The Pension Schemes Bill announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July builds on the UK Government’s drive to encourage defined contribution (DC) pension investment in long-term illiquid investments such as private equity,...more
With so much focus on the regulatory treatment (and mistreatment) of blockchain related businesses, the benefits of commercial legal certainty for choosing a country or territory as a home of choice for these businesses is...more
7/18/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
Business Entities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Information Reports ,
Jurisdiction ,
Legal Entities ,
Nonprofits ,
Securities Tokens ,
Token Sales ,
UK ,
UK Companies Acts
On June 30, 2024, the new Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation, which affects stablecoins in the European Union, went into effect. This client alert outlines the critical obligations and considerations for stablecoin...more
On 14 May 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final guidelines ESMA34-472-440 Final Report on the Guidelines on funds names (europa.eu) on the use of ESG- or sustainability-related terms...more
5/31/2024
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Final Guidance ,
Investment Funds ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UCITS
Welcome to the second edition of our Horizon Scan for 2024: key recent and expected funds, regulatory, and tax developments to look out for. As before, we focus on the most important developments and changes that we expect to...more
5/24/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Cross-Border ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EU ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Funds ,
Private Funds ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Transitional Arrangements ,
UK
On 10 April 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a Consultation Paper on payment optionality for investment research (CP24/7). CP24/7 followed the UK Investment Research Review, in which recommendations were...more
4/29/2024
/ AIFM ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Consultation ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Market Research ,
Proposed Rules ,
Research Funding ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
In our previous alert AI and Machine Learning in UK financial services, we discussed the response in FS 2/23 of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to its discussion paper on...more
In our previous alert The FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and Labelling Regime (SDR): A Flexible Regime for UK Private Fund Managers, we examined the final framework under policy statement PS23/16, on...more
4/26/2024
/ AIFs ,
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Climate Change ,
Consultation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Management ,
Portfolio Companies ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
UK
In our previous alert “Acquiring or Investing in EU Crypto-Asset Businesses: MiCA’s Impact,” we discussed the impact of the European Union (EU) Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on the acquisition or investment in EU...more
4/18/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Investment ,
Popular ,
Regulation Technical Standards (RTS) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards
In our previous alert, we looked at the draft revised Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) supplementing the amended ELTIF Regulation (ELTIF 2.0) published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in its...more
On 6 March 2024, following the Chancellor’s budget statement, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Order 2024 (SI 2024/301) (the March Amendment) was...more
In our previous alert AIFMD II (Near) Final Text Agreed: What’s New? and in our recent update in our Horizon Scan, we noted that the Council of the European Union (EU) had published the final compromise amending text setting...more
2/14/2024
/ AIFM ,
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Amended Regulation ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Member State ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
UCITS
In our previous alert, we noted the statement of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) encouraging market participants and national competent authorities in EU member states to prepare for implementation of the...more
Welcome to the first edition of our Horizon Scan for 2024: key recent and expected funds, regulatory and tax developments to look out for. As before, we focus on the most important developments and changes that we expect to...more
2/1/2024
/ Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Corporate Governance ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Germany ,
Green Finance ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Funds ,
IOSCO ,
Long-Term Investment Funds ,
Open-Ended Fund Companies (OFCs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK ,
Venture Capital
In our previous alert ELTIF Reform: A Milestone in the Development of an EU Private Fund Structure for Accessing Wholesale Markets, we discussed the EU Commission’s adoption of a revised regulation for the European Long-Term...more
The market had been expecting feedback by now from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) regarding its November 2022 consultation on its guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms...more
On 7 December 2023, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a joint consultation paper titled ”CP26/23 - Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial...more
In our previous alert, The Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and Investment Labels Rules: Tougher ESG Standards for UK Private Fund Managers, we discussed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) October 2022 consultation...more
In our previous alert AIFMD II Gathers Momentum: The European Parliament Finalises Its Proposed Text and recent update October 2023 Horizon Scan for Private Investment Funds, we noted the draft text of the Alternative...more
We wrote on the impact of changes to the financial promotion rules that came into effect earlier this year. On 7 November 2023, the UK Government published the proposed changes to the Financial Promotion Order 2005 (FPO). The...more
The Response and Stablecoins Update confirm the core of HMT’s policy proposals in the General Consultation and Stablecoin Consultation, respectively, although they shine further light on the features of the regulatory regime....more
In our previous alert, we discussed the emerging trends for regulating artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services and mentioned a joint paper published by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial...more
On 17 October 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a statement (the Statement) clarifying the timeline for implementation of the Regulation on Markets in Cryptoassets ((EU) 2023/1114) (MiCA)...more
As the market continues to evolve with the dynamics of sustainable finance legislation, managers are often facing challenges in how to best navigate competing investor demand and sentiment on environmental, social, and...more
In our previous alert, we noted the speech made by Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which built on the points made in a joint paper published by the Bank of England (BoE) and FCA on artificial...more
10/12/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank of England ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Information Reports ,
Joint Statements ,
Machine Learning ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
UK