On 6 June 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published the findings of its review of liquidity management in asset managers (the “Review”). The FCA also published an accompanying “Dear CEO” letter (the...more
MiFIR / MiFID II: The European Parliament published a press release announcing it has reached provisional political agreement with the Council of the EU on the proposed amendments to the Markets in Financial Instruments...more
7/5/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
Cryptoassets ,
CSDR ,
EMIR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Parliament ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Exit Planning ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Handbooks ,
Investment Firms ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
SFTR ,
Transparency ,
UCITS ,
UK
Background On 29 June 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a letter on the findings of its review of the sustainability-linked loans (“SLL”) market. SLLs aim to support sustainable economic activity...more
We are 800+ lawyers serving clients from offices located in the leading financial and business centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The world’s leading organizations, companies and corporations choose us to be their...more
On November 4, 2022, compliance with amended Rule 206(4)-1 (the “Marketing Rule”) became mandatory for all investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Seven months since the...more
Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation....more
6/6/2023
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
AML/CFT ,
Cryptoassets ,
ELTIF ,
ESRB ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Libor ,
MiFID II ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Risk Management ,
SFDR ,
UCITS
Recent enforcement actions highlight the increased regulatory scrutiny that private funds may face with respect to internal cybersecurity protocols and responses to cyber-crimes and cyber incidents under new and updated...more
5/23/2023
/ Coinbase ,
Compliance ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Private Funds ,
Robinhood Financial ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation.
Key developments in April 2023:
28 April FCA Handbook: The Financial Conduct...more
5/22/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Asset Management ,
Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
CRD IV Directive ,
Cryptoassets ,
CSDR ,
Digital Assets ,
EMIR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinTech ,
Illiquid Assets ,
Libor ,
UK
As IPOs and other traditional paths to liquidity for private assets have become more challenging, GP-led secondary transactions have emerged as a powerful and popular tool across closed-end private funds, leading to explosive...more
Go to any private equity event in the last 12 months, and “energy transition” will have been discussed, meaning the shift in energy production away from fossil‑based systems to low or zero carbon ones. As fund managers...more
5/10/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Liquidity ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SFDR ,
Taxonomy
It’s a pattern we often see in boom-and-bust cycles—disputes rising in the period after a wave crests. SPAC deal volume hit an unprecedented high in 2021, but then slowed down in 2022 alongside IPOs. However, the fallout from...more
The SEC’s Enforcement Division is conducting a sweep investigation of large investment advisers regarding their employees’ use of “off-channel” communications. The sweep, which has been widely reported in the press, focuses...more
4/25/2023
/ Asset Management ,
Breach of Duty ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Private Funds ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Implications of SEC attempt to curb indemnification for private fund managers -
The SEC spent 2022 making multiple and sweeping proposals to amend rules under the Advisers Act, many of which have the ability to...more
Amid rising interest rates, tightening credit markets, geopolitical concerns in Europe and Asia, stubborn inflation and continuing supply chain issues, there is a growing sense of economic uncertainty. This uncertainty will...more
31 March -
SFTR: The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published an updated version of its Q&As (ESMA74-362-893) on complying with reporting requirements under the Regulation on reporting and transparency...more
4/10/2023
/ Amended Regulation ,
AML/CFT ,
Banking Sector ,
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptoassets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
EMIR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Benchmark Regulation ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
MiFIR ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Short Selling ,
UK
Crypto firm bankruptcies and resulting disruption in the crypto ecosystem will continue to exacerbate liquidity and regulatory concerns in this space. Signs of contagion are evident as prices of almost every cryptocurrency...more
Everything, everywhere, all at once is our risk thesis for 2023, but one must not forget about concentration risk. This issue has rocketed up diligence agendas for LPs and GPs alike as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank...more
On 29 March 2023, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) announced a delay to the upcoming policy statement on Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR”) and investment labels....more
Everything, everywhere, all at once, as a descriptor, captures the litigation and regulatory risks for the asset management industry in 2023. Every corner of the market faces greater risks than at any time since 2008. After...more
On 17 February 2023, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/363 (“Delegated Regulation”) was published.
The Delegated Regulation amends the regulatory technical standards (“RTS”) laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU)...more
Background On 20 February 2023, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a discussion paper (DP23/2) on updating and improving the UK regime for asset management (the “Discussion Paper”).
As part...more
3/6/2023
/ Asset Management ,
Discussion Draft ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
On 20 February 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (“ESMA”) consultation paper (ESMA34-472-373) “Guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms” (the “Consultation”) closed to comments....more
2/24/2023
/ AIFs ,
Biodiversity ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Greenwashing ,
National Private Placement Regimes (NPPR) ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
UK ,
Water
31 January -
The European Supervisory Authorities (“ESAs”) published a joint consultation paper (JC 2022 76) on the system established by the ESAs for the exchange of information relevant to the assessment of the fitness...more
Background -
In August 2022, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a policy statement titled “[s]trengthening our financial promotion rules for high-risk investments and firms approving financial...more
In February 2022, the UK Government published the Corporate Transparency and Register Reform White Paper (the “White Paper”), which set out its plans to reform Companies House and increase the transparency of UK corporate...more
1/19/2023
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Structures ,
Foreign Entities ,
Fraud ,
HMRC ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Money Laundering ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Russia ,
Scotland ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
Ukraine