Proposed changes seek to reflect the integration of sustainability considerations into MiFID II. By Nicola Higgs, Anne Mainwaring, Dianne Bell, and Charlotte Collins ESMA is consulting on updates to its Guidelines on the MiFID II suitability requirements, in light of upcoming changes that will embed sustainability considerations into the MiFID II framework. These changes will … Continue Reading
The regulators suggest improvements to the supervision of firms passporting retail products and services in the EU. By Rob Moulton, Thomas Vogel, and Charlotte Collins The French and Dutch financial services regulators (the AFM and the AMF) have published a joint position paper on strengthening conduct supervision of cross-border retail financial services. The regulators are … Continue Reading
The revised criteria allow UK-listed SPACs to avoid a suspension of their shares when announcing a de-SPAC deal. By Nicola Higgs, David Berman, Chris Horton, James Inness, Rob Moulton, Anna Ngo, and Charlotte Collins The UK, acting through the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will implement a new SPAC listing regime from 10 August 2021. This follows a consultation launched in April … Continue Reading
ESMA warns against investor protection risks and provides guidance on expected disclosures. By Nicola Higgs, Chris Horton, James Inness, Rob Moulton, Oliver Seiler, Isabella Porchia, and Charlotte Collins On 15 July 2021, ESMA published a statement on the prospectus disclosure and investor protection issues raised by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). SPAC activity in the … Continue Reading
New ESMA guidance less strict than the established UK position on PFOF. By Rob Moulton, Axel Schiemann, Thomas Vogel, and Charlotte Collins On 13 July 2021, ESMA published a statement on payment for order flow (PFOF), the practice of brokers receiving payments from third parties for directing client order flow to these third parties as … Continue Reading
However, ESMA’s proposed changes are less sweeping than required to achieve this aim. By Rob Moulton and Anne Mainwaring Should the Brexit transition period end without a UK equivalence decision, ESMA has issued guidance to limit the impact on the trading obligation for shares by assuming the following: — All EU shares (EU Member State, … Continue Reading
By Rob Moulton and James Inness After lengthy consultation ESMA has published a detailed Final Report setting out its views on how to improve MAR. The ball is now firmly in the Commission’s court as to the next steps. Latham & Watkins has produced a detailed summary for clients.… Continue Reading
The new guidelines reflect the European Commission’s aim to provide additional certainty for regulated entities outsourcing to cloud services. By Rob Moulton, Fiona M. Maclean, Becky Critchley and Anna Lewis-Martinez On 3 June 2020, ESMA published a consultation paper on draft guidelines regarding outsourcing to cloud service providers. The purpose of the proposed guidelines is … Continue Reading
Implications for users of third-country trading venues as ESMA confirms the list of venues who meet the criteria in its updated opinions on transparency and position limits. By Rob Moulton and Anna Lewis-Martinez On 3 June 2020, ESMA published updated versions of its opinions on post-trade transparency and position limits for third-country trading venues (TCTVs) … Continue Reading
While regulators in the EU have lifted the temporary COVID-19-related short-selling bans, they will monitor the markets and impose further restrictions if required. By Carl Fernandes and Sherryn Buehlmann Regulators in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, and Spain announced that the temporary short-selling bans imposed in those jurisdictions expired on 18 May 2020 at 11.59pm. … Continue Reading
The three draft delegated regulations set out sustainability criteria and ESG disclosure requirements for benchmarks provided in accordance with the EU Benchmarks Regulation. By Nicola Higgs and Becky Critchley On 8 April 2020, the European Commission published the three draft delegated regulations required by Regulation (EU) 2019/2089, commonly referred to as the Low Carbon Benchmarks … Continue Reading
The draft RTS introduce new, potentially more onerous obligations on the administrators of all categories of benchmarks. By Nicola Higgs and Becky Critchley On 9 March 2020, ESMA published a consultation paper (CP) on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the EU Benchmarks Regulation (BMR). The CP covers governance arrangements, methodologies, reporting of infringements, mandatory … Continue Reading
UK regulators announce a further package of measures to ease the burden on issuers. By Chris Horton, James Inness, Rob Moulton, Koushik Prasad, Connor Cahalane, and Charlotte Collins In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UK regulators have published further measures affecting issuers, to try to preserve the flow of information to investors and support the … Continue Reading
Latham explores the primary legal developments for issuers and their advisers in the year ahead. By Chris Horton, James Inness, and Connor Cahalane The regulatory regime and disclosure requirements for listed companies in the UK will continue to evolve in 2020. Issuers and their advisers should be aware of the key legal developments that will … Continue Reading
10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 By David Berman, Carl Fernandes Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, Charlotte Collins, and Christopher Sullivan. In the fifth post of this 10-blog series, we identify key milestones in the derivatives market for the year ahead. This is taken from our wider publication: 10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in … Continue Reading
10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 By David Berman, Carl Fernandes Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, and Charlotte Collins The fourth post in this 10-blog series considers the latest developments in relation to the Market Abuse regime. This is taken from our wider publication: 10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 – Progress Report. … Continue Reading
10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 By David Berman, Carl Fernandes Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, and Charlotte Collins In the second post of this 10-blog series, we examine recent and upcoming developments relating to MiFID II. This is taken from our wider publication: 10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 – Progress Report. … Continue Reading
By David Berman, Carl Fernandes Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton and Charlotte Collins In our January publication, we highlighted what we were seeing as the top regulatory focus areas for our clients during the year ahead, focusing on wholesale market structures and conduct risk. In a series of 10 blog posts, we will take a closer look at … Continue Reading
ESMA to introduce measures to restrict the provision of CFDs, and prohibit the provision of binary options, to retail investors in the EU. By Nicola Higgs and Charlotte Collins The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced the first use of its new product intervention powers under MiFID II. ESMA had announced before MiFID … Continue Reading
