone too far” and led to unintended consequences. Although she did not announce a swathe of deregulatory measures, this speech sets the tone for how the government will likely approach regulation in the financial services sector going forward.

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The regulator has provided an update on the actions taken since its cash savings market review.

By Nicola Higgs, Becky Critchley, and Charlotte Collins

On 18 September 2024, the FCA provided an update on its work in the cash savings market. Following the FCA’s 2023 cash savings market review in light of concerns that higher interest rates were not being passed on effectively to savers, the regulator has conducted further work, including an in-depth analysis of the profits made on savings accounts and their contribution to overall firm profitability. The FCA has also worked with the largest firms regarding how they are providing fair value to easy access savings customers.

Cloudless day at financial district of London

The latest guidance from the regulator focuses on the price and value outcome.

By Nicola Higgs, Becky Critchley, and Charlotte Collins

On 18 September 2024, the FCA published further feedback on the Consumer Duty, setting out good and poor practices in relation to the price and value outcome. For many firms, this is the most challenging of the four outcomes, and so it is helpful that the FCA is sharing insights which firms can use to improve their implementation of the Duty. Analysing the value different customers are deriving from a particular product, and ensuring that certain groups of customers are not receiving poor value, is a tricky exercise for firms, particularly those with fewer resources. Helpfully, the FCA acknowledges in its feedback that it does not expect smaller firms to apply the same resources to assessing fair value as larger firms, providing clarifications as to what might be a proportionate approach for a smaller firm to take.

The case involves substantive litigation that could yield important legal principles for the treatment of decentralised projects.

By Dominic Geiser, Simon Hawkins, Sam Maxson, and Truman Mak

Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAO) are unique structures that operate autonomously in accordance with preset rules, utilising a blockchain and coordinated through a distributed consensus model. Whilst numerous DAOs are operating in the blockchain industry, these organisations are still new in legal terms and their precise legal status (including ownership and…

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The FAQs aim to clarify key aspects of the CSRD, including the scope of the rules, compliance dates, and exemptions.

By Paul A. Davies, Axel Schiemann, Michael D. Green, James Bee, and Lasse Winzer

On 7 August 2024, the European Commission (Commission) published a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the interpretation of certain provisions of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The FAQs aim to facilitate compliance and ensure the usability and comparability of…

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The proposals form a package of measures designed to promote UK capital raising.

By Mark Austin, Chris Horton, James Inness, Anna Ngo, and Johannes Poon

On 26 July 2024, the FCA published consultation papers on a new public offers and admissions to trading regime to replace the existing UK Prospectus Regulation, and on proposals to establish public offer platforms (POPs) as a new mechanism for raising scale-up capital. These proposals form part of a package…

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Private capital providers, investors, asset managers, and financial institutions will likely continue to face a fragmented regulatory landscape on ESG matters.

By Betty M. Huber, Matthew Green, Henry Miller, Austin J. Pierce, Catherine G. Willis, and Sam Wong

Various US states have taken and continue to take action on ESG investing and other matters, with new variants emerging regularly. Some of the state bills, laws, and actions overlap thematically, and indeed some are based on…

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The first-ever SFO offence to be tried by a jury in the CFI emphasises the SFC’s commitment to prosecuting market misconduct through various enforcement powers.

By Dominic Geiser, Truman Mak, Evangeline Tsui, and Charlotte Wong

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance (CFI) has convicted three individuals of conspiracy to carry out false trading in the shares of a listed company, Ching Lee Holdings Limited (CLHL). This is the first time that an offence under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) has been tried by a jury in the CFI.