It has been a period rife with notable shifts on the global stage; a new administration in the US, the end of the Brexit transition period and the reaching of key milestones in the discontinuation of LIBOR, to name but a few....more
11/16/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Cross-Border ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Libor ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The 'Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets' (the "Taskforce") is a private sector initiative working to scale an effective and efficient voluntary carbon credit market to help meet the goals of the Paris...more
7/30/2021
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Emissions Trading System ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Market Based Approach ,
Paris Agreement ,
Popular ,
Public Consultations ,
Sustainability
The UK's departure from the EU has created new uncertainties in EU-UK cross-border financial services. One such area is the regulatory landscape that EU and UK financial services firms will have to navigate when doing...more
The 'Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets' (the "Taskforce") is a private sector initiative working to scale an effective and efficient voluntary carbon credit market to help meet the goals of the Paris...more
On 5 March 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") announced (the "FCA Announcement") the future cessation or loss of representativeness for all 35 LIBOR settings currently published by ICE Benchmark Administration...more
The 'Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets' (the "Taskforce") is a private sector initiative working to scale an effective and efficient voluntary carbon credit market to help meet the goals of the Paris...more
The 'Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets' (the "Taskforce") published a blueprint for a voluntary greenhouse gas or carbon market in its 10 November 2020 Consultation Document. The Taskforce's Consultation Document...more
11/13/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Emissions Trading System ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Know Your Customers ,
Market Based Approach ,
Offsets ,
Paris Agreement ,
Sustainability
From the very early days of Regulation (EU) 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories "EMIR", as amended by Regulation (EU)...more
The risk management frameworks, systems and margin models of Central Counterparties (CCPs) across the globe have been tested by huge swings in market volatility over recent months during the current pandemic. Their models and...more
7/13/2020
/ CCPs ,
Central Counterparties ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Derivatives ,
ESRB ,
Financial Stability Board ,
FSB ,
G20 ,
Margin Requirements ,
Market Volatility ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is presenting the global markets with unprecedented challenges. Governments, corporations and the financial markets have been struggling to evaluate and adapt to the social and...more
On 5 December 2019 the Bank of England (Bank), UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published coordinated consultation papers and policy on new requirements to strengthen...more
3/12/2020
/ Bank of England ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CEOs ,
Cloud Computing ,
Consultation Papers ,
Contingency Plans ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Market Participants ,
Outsourcing ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Management ,
Security Risk Assessments ,
SMCR ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
On 31 January 2020 - the very date of the UK's withdrawal from the EU - the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a consultation on draft technical standards underpinning the recently revised EU market...more
On 2 December 2019, the UK Information Commissioner's Office ("ICO") together with The Alan Turing Institute published1 a three-part consultation (with draft guidance) on explaining decisions made with Artificial Intelligence...more
Tomorrow heralds an important milestone in the evolving saga of LIBOR's discontinuation, seeing the launch of the fifth and final rate, €STR, as the proposed successor to euro LIBOR. However, although in our other articles...more
In 2012, the Wheatley Review recommended reform rather than replacement of LIBOR, on the basis that a transition to a new benchmark would pose an unacceptably high risk of financial instability. Reform came in the form of a...more
9/4/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
Bonds ,
Compound Interest ,
Derivatives ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Interest Rates ,
ISDA ,
Lenders ,
Libor ,
Loan Market Association ,
Loans ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Public Consultations ,
Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) ,
UK ,
Working Groups
On 31 July 2019 the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published final Guidance on the cryptoasset activities within its regulatory perimeter, in response to feedback on its January 2019 consultation paper and as trailed in...more
8/10/2019
/ Cryptocurrency ,
E-Money ,
E-money tokens ,
Exchange Tokens ,
Final Guidance ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
International Harmonization ,
Money Transfer ,
Payment Services Directive ,
Public Consultations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Tokens ,
SMCR ,
Tech Neutrality ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Regulated Activities Order (RAO Amendments) ,
Utility Tokens
On 1 August 2019, the UK FCA published an article titled "Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Boardroom" in its Insight series of opinion and analysis. Its author, Magnus Falk, a senior technology adviser at the FCA who used...more
8/6/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Ethical Standards ,
European Commission ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Legal Ethics ,
Popular ,
Senior Managers ,
Supervisors ,
UK
On 18 July 2019 the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report on the EU regulatory perimeter, national regulatory status and EU national regulators' (NCAs') authorisation approaches for FinTech firms conducting...more
7/25/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRDIV) ,
Crowdfunding ,
Cryptoassets ,
Electronic Payment Transactions ,
EMD2 ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Commission ,
FinTech ,
NCAs ,
Payment Services Directive ,
Popular ,
PSD2 ,
Regulatory Oversight
On 12 July 2019 the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) reported on the status of FinTech firm licensing regimes across the EU, based on two ESMA surveys of EU national competent authorities (NCAs). ESMA's report...more
7/17/2019
/ Crowdfunding ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Innovation Hubs ,
Licensing Rules ,
MiFID II ,
NCAs ,
Outsourcing ,
Popular ,
Sandbox
On 3 July 2019, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority published a consultation paper in which it proposed to prohibit the sale to all retail clients of derivatives and Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) that reference certain types...more
7/11/2019
/ Annual Reports ,
CATF Report ,
CFD Trading ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
ETFs ,
Federal Bans ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FSMA ,
Investor Protection ,
Public Consultations ,
Retail Investors ,
UK
New guidelines reflect the rise of outsourcing by financial institutions in a new era of disintermediation and technological change.
In February 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its final guidelines on...more
7/8/2019
/ EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
FinTech ,
Germany ,
Harmonization Rules ,
Outsourcing ,
Payment Services Directive ,
Payment Systems ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party Service Provider
The impact of crypto-assets on the global financial system continues to be a subject of debate for regulatory and supervisory authorities....more
7/5/2019
/ Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure (CPMI) ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
FATF ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Stability Board ,
Global Market ,
International Standards ,
IOSCO ,
OECD ,
Trading Platforms
Cyber attacks are a national security concern in the UK. While individuals can be victims of such attacks, private sector institutions are often the direct targets. Cyber attacks can critically damage a commercial reputation...more
7/2/2019
/ Bank of England ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Monetary Authority of Singapore ,
Popular ,
Singapore ,
UK
There is no silver bullet for maintaining cross-border trading if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
The date of Brexit has been delayed until (at least) October 31, 2019, but there is little sign that financial...more
7/1/2019
/ Commodities Traders ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Derivatives ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Licensing Rules ,
Member State ,
MiFIR ,
MTFs ,
OTFs ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities ,
Securities Traders ,
Share Trading Obligation (STO) ,
Trading Platforms ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Venue
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