Following the Edinburgh Reforms announcement in December 2022, the review of the Senior Managers and Certification regime has been kicked off with HM Treasury publishing a call for evidence and the U.K. Financial Conduct...more
On February 2, 2023, the European Securities and Markets Authority published a final report and an Opinion on the trading venue perimeter. The Opinion clarifies the definition of multilateral systems under the EU’s revised...more
The U.K. government has published a draft statutory instrument (and related explanatory memorandum), which will be known as the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Commodity Derivatives and Emission Allowances) Order...more
The issue of how investment research should be paid for by investors is controversial, long-standing and seemingly perennially the subject of legislative iterations, failure and unintended consequence and more reform. Before...more
The U.K. government has published its much-anticipated proposals for regulating the cryptoasset industry. These proposals, currently in the form of a consultation, will see many (but not all) cryptoasset-related activities...more
The Bank of England has published a joint consultation paper with HM Treasury on the possibility of a digital pound in the U.K. It is envisaged that the digital pound would be a retail central bank digital currency, to be...more
A detailed set of amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB) were tabled by Lord Lilley on 23 January 2023, promoting enhanced accountability for the U.K.’s financial regulators.[1] These comprise the result...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 Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has recently published new financial services amending regulations and various amended rulebook modules. These wide-ranging measures update ADGM’s rules on environmental matters, virtual...more
10/20/2022
/ Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) ,
Capital Markets ,
Commodities ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Services Authority ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Money Services Business ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Venture Capital
The U.K. Government has published the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, known as the Brexit Freedoms Bill, which aims to repeal or assimilate retained EU law and abolish the principle of the supremacy of EU law in...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published its final rules and guidance for the new Consumer Duty, which is intended to establish clearer standards for consumer protection across the financial services industry. The...more
The Financial Stability Board has issued a statement on international regulation and supervision of crypto-asset activities. The statement is made in light of the crypto-asset market turmoil. The statement warns crypto-asset...more
9/19/2022
/ Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stability Board ,
FinTech ,
Payment Services Directive ,
Payment Systems ,
UK
The European Securities and Markets Authority has opened a consultation on proposals to amend the EU clearing and trading derivative obligations to reflect recent benchmark transitions from LIBOR to so-called risk-free rates....more
HM Treasury has announced the appointment of Ashley Alder as Chair of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. Mr Alder will succeed interim chair Richard Lloyd, who has served as interim Chair since Charles Randell stepped down...more
The Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority (together, the supervisory authorities) have published a discussion paper proposing measures to supervise and enhance the resilience of...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has issued a warning to Buy Now Pay Later firms about financial promotions that potentially breach the FCA's rules. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 prohibits the communication...more
Following the introduction of a regulatory framework for a new type of authorized open-ended fund called the long-term asset fund, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has opened a consultation on extending the LTAF to more...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 U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement and final rules on improvements to the Appointed Representatives regime. The AR regime allows authorized firms to appoint representatives to conduct...more
HM Treasury has opened a consultation on payments regulation and the systemic perimeter. The consultation arose out of the Payments Landscape Review and the government’s commitment to consult on bringing systemically...more
HM Treasury has launched an inquiry into the role of crypto-assets in the U.K. and their regulatory framework. The inquiry poses questions on a range of subjects, including the likelihood of digital currencies (e.g.,...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 House of Commons Treasury Committee has published a report on the Future of Financial Services Regulation setting out its view on the priorities for regulatory change in the U.K. now that the U.K. has left the EU. The...more