The latest consultation paper from ESMA raises some important questions about the market abuse regulation (MAR) but lacks detail in some crucial areas.
On October 3, 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority...more
The Banking Reform Package marks a milestone in the new EU regulatory landscape.
On 27 June 2019, a series of measures referred to as the Banking Reform Package comes into force, subject to various transitional and staged...more
6/28/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) ,
Banking Reform ,
Banks ,
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
Central Counterparties ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Central Securities Depository Directive ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Holding Company ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Stability Board ,
Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) ,
Infrastructure Financing ,
International Harmonization ,
Market Risk Capital Rule ,
MiFID II ,
MREL ,
Retail Investors ,
Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation (SRMR) ,
Software ,
Systemic Risk Buffer ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
TLAC
On May 8, 2019, following Iran's announcement that it intends to suspend certain nuclear proliferation-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States issued a new Executive order...more
5/14/2019
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Blocking Statutes ,
CAPTA List ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
France ,
Germany ,
IFCA ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Metals ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
SDN List ,
Steel Industry ,
Suspensions ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Waivers
Currently, cryptoasset exchanges and wallet providers are not generally required (depending on their business model) to identify their customers, monitor transactions or report suspicious activity. On 15 April HM Treasury...more
4/20/2019
/ AMLD IV ,
Bitcoin ,
Consultation ,
Consultation Periods ,
Cryptoassets ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Digital Assets ,
EU Directive ,
Exchange Tokens ,
HM Treasury ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
MLD5 ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transmitter ,
Open Source Software ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Privacy Coins ,
Securities Tokens ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
UK Cryptoassets Taskforce ,
Utility Tokens ,
Virtual Currency
BMR continues to develop its impact in the different industry sectors that rely on benchmarks, e.g., derivatives, capital markets, banking, etc., as well domestic regulations. In this article, we do not look at a particular...more
Partners Julia Smithers Excell and Stuart Willey, and associate Laura Kitchen of global law firm White & Case take a deep dive on the latest publications from EU and UK regulators aimed at providing supervisory clarity on the...more
4/1/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank of England ,
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
Bearer Shares ,
Collective Investment Schemes ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptoassets ,
CSDR ,
Debt Instruments ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Electronic Payment Transactions ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Commission ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Exchange Tokens ,
FATF ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Instruments ,
FinTech ,
HM Treasury ,
Information Reports ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Member State ,
MiFID II ,
Popular ,
Prospectus ,
PSD2 ,
Securities ,
Securities Tokens ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Regulated Activities Order (RAO Amendments) ,
Utility Tokens
The upcoming enforcement of the MREL requirement will require European banks to issue a significant amount of subordinated and senior notes. But political instability and differing levels of investor demand could push up...more
3/29/2019
/ Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Capitalization ,
Credit Institutions ,
EU ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Member State ,
MREL ,
New Rules ,
Political Parties ,
Recapitalization ,
Single Resolution Board ,
UK Brexit
Essential features of bank capital regulation across Europe in one handy wall chart.
Regulatory capital requirements for prudentially supervised financial services companies across Europe are complex and changing rapidly....more
3/26/2019
/ Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) ,
Banks ,
Capital Markets ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
CRD IV Directive ,
Credit ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Insolvency ,
MREL ,
TLAC
Canada legalised recreational cannabis in October 2018 and it may be that other countries follow suit. UK and US investors, and those who facilitate investments in legal recreational cannabis businesses overseas, need to be...more
3/25/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Canada ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Proceeds ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investor Protection ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
National Crime Agency (NCA) ,
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
UK
NPLs are a hot topic, high on the European supervisory authorities' agenda. Legislative and prudential requirements to reduce NPLs are rapidly evolving. In March of 2018, the EC published a package of reforms aimed at...more
3/16/2019
/ Amended Regulation ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
Credit ,
Distressed Debt ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Council ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Greece ,
IFRS ,
Member State ,
Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ,
Proposed Amendments
With Brexit looming, the UK's autonomous sanctions policy is slowly taking shape. This month saw the publication of regulations setting out the post-Brexit UK sanctions regimes for Iran, Burma and Venezuela, which will come...more
3/4/2019
/ Asset Freeze ,
Blocking Statutes ,
Burma ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
General Licenses ,
Information Sharing ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Ownership Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Right to Control ,
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Venezuela
On 31 January 2019, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the "E3") announced the registration in France of INSTEX SAS ("Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges"), which is a special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating...more
2/14/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Blocking Statutes ,
EU ,
FATF ,
France ,
Germany ,
INSTEX ,
International Atomic Energy Agency ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Special Purpose Vehicles ,
UK ,
United Nations
The UK FCA launched on 23 January 2019 its highly anticipated consultation1 (CP19/3) on Guidance for market participants as to where certain cryptoassets sit in relation to the regulatory perimeter - and whether relevant...more
1/28/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Collective Investment Schemes ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Debt Instruments ,
Ether ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Market Abuse ,
Market Participants ,
MiFID II ,
Money Laundering ,
New Guidance ,
Prospectus ,
Securities ,
Securities Tokens ,
SMCR ,
Token Sales ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Regulated Activities Order (RAO Amendments) ,
Utility Tokens
On 21 January 2019, the EU adopted the first sanctions measures under its new sanctions framework targeting parties involved in the use and proliferation of chemical weapons introduced in October 2018...more
General counsels at FCA regulated firms will no doubt be relieved to see that in its latest Consultative Paper published yesterday the FCA has rowed back from its previous suggestion that "Head of Legal" should be a senior...more
On 9 January 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA)1 and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)2 published two reports with their advice on cryptoassets for the European Commission (EC) (and in ESMA's case,...more
1/15/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptocurrency ,
CSDR ,
Digital Currency ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
MiFID II ,
Risk Management ,
Securities ,
Virtual Currency
The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 requires Parliament to pass a motion approving the withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship between the UK and the EU. This so-called 'meaningful vote' was due to take...more