The U.K. is currently engaged in a wide-ranging review of the inherited package of EU financial services law. The rules on short selling, which impose disclosure obligations and restrictions on persons seeking an economic...more
The draft Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2023, laid before Parliament on October 16, 2023, will implement certain aspects of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform)...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a statement setting out how its work to support the 'key drivers' of productivity will facilitate delivery of its new secondary objective and how it intends to report on...more
On July 5, 2023, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority launched a consultation on a proposed U.K. consolidated tape for bonds. MiFID II introduced requirements for a "consolidated tape" for transactions in equity and...more
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2023 were made on July 10, 2023 and will bring into force provisions under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 from either July 11, 2023,...more
Following finalization of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, HM Treasury published a Delivery Plan for the Building a Smarter Financial Services Regulatory Framework for the UK. The Delivery Plan compliments the...more
The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority opened a consultation on June 30, 2023, on its proposed approach to reviewing its rules, including a proposed statement of policy. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 transfers...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority launched a consultation on July 14, 2023, on its proposed Rule Review Framework. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 transfers responsibility for making detailed rules to the...more
The U.K. Government announced on 9 December 2022 a series of initiatives, billed as the Edinburgh Reforms, to reform the laws for the U.K. financial services sector. In this note, we consider these reforms in detail and what...more
12/21/2022
/ Banking Sector ,
Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
U.K. financial regulation includes a small and unusual provision, the so-called “MiFID override,” which prioritises the EU’s MiFID II regime over the U.K.’s own regulatory framework when determining questions of what is...more
The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority have issued a joint consultation paper on proposals to amend the U.K. Binding Technical Standards on margin requirements for non-centrally cleared...more
HM Treasury has published its final policy approach to the regulation of central counterparties and central securities depositories under the Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review. The response is published on...more
HM Treasury has published its final response to the Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review in which it sets out the government's policy approach to reforming the U.K.’s regulatory architecture post-Brexit. The...more
The recently published Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSM Bill) is intended to recast the U.K.’s regulatory architecture post-Brexit. It was introduced to Parliament on 20 July 2022. The Bill implements the outcomes of...more
8/2/2022
/ Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services and Markets Act ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
New Legislation ,
Stablecoins ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The U.K. government has published the much anticipated Financial Services and Markets Bill. Following its exit from the EU, the U.K. has undertaken a fundamental review of how financial regulation policy and rules should be...more
Following the Queen's speech yesterday, the government has published a briefing pack setting out details of the bills that it intends to introduce, including the so-called Brexit Freedoms Bill as well as key legislation...more
5/24/2022
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
HM Treasury ,
Insider Trading ,
MiFID II ,
Sanctions ,
Securities ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, delivered the Queen’s speech in which he announced that the government will be introducing the so-called Brexit Freedoms Bill, which was first announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a three-year Strategy on improving outcomes of regulation and its 2022/23 Business Plan. In the 2022-2025 Strategy, the FCA outlines its expectations of financial services...more
An EU Commission Implementing Decision extending the equivalence of U.K. CCPs to June 2025 has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The equivalence decision applies to U.K. CCPs already established...more
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that a "Brexit Freedoms Bill" will be put before Parliament. Upon Brexit taking effect, all then in force EU Regulations were "on-shored" automatically into U.K. laws, pursuant...more
The European Union’s financial regulatory regime for third-country access in many sectors relies on a framework of “equivalence,” whereby institutions based in approved non-EU countries with similar standards may have varying...more
10/22/2020
/ EIOPA ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinTech ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The European Union’s financial regulatory regime for third-country access in many sectors relies on a framework of “equivalence,” whereby institutions based in approved non-EU countries with similar standards may have varying...more
The U.K. House of Commons has approved the Withdrawal Agreement. Assuming this is ratified by the EU, and Royal Assent is achieved in time, the U.K. will leave the EU on January 31, 2020, entering into a “transition” or...more
1/15/2020
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
EU Action Plans ,
European Commission ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Framework Agreement ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The EU proposals to amend technical aspects of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), known colloquially as ‘EMIR 2.1’ or ‘EMIR Refit’, have been politically agreed. The final text is likely to be published in...more
4/3/2019
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Alternative Investment Funds ,
Amended Regulation ,
Counterparties ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
ISDA ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Third Country Entities (TCEs) ,
Transitional Arrangements ,
UK Brexit
Non-EU banking groups (“non-EU groups”) with large EU operations will be required to establish an EU intermediate parent undertaking (“IPU”) according to the final changes to the Capital Requirements Directive (“CRD 5”)...more
3/26/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Requirements ,
EU ,
FDIC ,
Foreign Banks ,
Intermediate Holding Company (IHCs) ,
Investment Firms ,
New Legislation ,
Third Country Entities (TCEs) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit