Podcast — UK FinReg Focus Areas in 2025: Wholesale Markets
Brexit & Financial Services: Preparing for the End of the Transition Period
This note discusses the European Banking Authority’s (EBA’s) report, published on July 23, 2025, which addresses whether and when EU non-bank entities should be allowed to deal with locally unregulated non-EU banks. In some...more
As part of the implementation of the European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) has announced its compliance with six sets of guidelines adopted by European Supervisory...more
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2024 report, along with a press release, on the quality and use of data, showcasing significant increase in data use by authorities. The report covers...more
Since December 2024, cryptoassets and related services are regulated in the European Union by the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Although the regulation provides a comprehensive set of rules for issuers of...more
Following the turn of the new year, our UK Regulatory specialists have examined the key regulatory developments in 2025 impacting a range of UK and European firms within the financial services sector. The key dates have been...more
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) establishes a harmonised and comprehensive framework for information and communication technology (ICT) risk management in the financial sector. It is a directly applicable EU...more
The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a consultation on amendments to the research provisions in the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive following changes introduced by the Listing Act....more
The Financial Action Taskforce has published a consultation paper on revisions to its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing standards relating to financial inclusion. The consultation is part of FATF's program...more
The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Securities and Markets Authority have published a joint statement on the next steps to support the preparations towards a transition to T+1. Under the EU...more
Many governments are grappling with the question of how to regulate artificial intelligence to ensure it is adopted safely and used responsibly without hampering innovation. Governments have generally indicated similar...more
The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a public statement on the transition to the new regime for post-trade transparency of OTC-transactions in light of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments...more
This client memorandum concerns a highly technical point of considerable practical importance. It challenges aspects of the received wisdom that, for post-Brexit cross-border investment business conducted from the U.K....more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has opened a consultation setting out proposals for allowing firms to use joint (bundled) payments for third-party research and execution services, subject to certain requirements being...more
In July 2021, HM Treasury published the Wholesale Markets Review consultation (WMR), which included proposals to reform the U.K.’s secondary markets framework. There was broad support for reforms to (a) modify the ancillary...more
The report and recommendations of the UK Investment Research Review were published on July 10, 2023. The recommendations have been accepted by the government and the Financial Conduct Authority has committed to prioritizing...more
In July 2023, the Investment Research Review (the Review) commissioned by the UK government published its findings into investment research in UK capital markets. The Review made the following seven recommendations, seeking...more
The issue of how firms should pay for investment research continues to be a controversial topic in the financial markets. The U.S. has maintained the approach it adopted before the mid-2000s, which is to permit investment...more
The EU has published in the Official Journal of the European Union its Regulation on a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology. The pilot regime will permit certain DLT market...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
MiFID II introduced obligations to record telephone conversations and any electronic communications that are intended to lead to a transaction. Records must be kept for at least five years. The COVID-19 pandemic, which...more
29 September - The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published its perimeter report 2019/20, which provides an update on the issues raised in its 2018/19 report. A European Commission notice (2020/C 321/01) relating...more
Following its consultation earlier this year, the European Securities and Markets Authority has published a report on the development of prices for market data and on the consolidated tape for equity. The report is the first...more
On 23 July 2019, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter on its wealth management and stockbroking supervision strategy, which began in April 2019. The strategy includes work to identify, diagnose, and remedy the harm that wealth...more
The FCA and the PRA published their Business Plans for 2019/20 in April 2019. FCA Priorities - As expected, with Brexit remaining a key focus, there are few new initiatives for this year. The FCA’s Business Plan sets...more
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS - The New European Parliament: More Fragmentation, Ad Hoc Coalitions, And Greener Policies? The results of the May 2019 European Parliament (“EP”) elections resulted in a more complex European...more