The Future Regulatory Framework and Consumer Duty will be key areas of focus for the coming year. By Rob Moulton, Nicola Higgs, David Berman, Becky Critchley, and Charlotte Collins On 5 April 2023, the FCA published its Business Plan for 2023/24. The Business Plan sets out a number of priority areas for the regulator, tied … Continue Reading
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
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
Proposals signal that the UK government is willing to diverge significantly from EU rules. By Rob Moulton and Charlotte Collins On 1 July 2021, HM Treasury published a consultation on its Wholesale Markets Review. The Review was established to determine how the UK’s approach to regulating secondary markets needs to adapt post-Brexit, and to ensure … Continue Reading
A report from the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform provides recommendations for how the UK can “re-imagine” its approach to regulation post-Brexit. By Rob Moulton, Stuart Davis, and Charlotte Collins On 16 June 2021, the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (the Taskforce) published a report (the Report) providing recommendations for how … Continue Reading
The consultation proposes changes to rules on research and best execution reporting. By Rob Moulton, Nicola Higgs, David Berman, and Charlotte Collins On 28 April 2021, the FCA published a Consultation Paper (CP21/9) on proposed changes to UK MiFID relating to research unbundling and best execution — two areas covered by the EU “quick fix” … Continue Reading
By Rob Moulton, Nicola Higgs, Anne Mainwaring, Becky Critchley, and Anna Lewis-Martinez The latest edition of our Private Bank Briefing provides a roundup of legal and compliance issues impacting private banks and their clients from Q1 2021. In this edition, we cover some of the key regulatory announcements relating to MiFID II and the impact … Continue Reading
FCA found instances of non-compliance with the product governance rules which, in its view, increases the risk of investor harm. By Nicola Higgs, Anne Mainwaring, and Jonathan Ritson-Candler Background On 26 February 2021, the FCA published a webpage setting out eight asset management firms’ implementation of the UK MiFID II product governance requirements. The sample … Continue Reading
An FCA report evaluates the chequered implementation of technology change and identifies risks and best practices to help firms better navigate this change. By Andrew C. Moyle, Alain Traill, and Jagveen S. Tyndall Of the nearly 1,000 “material incidents” reported to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2019, 17% were caused by change-related activity. … Continue Reading
FCA’s Stephen Hanks discusses onshoring and how to ensure regulatory compliance before the year’s end. With the end of the Brexit transition period looming, many financial services firms are asking what they need to do between now and the end of the year to ensure regulatory compliance. In this episode of Connected With Latham, Anne … Continue Reading
The UK government has proposed amendments to the UK PRIIPs regime with performance information in the KID to differ from the EU “performance scenario” requirement. By Nicola Higgs and Anna Lewis-Martinez On 30 July 2020, HM Treasury published a policy statement on amendments to the Packaged Retail Investment and Insurance-based Products (PRIIPs) Regulation. The policy … 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 European Commission has published its long awaited report that assesses the application and scope of AIFMD. By Carl Fernandes and Kishore Bhindi On 10 June 2020, the European Commission published a report assessing the application and scope of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The report was prepared pursuant to Article 69 of … 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
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 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
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
The FCA has recently announced that it will begin a review of how firms have implemented the unbundling rules “within weeks”. By Beatrice Lo and Jonathan Ritson-Candler At its recent asset management conference, the FCA announced that it will imminently launch a review of how asset managers have implemented the new MiFID II obligation to … Continue Reading
FCA warns providers of cryptocurrency derivatives of their regulatory obligations. By Andrew Moyle, Stuart Davis and Charlotte Collins The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement reminding businesses offering cryptocurrency derivatives of the requirement to be authorised. The FCA explains that, although cryptocurrencies are not themselves regulated in the UK, derivatives that reference … 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
