The Review recommends scrapping research unbundling, but also proposes a range of other changes to the UK research landscape. By Rob Moulton, Chris Horton, Sean Wells, Charlotte Collins, and Johannes Poon On 10 July 2023, HM Treasury published the final report produced by the independent UK Investment Research Review (Review). The Review was launched on … Continue Reading
FCA signals that it aims to take a tougher stance. By Rob Moulton and Charlotte Collins The FCA published its Business Plan for 2021/22 on 15 July 2021. The Plan, and accompanying remarks made by Nikhil Rathi, FCA CEO, suggest that the FCA intends to take a more assertive and proactive approach in future. While … Continue Reading
In its finalized rule amending ERISA, the DOL makes financial factors paramount in a fiduciary’s responsibility to investors. By Paul A. Davies, Nicola Higgs, Kristina S. Wyatt, and Deric Behar On October 30, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments (the Rule) and a related Fact Sheet, a … Continue Reading
ESG and the reasonable investor test under MAR. By David Berman, Rob Moulton, and Nicola Higgs Background Historically, “profit maximisation” has been regarded as the sole (or predominant) objective for investors. Today, however, an ever-increasing proportion of investors have additional/alternative — sustainability (or ESG)-related — objectives[i]. These investors are not seeking profit at all costs … Continue Reading
Many of the wide ranging amendments address the perceived barriers MiFID II introduced in capital markets and are likely to be welcomed by industry. By Nicola Higgs, Anne Mainwaring, Gabriel Lakeman and Anna Lewis-Martinez The European Commission (the Commission) has adopted a legislative proposal for a directive amending Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments … Continue Reading
The CFRF’s practical Guide encourages UK regulated financial services firms to take active steps to manage climate-related financial risks. By Paul Davies, Nicola Higgs, Sherryn Buehlmann and Anna Lewis-Martinez Background On 29 June 2020, the Climate Financial Risk Forum (CFRF) launched its guide to climate-related financial risk management (Guide) that will be useful for financial … Continue Reading
The guidelines create new obligations for financial, payment, and electronic money institutions that will impact cloud outsourcing and deployment of FinTech. By Fiona M. Maclean and Laura Holden On 25 February 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a final report on its draft guidelines on outsourcing arrangements (Guidelines). The report followed the EBA’s publication … Continue Reading
Many auto advisers and automated discretionary investment managers risk poor outcomes for customers by falling short of FCA expectations. By Nicola Higgs and Brett Carr The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement outlining its expectations of firms providing automated online discretionary investment management (ODIM) services and retail investment auto advisers (auto advisors). The … Continue Reading
