On 29 April 2025, HM Treasury published near-final draft legislation establishing a financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets in the UK, along with a policy note explaining the intended policy outcomes of the...more
On 8 January 2025, the UK’s HM Treasury issued a statutory instrument amending the scope of “collective investment schemes” (the Amendment) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Collective Investment Schemes)...more
As part of the UK government’s drive to develop legislation for a UK regulatory regime to govern the cryptoassets sector, on 16 December 2024 the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Discussion Paper DP24/4, which...more
12/23/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Promotions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Market Abuse ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK
In her first comments since the July 2024 UK general election, Economic Secretary to the UK Treasury Tulip Siddiq MP delivered a speech at the Tokenisation Summit on 21 November 2024 that outlined the recently elected UK...more
12/4/2024
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Stablecoins ,
UK
In the UK, 14 million people used “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) at least once in the six months leading up to January 2023. Frequent users were more than four times as likely as other consumers to have missed a payment on a...more
11/5/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
HM Treasury ,
HMRC ,
Lenders ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) ,
UK
As the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) consider feedback to their consultation on guidance regarding the UK change-in-controller regime (consultation paper 25/23), we provide a...more
9/9/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Corporate Governance ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Investment Management ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK
On 30 July 2024, the Bank of England published a discussion paper on its approach to innovation in money and payments (the Discussion Paper). A recurring theme is the Bank of England’s focus on the potential use of...more
Explore the unique considerations for mergers and acquisitions in the AI sector, the return of IPOs, the implications of new Supreme Court decisions and other developments in this edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights....more
6/27/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Executive Compensation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Technology
In April 2024, the UK government reiterated its vision for open finance, with UK Economic Secretary Bim Afolami (MP) announcing the creation of the Open Finance Taskforce at the 2024 Innovate Finance Global Summit. The...more
4/30/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
HMRC ,
Payment Systems ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
UK
The oversight obligations of boards continue to expand. Recent enforcement actions and new laws in areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and supply chains create new challenges for boards, as we explain in this...more
2/19/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Activist ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Board of Directors ,
Canada ,
China ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forced Labor ,
Germany ,
International Labor Laws ,
Life Sciences ,
Machine Learning ,
Manufacturers ,
Mergers ,
NGOs ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Contributions ,
Political Conventions ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholders ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
Following the declaration of the international artificial intelligence (AI) “Safety Summit” at Bletchley Park (Bletchley Summit) on November 1, 2023, and the White House’s October 30, 2023, Executive Order on AI (Executive...more
12/13/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank of England ,
Banking Sector ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Machine Learning ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK
On 24 November 2023, the industry-led Technology Working Group of HM Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce (Group) released an interim report (Report) outlining a strategic blueprint for the implementation of fund...more
12/5/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
Innovative Technology ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology ,
Tokenization ,
UK
On 30 October 2023, the HM Treasury (HMT) published its much-anticipated response (Consultation Response) to its March 2023 consultation paper (Consultation) on the UK’s future financial services regime for cryptoassets....more
11/10/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK
In a speech at the Investment Association’s Annual Dinner on 11 October 2023, Ashley Alder, chair of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), expanded upon the FCA’s discussion paper, “Updating and Improving the UK Regime...more
The landscape of cryptoasset regulation in the UK entered a new phase in October 2023 with the extension to cryptoassets of marketing restrictions for financial products and services. In particular, crypto firms based outside...more
As predicted in our February 1, 2023, client alert, “ESG in 2022 and Predictions for 2023,” a global economic slowdown and ongoing backlash in the U.S. have slowed the momentum of some aspects of the environmental, social and...more
7/18/2023
/ Activist Investors ,
Biodiversity ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Reporting ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Green Energy ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Remuneration ,
Sustainability ,
UK
On 7 June 2023, the UK Parliament passed the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023, which brings cryptoassets within the scope of rules that regulate the marketing of financial...more
On 1 February 2023, the U.K. Treasury launched a consultation and call for evidence on a series of proposals for the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets. The proposals mark the next stage of the...more
The pandemic’s impact may be subsiding, but businesses are encountering new challenges across the globe, including the potential for an economic retrenchment, rising interest rates, shifting regulatory and litigation...more
12/14/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Antitrust Division ,
Banking Sector ,
Big Tech ,
Board of Directors ,
Bonds ,
Borrowers ,
Capital Markets ,
Capital Raising ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Convertible Notes ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Executive Compensation ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forum Selection ,
Investigations ,
IRS ,
Lenders ,
Mergers ,
Money Laundering ,
Partnerships ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Recessions ,
Repurchases ,
Russia ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Taxation ,
Technology ,
UK ,
Vertical Mergers
The UK government has confirmed its plans for the regulation of interest-free buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) arrangements following a consultation launched in October 2021. The proposed rules are set out in the government’s...more
The UK government has unveiled its plans to position the UK as a leading global hub for cryptocurrencies and fintech.
John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury set out detailed proposals to support the development...more
Takeaways -
The Bank for International Settlements and seven central banks are studying how to launch CBDCs and have flagged key issues that will need to be addressed, including interoperability and confidentiality.
In...more
On 21 October 2021, the UK Treasury (Treasury) published a consultation paper setting out policy options for the regulation of “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) credit agreements. The consultation follows the publication of...more
The highly anticipated Kalifa Review of UK Fintech (the Review), led by former Worldpay CEO Ron Kalifa, was published on 26 February 2021. Its 106 pages — made up of a five-point plan of key recommendations and 15...more
3/11/2021
/ Cryptoassets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Listing Rules ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Startups ,
UK ,
Venture Capital ,
Venture Funding
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) provides for preferential arrangements in certain areas of trade between the EU and the UK, mainly in goods and continued access to related services such as transport and logistics....more