On 20 March, the PSR released an update on Confirmation of Payee (CoP) in light of Covid-19. The PSR have considered their regulatory approach and all things considered have advised the directed banks that if they are...
FCA has noted that some managers of commercial real estate funds have suspended dealings on the basis of current material uncertainty over the value of the underlying property, and says that suspension is likely to be...
On 16 March, the Payment System Regulator (PSR) released an update on their publication of the interim report on card-acquiring services. It was originally thought that the report would be published in late 2019 but it...
The FCA has explained that is working closely with the Government, the Bank of England, the Payment Systems Regulator and firms to ensure markets continue to work well for consumers. This includes making regular contact...
The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“), together will National Competent Authorities (“NCAs“), has made the following recommendation to financial market participants to account...
Treasury is consulting on the process for allowing overseas investment funds to be marketed in the UK. It says the current regime (Brexit apart) is not viable in the long-term, and proposes two new regimes, one for...
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS“) has issued guidance on compensation payments as a result of failed investments made via a Self-invested Personal Pension scheme (a “SIPP”). The guidance...
The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) has published jointly (i) its annual report to highlight its direct supervisory activities during 2019 regarding credit rating agencies...
The Bank of England (“BoE”) has announced a comprehensive and timely package of measures to help UK businesses and households bridge across the economic disruption that is likely to be associated with Covid...
The Bank of England (“BoE”) has reduced the Bank Rate by 50 basis points to 0.25%. The aim of the reduction is to help support business and consumer confidence amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, to bolster the...
UK Finance has published a blog post on resolving Section 75 claims made in relation to failed home improvements. It explains that due to the significant number of contractors ceasing to trade each year (nearly 80,000)...
The FCA has today published proposals outlining new climate-related disclosure requirements for premium listed issuers. The new rule will require all commercial companies with a premium listing to either make climate...
The Treasury Committee has today published its report on the appointment of Andrew Bailey as Governor of the Bank of England. Whilst it is satisfied that Mr Bailey has the professional competence and personal...
The FCA has published a Research Report called “Fostering innovation through collaboration: The evolution of the FCA TechSprint Approach“. TechSprints are typically 2 day events that bring together...
On 3 March 2020, the EBA published a speech by José Manuel Campa, EBA Chair, from the 4th Annual Conference on Fintech and Digital Innovation: Delivering the Future. Various areas of digital finance including the...
A Lloyd’s syndicate has launched the first liability to protect against losses arising from theft of, or malicious hacks to, cyptocurrencies held in online wallets. The policy will have dynamic limits that...
Sir Jon Cunliffe delivered a speech on the future of the banking system and of cash payments. He noted that the forms money takes in society change as the structure of economies changes, as the ways in which we transact...
The FCA has published its suspicious transaction and order reports (STORs) figures for the year ending December 2019. The number of STORs had increased consistently since 2016; however, the data for 2019 appears to buck...
FCA has published feedback on its discussion paper on Patient Capital and authorised funds. The paper had asked whether there are any unnecessary barriers to investing in long term (patient) assets through authorised...
The FCA have today published a new page on their website on payment service providers (PSPs). The page is aimed at consumers and explains the different kinds of PSPs, and the protections afforded to consumers when...
On 27th February, Mark Carney launched the ‘COP26 Private Finance Agenda’ at the Guildhall in London. The overarching goal of the Agenda is that every professional financial decision will need to take climate change...
The European Systemic Risk Board (the “ESRB“) has published a report on cyber risks and incidents, which, owing to the interconnectedness of various information systems, spread quickly and widely. The ESRB...
On 12 February, Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight made a speech at an event on Investigations and Enforcement: A Guide to Managing Regulatory Action. Key takeaways from the speech...
On 20 January 2020, the PSR consulted on varying specific direction 10 (SD10) on confirmation of payee. SD10 was given to the six largest banks in August 2019, requiring them to implement confirmation of payee from 31...
The FCA wrote to credit brokers on 13 February 2020 identifying the key drivers of harm within the credit broking portfolio. These include:- failure to understand regulatory requirements; poor oversight of staff and...
The FCA has published a feedback statement (FS20/1) on the recognition of the Lending Standards Board’s (LSB) Standards of Lending Practice for business customers and updated its webpage on recognised industry codes...
The FCA has released its response to its recent consultation on workplace pension charging and the associated rules changes, including its policy statement and final rules. These rules changes are derived from a 2013...
On Friday, Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, approved a Deferred Prosecution Agreement between the Serious Fraud Office and Airbus SE. Under the terms of the DPA, Airbus SE agreed to...
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published amendments to its 2018 guidelines on fraud reporting under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The amendments: introduce two new data fields for reporting...
Insurance Europe, AMICE, the EBF and EFAMA (the Group) have raised concerns about The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (the ESA’s) consultation on potential changes to the regulatory technical...
The EBA has published a Discussion Paper On the future changes to the EU-wide stress test. Since the global financial crisis, the stress test has become a widely used tool for supervisors to assess the resilience of...
The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has published a letter to Senior Management Function holders in regulated firms on the future of LIBOR. In the letter it considers further potential...
The FCA has published a Statement encouraging market makers to change the market convention for sterling interest rate swaps from LIBOR to SONIA on 2 March 2020. The change is intended to move the greater part of new...
FCA has published a report from its review of how a sample of 10 asset management firms selected and used risk modelling and other portfolio management tools. Key conclusions were: firms found it hard to assess whether...
UK and EU regulators have published papers on the regulatory response to the risks of climate change. the BoE has published a discussion paper on how it proposes to carry out its “biennial exploratory...
Negotiations between the European Parliament and Council have reached agreement on environmental objectives for determining the sustainability of an economic activity. The Commission proposal for a ‘taxonomy...
The Bank of England and FCA have issued a joint statement following a report by the FPC of the progress of their joint investigation into risks poses by liquidity mismatches of open-ended funds. The FPC noted a number...
The FCA has extended the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to solo-regulated firms, including senior managers and certification staff in those firms. The SM&CR already applies to the banking and...
On 1 December 2019 the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, as UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. Mark Carney...
The FCA has published its Feedback Statement on its ‘A duty of care and potential alternative approaches’ Discussion Paper which summarises the feedback from respondents and sets out how the FCA plans to deal with the...
In May 2019 UK Finance launched a voluntary industry Code which set new standards for the prevention of authorised push payment (APP) scams, where victims are tricked into sending money to a fraudster. Victims who are...
The CMA has taken action against HSBC and Santander after they broke an Order requiring them to send customers text alerts before banks charge them for going into an unarranged overdraft, giving them time to take action...
The FCA has issued a press release confirming that a confiscation order of £291,070.36 has been obtained against a convicted fraudster. Barry Starling is already serving a 5 years’ prison sentence for defrauding...
FCA has fined Henderson Investment Funds Limited (HIFL) nearly £2m for failure to treat fairly over 4,500 retail investors in two of its funds, thereby breaching Principle 6. FCA found the funds’ investment...
The Council of the European Union has adopted several legislative reforms as part of the progress towards the capital markets union. The reforms target: Sustainable finance. The first reform establishes disclosure...
UK Finance has responded to the Treasury Committee’s report into IT failures in the financial services sector. The Treasury Committee criticised the unacceptably high level of failures and called on regulators to...
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a Communication on the remaining issues for financial institutions ahead of the UK’s departure from the EU. In its Communication the EBA urges continued progress...
The Government has published its “No-Deal Readiness Report” detailing the UK’s preparedness ahead of Brexit on 31 October. The Report contains a section on financial services which, amongst other...
The European Commission (the “Commission”) has issued guidance on the interpretation and application of Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts (“UCTD”) The Commission...
The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA) (collectively “ESA”) has published its 2020 Work Programme setting out its strategy in the areas of cross-sectoral risk...
FCA has published its findings and next steps on its review of governance practices covering unit-linked funds. It notes that its Asset Management Market Study found asset managers were not good enough at considering...
The FCA has conducted a review of financial promotions issued by CMCs. CMCs are required to provide information to consumers that is fair, clear and not misleading under rules that were introduced in April. The rules...
We have written an article highlighting the risks of insider trading relating to a personal data breach, in the light of the SEC’s action against Equifax executives.
The FCA has set out an agreed plan that it will not take any action against firms that are not ready for the strong customer authentication (“SCA”) EU rules by 14 September this year. In the plan, the FCA...
The SFO has published guidance for corporates aimed at helping them to understand what it means by “co-operation” when it is considering its charging decisions. The SFO says it is assistance that goes above...
Andrew Bailey has written to Lord Myners explaining why FCA has not taken, and does not think it appropriate to take, action to establish its own requirements for liquidity standards for UCITS. The letter explains that...
The FCA is proposing to ban the use of contingent charging for pension transfers, whereby an adviser is only paid if recommending that a member of a pension scheme makes a transfer. Under current pension legislation...
Sussex Independent Financial Advisers Limited had applied to the Tribunal for a suspension of the FCA’s decision to vary its permission to remove all its permitted activities on the basis that the firm did not...
The Regulation on cross-border distribution of collective investment undertakings and Directive amending the UCITS Directive and AIFMD have been published in the OJEU. Many of the provisions of the Regulation take...
A payment institution has failed in its action against RBS, after the bank closed the institution’s accounts with it and ended the banking relationship. The payment institution (P) was an FX and payment services...
The FCA has published a consultation paper on prohibiting the sale of derivatives and exchange traded notes (ETNs) referencing certain types of cryptoassets to retail customers. The FCA considers such products to be ill...
The CMA has announced that it will conduct a review of Part 6 of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017 (the Order). The Order, which came into force in February 2018, requires qualifying banks to...
The Board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has announced the establishment of a BIS Innovation Hub to foster international collaboration on innovative financial technology within the central banking...
Treasury has amended the current UK rules on Prospectuses to implement the EU Prospectus Regulation which repeated the 2003 Prospectus Directive. The Regulations designate FCA as the UK Competent Authority and make...
In line with the Government’s policy to safeguard access to cash for those who need it, whilst supporting digital payments, HM Treasury (HMT) has establish the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy (JACS) Group...
The Investment Association, commenting on suspension and illiquidity in open-ended funds, said that it is necessary sometimes to suspend funds in the best interests of their investors – be they investors who want...
UK Finance has published a set of principles setting out the approach that banks should take when communicating a decision to a customer that it cannot offer, or continue with, the provision of its service. In each...
The PSR has published a Call for Views (CP19/5) on the structure of LINK interchange fees. The paper examines how the structure of the interchange fees works now, what other options there could be and how the...
The FCA and PRA have published a joint statement on firms’ preparation for the transition from LIBOR to overnight risk-free rates (RFRs). The joint statement sets out key themes, good practice and next steps for...
The FCA and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets have agreed to work more closely together in order to protect and enhance the integrity of their financial systems. The regulators will share information to...
ESMA has updated its FAQs on AIFMD and UCITS. The additions focus on depositaries, looking at: the distinction between depositary functions and supporting tasks that are not subject to the delegation rules in the...
FCA has made new rules to improve shareholder engagement and increase transparency around stewardship. The new requirements take effect from 10 June. FCA will require: asset managers and life insurers to publish their...
The FSB has published a report on crypto-assets, which will be delivered to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors ahead of their meeting in Fukuoka in June 2019. In particular the report notes: the work...
ESMA has published a statement on the revised scope of the EU’s share trading obligation (STO) under a no-deal scenario, following their initial announcement on 19 March 2019. ESMA stated that although its prior...
The FCA has published a Call for Input, requesting the views of interested parties on the concept of cross-sector sandbox. Since October 2018, the FCA has engaged with a range of regulators and a small group of firms to...
The APP Scams Steering Group has published the new voluntary Code which gives customers greater protection against APP scams and provides victims, who meet certain requirements, with full refunds. To help protect...
Following an application by the FCA, the High Court recently ruled that Xcore Capital Limited, an unauthorised forex firm, and broker, Mr Jonathan Chitty had carried on an unauthorised investment scheme. Consumers were...
We have written an article on the steps the payments industry is taking to mitigate the risks of APP fraud, in particular the introduction of ‘Confirmation of Payee’, an account name checking system.
The FCA and Action Fraud have reported that victims have lost over £27 million in total in 2018/2019 to crypto and forex investment scams. Action Fraud reports show that on average, victims were each scammed out of...
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has published its Annual Review 2018/2019. The Annual Review highlights that FOS has: received more than 388,000 complaints over the past 12 months, which is up 14% on 2017/2018...
The FCA has published a consultation paper which sets out its proposals for changes to its mortgage advice and selling standards. The purpose of the consultation is to address the issues identified through the...
In a letter to the Treasury Committee, the Chancellor has announced the formation of the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy (JACS) Group. The membership of the Group will be HM Treasury, the BoE, FCA and PSR. The aims of...
Further to our article in December, the FCA have published a statement announcing that it is delaying publication of final rules for CFD products and CFD-like options. The FCA consulted on permanent rules to restrict...
The EBA has published an opinion on the nature of passport notifications regarding agents and distributors under PSD2, 2EMD and MLD4. In particular, the opinion provides clarity on: the criteria that national competent...
On 23rd April, Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the FCA, released a statement on the future of financial conduct regulation. He used a four lens approach when looking at conduct regulation. These can be summarised as:...
Following its ‘Dear CEO’ letter, published on 9 January 2019, the FCA has reminded firms involved in the approval of financial promotions for unauthorised persons of their obligations when doing so. The FCA...
As a wholly owned subsidiary of the FCA, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has announced that it is adopting and applying the same core principles of the Senior Managers Regime as the FCA. A formal description of the...
The Upper Tribunal has today published its decision in Linear Investments Ltd v FCA [2019] UKUT 0115 (TCC) (FS2018/054), in which it upheld the FCA’s decision to fine Linear for market abuse failings. In September...
FCA and SEC have signed two MoUs to ensure minimal disruption when the UK leaves the EU. Andrew Bailey, FCA CEO met Jay Clayton, SEC Chairman to sign the MoUs. The first MoU updates the comprehensive supervisory...
The Senior Fraud Office (SFO) announced that 2 former senior bankers at Barclays, Carlo Palombo and Colin Bermingham, were sentenced to a total of 9 years imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court for manipulating the Euro...
ESMA has updated its FAQs on: the application of the UCITS Directive to include clarification on benchmark disclosure obligations for UCITS both in the KIID and where funds name a target in their investment objectives...
AFME has published suggested wording for selling restrictions for equity transactions to use in the event of a no-deal Brexit. It is designed for the most common scenarios and comprises an EEA public offer restriction...
ESMA has published its first set of FAQs under the Prospectus Regulation. The questions look at: grandfathering of prospectuses approved under the 2003 Prospectus Directive applicability of guidance on the old Directive...
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published its annual plan and budget setting out its key objectives and activities for 2019/2020. The PSRs key initiatives include: to protect people from Authorised Push Payment...
The FCA has published a speech by Jonathan Davidson, Executive Director of Supervision – Retail and Authorisations, in which he sets out what the consumer credit sector can expect from the FCA in terms of regulation. Mr...
ESMA has published a statement in which it outlines its approach, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, to the application of the trading obligations for shares (STOs) under article 23 of MiFIR in the absence of an...
Womble Bond Dickinson is delighted to have expanded its offering in the financial services and insurance sectors with the hire of white collar crime partner, Audrey Koh. Audrey has substantial experience of advising...
The FCA has updated its webpage on digital regulatory reporting (DRR) by publishing – a video which explains the concept of DRR and outlines the work carried out by the DRR pilot group; a report which sets out an...
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published a statement on crypto-assets. The Committee acknowledges that while the crypto-asset market remains small relative to that of the global financial system, and...
Steven Maijoor has spoken on ESMA’s priorities in fund regulation. He focused on how consumer investments progress over time, and the role of costs, looking at ESMA’s costs and performance report on retail...