The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 established a framework for the regulation of third parties who provide significant services to financial institutions, giving HM Treasury power to designate an entity as a...more
The Bank of England has published the final versions of three Codes of Practice on wholesale cash distribution and accompanying Guidance relating to information gathering, third-party arrangements and cash centre closures and...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: the European Parliament’s ECON Committee adopting draft reports on the European Commission’s PSR and PSD3 legislative proposals; ESMA consulting on 'reverse...more
Amongst the broad range of updates this week, at international level, the FSB published its thematic peer review on MMF Reforms and the BCBS published the outcomes of its meeting held on 28 and 29 February, including that it...more
In this alert we consider various reforms and proposals to the banking sector announced by UK regulators. On 11 January 2024, HM Treasury published a consultation paper on enhancing the UK’s Special Resolution Regime for...more
Responses to the joint Bank of England and HM Treasury consultation paper on a “digital pound” are in, with over 50,000 submissions in total. The scale of feedback shows significant interest in a discussion which could pave...more
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Digital Securities Sandbox) Regulations 2023 came into force on Jan. 8, creating the U.K.'s first digital securities sandbox within which firms would be able to test new...more
As part of measures introduced under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England (BoE) have published consultations relating, respectively, to maintaining...more
Regulated financial services institutions and financial market infrastructure (FMI) providers often rely on third parties who provide significant services to them behind the scenes, including “cloud” services and IT services...more
HM Treasury has launched a consultation that sets out proposals for enhancing the Special Resolution Regime by introducing a new means for the Bank of England, as the U.K. resolution authority, to use stabilization powers to...more
The Bank of England has published a Policy Statement on the Implementation of the Basel 3.1 standards in the U.K., taking account of responses to its Consultation Paper 16/22 published in November 2022. The Basel 3.1 changes...more
HM Treasury has published a report on the Future of Payments Review 2023 (the Report), which was launched as part of the Chancellor's Mansion House Reforms in July 2023. The Report aims to provide a 'high-level, strategic...more
Following feedback to their July discussion paper, the U.K. regulators—the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority—have launched a joint consultation proposing rules and regulatory...more
The eagerly awaited seventh edition of the Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Grid was published on 30 November 2023 by the Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum. The Regulatory Initiatives Grid sets out the...more
On 6 November 2023, the Bank of England (the UK’s central bank) issued a discussion paper on the regulation on stablecoins, alongside another paper by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (DP23/4) and a “Dear CEO” letter...more
The proposals would give the Bank of England wide-ranging powers to deal with acute failure scenarios, treating policyholder liabilities as loss-absorbing. HM Treasury (HMT) is proposing1 a new UK resolution regime for...more
HM Treasury has published the response to its July 2022 consultation and call for evidence on payments regulation and the systemic perimeter. HMT proposes the following next steps: extend the scope of the Bank of England’s...more
On February 7, 2023, the Bank of England (BoE) released two documents concerning a central bank digital currency (CBDC), a prospective government-backed digital form of U.K. currency also known as the "digital pound." ...more
On 28 February 2023, the House of Commons Treasury Committee questioned representatives from the Bank of England (the “BoE”) on the latest developments on its plans for the proposed UK Central Bank Digital Currency (“CBDC”)....more
The Bank of England and HM Treasury are consulting on the model for a UK retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) or ‘digital pound’ that would sit alongside, not replace, cash. On the basis of their work to date, both the...more
The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority have issued a joint consultation paper on proposals to amend the U.K. Binding Technical Standards on margin requirements for non-centrally cleared...more
HM Treasury has opened a consultation on managing the failure of systemic digital settlement asset firms, including stablecoin firms. In April 2022, the U.K. government confirmed that it will bring the issuing of or the...more
HM Treasury has published a Policy Statement on its plans for protecting the U.K.'s wholesale cash infrastructure. In recent years, use of cash has diminished in favour of cashless transactions but the U.K. government is...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: In this Newsletter: For previous editions of the Global Payments Newsletter, please visit our Financial Services practice page. On 9 March 2022, President Biden signed...more
HM Treasury has released a further consultation under the Future Regulatory Framework Review concerning the regulation of central counterparties and central securities depositories. The Future Regulatory Framework Review is...more