In our recent alert “Properly Valuing Private Equity, Venture, Real Estate, and Other Private Market Assets: Some Pointers for UK and EU Managers”, we discussed the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) focus on fund...more
4/10/2025
/ AIFM ,
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Consultation ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Fund Managers ,
HM Treasury ,
Investment Funds ,
Private Funds ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
UK ,
Venture Capital
On 26 February 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a portfolio letter (Letter) explaining its supervision priorities for the asset management and alternatives portfolios....more
3/3/2025
/ Asset Management ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Funds ,
Know Your Customers ,
Market Abuse ,
Portfolio Companies ,
Private Equity ,
Private Funds ,
Risk Management ,
Supervision ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
Firm culture remains a key topic on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) radar this year. In a previous alert, we discussed the FCA’s proposals for all FCA-authorised firms to better integrate non-financial misconduct...more
In a previous alert, we identified that the definition of a collective investment scheme (CIS) could capture on-chain staking, and that the UK government, acting through the HM Treasury (HMT), was looking to clarify the...more
1/16/2025
/ Blockchain ,
Collective Investment Schemes ,
Compliance ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services and Markets Act ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK
On 14 November 2024, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her inaugural Mansion House 2024 speech, announcing a collection of reforms designed to drive growth and competitiveness in the financial services sector....more
11/21/2024
/ Economic Growth ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Fund Managers ,
MiFID II ,
Pensions ,
Private Funds ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Senior Management Regime (SMR) ,
Senior Managers ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Trading Platforms ,
UK
In our previous alert we mentioned a joint letter from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to the UK Government on their strategic approach to artificial intelligence (AI) and...more
11/6/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank of England ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stability Board ,
FinTech ,
Machine Learning ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
UK
Welcome to the third edition of our Horizon Scan for 2024: key recent and expected funds, regulatory and tax developments to look out for. As before, we focus on the most important developments and changes that we expect...more
11/1/2024
/ Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fund Managers ,
MiFID II ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Private Funds ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
For any UK fintech business involved with payments of electronic money (e-money) and any (experienced) investor in these businesses, safeguarding client funds is a key regulatory issue....more
10/2/2024
/ Annual Reports ,
Auditors ,
Compliance ,
Consultation ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Customers ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Investors ,
Lehman Brothers ,
Money Transfer ,
Payment Systems ,
UK
The publication by the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) on (a) 17 July 2024 of the second batch of implementing materials and (b) 26 July 2024 of the sub-contracting of information and...more
7/30/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Compliance ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Digital Services ,
EU ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) ,
Information Sharing ,
Regulation Technical Standards (RTS) ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
UK
In our previous alert, Paying for Buy-Side Investment Research: Will the FCA’s Third Way Ease the US-UK Divide?, we discussed the consultation issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on proposed rules on payment...more
7/30/2024
/ AIFM ,
Amended Rules ,
Broker-Dealer ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Listing Rules ,
MiFID II ,
No-Action Letters ,
Proposed Rules ,
Research Funding ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
The Pension Schemes Bill announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July builds on the UK Government’s drive to encourage defined contribution (DC) pension investment in long-term illiquid investments such as private equity,...more
With so much focus on the regulatory treatment (and mistreatment) of blockchain related businesses, the benefits of commercial legal certainty for choosing a country or territory as a home of choice for these businesses is...more
7/18/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
Business Entities ,
Corporate Governance ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Information Reports ,
Jurisdiction ,
Legal Entities ,
Nonprofits ,
Securities Tokens ,
Token Sales ,
UK ,
UK Companies Acts
Welcome to the second edition of our Horizon Scan for 2024: key recent and expected funds, regulatory, and tax developments to look out for. As before, we focus on the most important developments and changes that we expect to...more
5/24/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Cross-Border ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EU ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment Funds ,
Private Funds ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Transitional Arrangements ,
UK
On 10 April 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a Consultation Paper on payment optionality for investment research (CP24/7). CP24/7 followed the UK Investment Research Review, in which recommendations were...more
4/29/2024
/ AIFM ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Consultation ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Market Research ,
Proposed Rules ,
Research Funding ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK
In our previous alert The FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and Labelling Regime (SDR): A Flexible Regime for UK Private Fund Managers, we examined the final framework under policy statement PS23/16, on...more
4/26/2024
/ AIFs ,
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Climate Change ,
Consultation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Management ,
Portfolio Companies ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
UK
On 6 March 2024, following the Chancellor’s budget statement, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Order 2024 (SI 2024/301) (the March Amendment) was...more
Welcome to the first edition of our Horizon Scan for 2024: key recent and expected funds, regulatory and tax developments to look out for. As before, we focus on the most important developments and changes that we expect to...more
2/1/2024
/ Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Corporate Governance ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Germany ,
Green Finance ,
Greenwashing ,
Investment Funds ,
IOSCO ,
Long-Term Investment Funds ,
Open-Ended Fund Companies (OFCs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK ,
Venture Capital
On 7 December 2023, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a joint consultation paper titled ”CP26/23 - Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial...more
In our previous alert, The Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and Investment Labels Rules: Tougher ESG Standards for UK Private Fund Managers, we discussed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) October 2022 consultation...more
We wrote on the impact of changes to the financial promotion rules that came into effect earlier this year. On 7 November 2023, the UK Government published the proposed changes to the Financial Promotion Order 2005 (FPO). The...more
The Response and Stablecoins Update confirm the core of HMT’s policy proposals in the General Consultation and Stablecoin Consultation, respectively, although they shine further light on the features of the regulatory regime....more
In our previous alert, we discussed the emerging trends for regulating artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services and mentioned a joint paper published by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial...more
In our previous alert, we noted the speech made by Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which built on the points made in a joint paper published by the Bank of England (BoE) and FCA on artificial...more
10/12/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank of England ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Information Reports ,
Joint Statements ,
Machine Learning ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
UK
On 25 September, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its consultation paper CP23/20: Diversity and inclusion in the financial sector – working together to drive change alongside a similar consultation paper...more
As we have discussed previously (see ”First Reminder: Two Months Until New UK Crypto Marketing Rules Take Effect”), starting 8 October 2023, anyone — including a crypto issuer or business based outside the UK — who makes a...more