The ESAs urge the European Commission to consider a labelling rather than a disclosure regime to help consumers understand the sustainability goals of financial products....more
6/27/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Labeling ,
Marketing ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices
The Sexism in the City report highlights key issues affecting women in financial services and sets out a number of recommendations to address them.
On 8 March 2024, the House of Commons Treasury Committee published its...more
3/15/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Policies ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Information Reports ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Sexual Harassment ,
UK
The changes will significantly modernise the regime and enhance consumer protections.
The EU has adopted a new Consumer Credit Directive, known as CCD2, which repeals and replaces the existing EU consumer credit regime...more
The proposal would substantially reduce the number of benchmarks in scope of the EU BMR.
On 17 October 2023, the European Commission published a legislative proposal that would significantly alter the benchmarks in scope...more
Government plans to add more flexibility to the regime, but its long-term future remains undecided.
On 28 September 2023, HM Treasury published further papers in relation to the planned reform of the UK bank ring-fencing...more
The consultation sets out four potential models for reform, and also considers reform to sanctions supervision.
On 30 June 2023, HM Treasury published a consultation on reforms to anti-money laundering (AML) and...more
With the implementation deadline looming, the FCA has set out some additional guidance for firms.
With one month to go until the Consumer Duty (Duty) implementation deadline of 31 July 2023 (for new and existing products...more
The spring of 2023 saw more dislocation in the global financial sector than any time since the 2008-09 financial crisis. In the US, banking institutions with over $500 billion in total assets failed, and other banks that were...more
6/5/2023
/ Banking Crisis ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Requirements ,
Deposit Insurance ,
EU ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Global Economy ,
Liquidity ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
UK
Discussion Paper opens debate on potential new rules to improve diversity in financial services.
On 7 July 2021, the FCA, the PRA, and the Bank of England published a joint Discussion Paper on diversity and inclusion in...more
7/8/2021
/ Bank of England ,
Banking Sector ,
Comment Period ,
Consultation ,
Discussion Draft ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
UK
The latest edition of our Private Bank Briefing provides a roundup of legal and compliance issues impacting private banks and their clients from Q2 2021.
In this edition, we cover sustainable finance developments, the...more
6/29/2021
/ Asset Protection ,
Banking Sector ,
Climate Change ,
Consultation ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Dear CEO Letter ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinTech ,
Libor ,
MiFID ,
Outsourcing ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retail Investors ,
Sustainable Finance ,
UK
A report from the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform provides recommendations for how the UK can “re-imagine” its approach to regulation post-Brexit.
On 16 June 2021, the Taskforce on Innovation,...more
6/17/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Counterparties ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Information Reports ,
MiFID II ,
Open Banking ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Retail Banks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The regulator is taking immediate supervisory and policy measures to help support banks, insurers, and financial market infrastructures.
The Bank of England and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have announced a...more
Financial services regulators have been particularly vocal in the last 12 months, specifically about the impact on the financial services sector as the world experiences, and attempts to respond to, climate change.
Mark...more
UK Treasury Committee report warns that the current level and frequency of disruption and consumer harm is unacceptable.
On 28 October 2019, the Treasury Committee published a report on IT failures in the financial...more
10/30/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Corporate Communications ,
Corporate Management ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
Information Reports ,
Information Technology ,
Outsourcing ,
Risk Management ,
SMCR ,
UK
Consultation provides chance for industry to comment on which elements of the regime are working well and where change is needed.
Key Points:
..ESMA is seeking industry views on various aspects of MAR and whether they...more
10/11/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
Comment Period ,
Competition ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insider Information ,
New Guidance
All firms should take note of the FCA’s latest feedback on SMCR implementation.
In its latest piece of feedback on firms’ implementation of the SMCR, the FCA indicated that firms must improve their implementation of the...more
8/5/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Code of Conduct ,
Compliance ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Industry Examinations ,
Insurance Industry ,
Risk Assessment ,
Senior Managers ,
SMCR ,
UK
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
6/27/2019
/ Banking Sector ,
Binary Options ,
Compliance ,
Duty of Care ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
IOSCO ,
MiFID II ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Power of Attorney ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
On 23 January 2019, the FCA published a Consultation Paper (CP19/4) concerning further amendments to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR). For private banks which are already subject to the SMCR, the...more
4/2/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Consultation ,
Cryptoassets ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
MiFID II ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
SMCR ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The FCA has announced that it plans to consult further on the scope of the Client Dealing Function under the SMCR.
Key Points:
..The FCA acknowledges that the scope of the Client Dealing Function needs to be clarified,...more
Examples of good and poor practices provide helpful guidance, and a reminder of supervisory expectations.
The FCA has published TR18/3, setting out the findings from its thematic review of the anti-money laundering (AML)...more
The FCA published a Discussion Paper on a duty of care and potential alternative approaches (DP18/5) on 17 July 2018.
The FCA is exploring whether there should be a duty of care in the financial services sector. It is...more
The FCA has outlined its approach to implementing key standards under the revised Payment Services Directive.
The FCA has published a statement on its website relating to the European Banking Authority’s (EBA’s) Opinion...more
The FCA’s Business Plan for 2018/19, published on 9 April 2018, outlined key priorities for the upcoming year. Although the Business Plan revealed that the FCA’s Brexit-related workload will mean a dearth of new initiatives,...more
6/26/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
Compliance ,
Cryptocurrency ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
MiFID II ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Robo-Advisors ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
UK
On 23 February 2018, the FCA published a Policy Statement with new perimeter guidance on what amounts to a personal recommendation in relation to advising on retail investments. The guidance came into effect on the same...more
The Strategy emphasises the UK government’s continued push to create a world-leading FinTech sector.
At the second International Fintech Conference held on 22 March 2018, Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer,...more