The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) shift towards consumer protection is intensifying. At the same time, it is gearing up to become a more assertive regulator, intervening more frequently, following the example of its...more
Financial crime has been a key area of focus for the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for a number of years, attracting some of the highest financial penalties, and this looks set to continue. With improvements to FCA...more
The requirement for firms to collect and report quality data has never been more important, with the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) outcome driven strategy looking to rely on firm data to realise its plans. In this...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) recently published their Business Plans for 2022/23. The FCA also published a three-year strategy. But what does it really mean for firms? ...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) latest consultation and feedback on the proposed Consumer Duty engages with some of the sticking points as well as providing draft rules and guidance. ...more
As the dust looks like it is starting to settle on the Covid-19 pandemic, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have been busy resuming their enforcement agendas.
Originally...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has finalised two enforcements against brokers in relation to the cum-ex trading scandal; both for failing to mitigate the risk of facilitating financial crime. Further action seems...more
In adopting a new approach to decision making, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) aspires to making bolder, more robust and assertive decisions, to prevent and stop harm faster and more effectively. This two-part blog...more
Despite concerns being raised through the consultation process, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has implemented its proposals to shift some decision making from the Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) to senior FCA...more
Helping to prepare FMIs, payment and e-money firms for proposed implementation...more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed a ban on a financial adviser with a criminal conviction for non-financial misconduct, despite the case being contested in the Upper Tribunal. Although the FCA’s policy on...more
July 2021 marks five years since the Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014/EU) (EU MAR) came into force on 3 July 2016. Since then, a myriad of developments has supplemented practitioners’ understanding and interpretation of EU...more
Financial institutions face a myriad of sanctions compliance issues arising out of the multiplicity of legal, regulatory and reporting regimes that they are subject to. For Financial institutions in the United Kingdom, the...more
The UK Government has asked the Law Commission to review the law on corporate criminal liability and propose options for reform. Supporters of reform will use recent failures of the UK Serious Fraud Office to prosecute large...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) is proposing to take enforcement action against an individual, Jon Frensham, relating to "non-financial misconduct". The FCA has made clear its commitment to tackling...more
Following a year that saw firms’ operational resilience arrangements put to the test, the FCA, the PRA and the Bank of England published their long-awaited final rules and guidance on operational resilience on 29 March 2021,...more
The FCA's focus on market abuse is nothing new. Frequent references to the FCA's focus on tackling market abuse have featured in every single one of its Business Plans since 2013/14, with similar references also running...more
In October 2020 the FCA issued a Final Notice to Asia Research and Capital Management Ltd (ARCM). The FCA found that between 22 February 2017 and 3 December 2019, ARCM failed to make a number of notifications to the FCA and...more
The Court of Appeal has refused to grant a company leave to appeal its conviction for conspiracy to corrupt, notwithstanding that the directors who constituted the company's directing mind were not present at the trial and...more
The final report (the Report) of the Australian Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (the Royal Commission) was released on 4 February 2019. The Report provides 76...more
The MAS is proposing to require financial institutions to clearly identify and delineate the responsibilities of senior management and of employees in material risk functions. The proposed "Guidelines on Individual...more
On 26 July 2017, the FCA published its much-anticipated consultation paper on the extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) to FCA-only authorised firms. We have set out below our initial thoughts on...more
Lawyers' notes of interviews with a bank's employees conducted as part of two investigations were not privileged since the employees were not the "client" and the notes were not lawyers' working papers, according to the...more
In this decision report we review the FCA’s action against Sonali Bank (UK) Ltd (Sonali Bank) and its money laundering reporting officer (MLRO), Steven Smith, in connection with failings identified in relation to Sonali...more
On 3 July 2016, the Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014/EU) (MAR) came into force. Even though guidance and clarity from the European Securities and Markets Authority is still awaited in relation to certain key aspects of MAR,...more