An EU Commission Delegated Regulation (2021/2268) amending the Regulatory Technical Standards supplementing the EU Packaged Retail Investment and Insurance-based Products Regulation has been published in the Official Journal...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed that the use of certain synthetic sterling and yen LIBOR settings will be permitted until the end of 2022 for legacy LIBOR-referencing contracts, other than cleared...more
European Commissioner McGuinness has announced that in early 2022 the European Commission will be proposing an extension of the time-limited equivalence granted to U.K. CCPs...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a policy statement setting out its new approach to issuing statutory notices, which will take effect from November 26, 2021. The FCA publishes statutory notices when...more
The Law Commission has concluded that the existing law of England and Wales can accommodate smart contracts and there is no need for legislative reform. It has published advice to the U.K. Government and a separate summary of...more
The Bank of England has written to the CEOs of all regulated U.K. financial market infrastructures notifying them that they are no longer expected to discuss prospective shareholder distributions with the BoE....more
The Bank of England and HM Treasury have announced the next steps in the development of a U.K. Central Bank Digital Currency. These include the following...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published an environmental, social and governance strategy to support the financial sector in the transition to a "net zero", more sustainable and more inclusive economy....more
The U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has announced the U.K. Government's plans to make the U.K. the world's first net zero financial centre. Under the plans, U.K. financial institutions will need to have robust...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a discussion paper on its proposed Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and sustainable investment labels. The FCA is seeking initial views on these proposals with the...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
In this newsletter, we provide a snapshot of the principal European, U.S., U.K. and selected international governance and securities law developments of interest to European corporates.
...more
On 26 June 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the “Act”) introduced the biggest reforms in a generation of U.K. insolvency law. It also implemented several temporary changes to both insolvency and company...more
COVID-19 has acted as an accelerator, bringing into play scenarios which were previously only contingencies and making contingencies of (and requiring planning for) situations which were previously barely imaginable. The debt...more
The English High Court has recently handed down a long-awaited judgment concerning a claim for damages against a provider of Self Invested Personal Pension schemes (“SIPPs”)....more
The U.K. Government has announced a £1.25 billion funding package for high-growth businesses driving innovation and development in the U.K. The package will be launched in May, with some payments expected to be made by...more
On 28 March 2020, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced key measures to protect companies and businesses facing major funding and operational difficulties in the current COVID-19...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
The FCA has published a series of measures and regulatory guidance on how financial services firms should deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In our previous client notes, “Planning in a Time of Pandemic:...more
4/1/2020
/ Banking Sector ,
Consultation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Planning ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Payment Systems ,
Relief Measures ,
Short Sales ,
telephone-recording ,
UK ,
UK Payment Systems Regulator
This is the first edition of U.K. Business Crime Review— an annual publication focused on the outcomes, trends and developments over the past 12 months that are likely to be of interest to businesses operating in the United...more
EU DEVELOPMENTS -
Corporate and Capital Markets -
Institutional Investment: ESMA Report on Undue Short-Term Pressure on Corporations (Corporate Aspects) -
On 18 December 2019, the European Securities and Markets...more
1/22/2020
/ Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Prospectus ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
Venture Capital
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
U.K. revisions to its anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regime come into force on 10 January 2020.
The U.K.’s revisions implement the European Union’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, commonly...more
1/10/2020
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptoassets ,
FATF ,
Financial Action Task Force ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
HM Treasury ,
Private Sector ,
Risk Assessment ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
Yesterday, the EU and U.K. in principle agreed new terms for the withdrawal agreement giving effect to the U.K.’s exit from the European Union. These include a revised political declaration and protocol concerning Northern...more
10/18/2019
/ Bilateral Agreements ,
EU ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
New Regulations ,
Northern Ireland ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Value-Added Tax (VAT) ,
Withdrawal Agreement
SOFR – the secured overnight funding rate in USD – is a rate published by the New York federal reserve based upon secured overnight transactions in the repo market. It is of increasing importance, since it has been regarded...more