On 10 December 2024, the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) (together, ESAs) have published new joint...more
The global central bank cooperative body would bring stablecoins within the international standards for payment, clearing, and settlement systems....more
8/2/2022
/ AML/CFT ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure (CPMI) ,
EU ,
Final Guidance ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stability Board ,
Hong Kong ,
Information Reports ,
IOSCO ,
Japan ,
Payment Systems ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
Stablecoins ,
UK
Beyond creative works and consumer products, NFTs open up new avenues for IP monetisation in the technology, life sciences, and pharmaceutical industries.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), one-of-a-kind cryptoassets stored on...more
6/25/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Know Your Customers ,
Life Sciences ,
MiFID ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
UK
The FCA, Bank of England, and PRA have published updated rules for firms post-Brexit and intend to delay many (but not all) onshoring changes.
Key Points:
..The FCA has published an updated version of the FCA Handbook,...more
10/20/2020
/ Bank of England ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Dear CEO Letter ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Onshoring ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Time Extensions ,
Transitional Arrangements ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The proposed regulation will provide greater consumer and investor protection and lessen the risks of participating in digital finance.
The EU Commission has published a proposal for a wide-ranging EU regulation covering...more
ESMA advises the European Commission to consider some, but not all, of ESMA’s original proposals — and gives guidance on pre-hedging and market soundings along the way.
Key Points:
..Pre-hedging / front running: ESMA...more
Many of the wide-ranging amendments address the perceived barriers MiFID II introduced in capital markets and are likely to be welcomed by industry.
Key Points:
..The amendments aim to remove administrative burdens that...more
Important changes ahead for investment firms as the FCA’s Discussion Paper (DP20/2) indicates that the UK may depart from EU capital rules.
Key Points:
..FCA consults on a UK capital regime that in some respects breaks...more
The English High Court’s findings are likely to have wide implications, not just for SIPP operators but for all regulated firms.
Key Points:
..Regulatory obligations are not intended to take precedence over contractual...more
An ECON draft report on digital finance recommends legislative action in relation to cryptoassets and cyber resilience and a framework for digital onboarding.
On 4 June 2020, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary...more
The three draft delegated regulations set out sustainability criteria and ESG disclosure requirements for benchmarks provided in accordance with the EU Benchmarks Regulation.
Key Points:
..The measures follow amendments...more
The report encourages the G20 to consider a broad set of supervisory principles when evaluating global stablecoin arrangements.
On April 14, 2020, the G20’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a consultation on the...more
The draft RTS introduce new, potentially more onerous obligations on the administrators of all categories of benchmarks.
Key Points:
..The draft RTS contain new guidance that makes clear who is responsible for which...more
The consultation provides a key opportunity for market participants to provide feedback on the regime.
Key Points:
..The consultation covers a broad range of MiFID topics and, while framed as a questionnaire, contains...more
2/27/2020
/ Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Investors ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
Public Consultations ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
ESMA has published its response to the Commission’s review of the BMR, which gives an indication of the areas where changes to the regulation are more likely to be made.
Key Points:
..ESMA’s response to the European...more
The AMF has published a report containing a number of new proposals relating to production of research under MiFID II.
Key Points:
..The report pointedly criticises the original MiFID requirements (most of which were...more
2/19/2020
/ AMF ,
Asset Management ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
France ,
MiFID II ,
Research Reports ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unbundling
Financial services regulators have been particularly vocal in the last 12 months, specifically about the impact on the financial services sector as the world experiences, and attempts to respond to, climate change.
Mark...more
Firms outside of Europe should be aware of planned upcoming changes to how they access European markets.
Key Points:
..The EU legislators have been reviewing various financial services regimes and developing reforms...more
1/14/2020
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Central Counterparties ,
Counterparties ,
Credit Rating Agencies ,
Cross-Border ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
EU Benchmark Regulation ,
European Commission ,
Financial Services Industry ,
MiFID II ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Third Country Entities (TCEs) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
New regulatory requirements, including registration and customer disclosure requirements, apply to regulated and unregulated persons carrying on relevant cryptoasset business.
On 20 December 2019, the UK government published...more
1/13/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Compliance ,
Consultation ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptoassets ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Firms ,
Jurisdiction ,
MLD5 ,
Payment Systems ,
Popular ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
UK ,
Working Groups
The EC consults on existing cryptoasset regulatory framework and considers a separate EU framework for cryptoassets outside the current scope.
On 19 December 2019, the European Commission (EC) launched a public...more
Q&As for UK Regulated Firms -
Although the general election result has provided some certainty in relation to what happens next from a Brexit perspective, there are still many outstanding questions. In addition, a large...more
1/7/2020
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
EU Passport ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Member State ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Onshoring ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Transitional Arrangements ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Withdrawal Agreement
Consultation Paper looks at ways in which issues with the KID requirements could be improved.
Key Points:
- The ESAs are seeking to make adjustments to the PRIIPs KID requirements to address ongoing issues relating to...more
Insights from Latham’s flagship event: Managing the risk and promise of digitisation in financial services.
In a bid to keep pace with rapid advances in cloud adoption across financial services, regulators have published a...more
11/12/2019
/ CLOUD Act ,
Cloud Storage ,
Data Protection Authority ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Insurance Industry ,
New Guidance ,
Open Banking ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reinsurance
European Commission review will inform potential future legislative change.
Key Points:
..The European Commission is seeking views on various aspects of the regime, and asking for feedback on areas in which improvements...more
Consultation provides chance for industry to comment on which elements of the regime are working well and where change is needed.
Key Points:
..ESMA is seeking industry views on various aspects of MAR and whether they...more
10/11/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insider Information ,
New Guidance