On 12 September 2024, the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published the second of two nearly final policy statements (PS9/24) on the implementation of revisions to the Basel 3 standards, known in the UK as Basel 3.1....more
On 21 August 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Thematic Review TR24/2 (Review), as part of its on-going scrutiny of the general insurance sector, focusing on pricing and value for money provided by...more
As the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) consider feedback to their consultation on guidance regarding the UK change-in-controller regime (consultation paper 25/23), we provide a...more
9/9/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Corporate Governance ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Investment Management ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK
Solvency II is organised around three core pillars of prudential regulation, which ensure the safety and soundness of (re)insurers, in line with the scale, nature and complexity of their business:
- Pillar One focuses on...more
9/4/2024
/ Capital Requirements ,
EIOPA ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Insurance Industry ,
ORSA ,
Outsourcing ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
SMCR ,
Solvency II ,
UK
On 7 August 2024, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published an update regarding its ongoing assessment of crypto firms’ adherence to the cryptoasset financial promotions rules introduced in October 2023. See our 23...more
On 17 July 2024, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) finalized revisions to the prudential framework for banks’ exposures to cryptoassets. The revisions largely introduced additional requirements relating to the...more
On 30 July 2024, the Bank of England published a discussion paper on its approach to innovation in money and payments (the Discussion Paper). A recurring theme is the Bank of England’s focus on the potential use of...more
As implementation of the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) approaches, financial market participants and their technology service providers (both in and out of Europe) face a critical compliance deadline. The new...more
7/19/2024
/ BaFin ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology Sector ,
UK
The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) recently delivered a series of speeches1 raising their concerns about the evolution of private equity financing and the...more
5/29/2024
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Bank of England ,
Capital Markets ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Policy Committee ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Private Equity ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Management ,
UK
On 22 April 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Bank of England published their strategic approaches to regulating AI in response to the UK government’s July 2022 AI...more
5/3/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Popular ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology ,
UK
In July 2023, the UK government published its findings from the Investment Research Review (Review) as part of the UK government’s Edinburgh Reforms. The Review made a number of recommendations to encourage research...more
Authorised push payment (APP) fraud in the UK is the largest type of payment fraud, both in number of scams and value of losses. It involves a fraudster convincing someone to send a payment to a bank account that the...more
4/4/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fraud ,
Payment Processors ,
Payment Systems ,
Reimbursements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
UK
As discussed in our previous updates, in June 2020 the UK government announced a wide-ranging review of the Solvency II framework in the UK, aimed at reforming the insurance regulatory framework inherited from the EU given...more
3/14/2024
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
EU ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Services and Markets Act ,
Insurance Industry ,
Jurisdictional Thresholds ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Reinsurance ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Solvency II ,
UK ,
Underwriting
In this alert we consider various reforms and proposals to the banking sector announced by UK regulators.
On 11 January 2024, HM Treasury published a consultation paper on enhancing the UK’s Special Resolution Regime for...more
(Re)insurance is a global business. It is common for (re)insurance groups to operate in a range of jurisdictions via:
i. locally incorporated and authorised subsidiaries,
ii. local branches of third country...more
On 12 December 2023, the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published the first of two near-final policy statements on the implementation of revisions to the Basel 3 standards, known in the U.K. as Basel 3.1. This...more
1/18/2024
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Basel III ,
Capital Markets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Pillar 2 ,
Proposed Rules ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Management ,
UK
Own funds is the Solvency II term for the items that constitute a (re)insurer’s regulatory capital. These are principally balance sheet items, with limited allowance for off-balance sheet items.
Own funds are items that...more
On 6 November 2023, the Bank of England (the UK’s central bank) issued a discussion paper on the regulation on stablecoins, alongside another paper by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (DP23/4) and a “Dear CEO” letter...more
On 30 October 2023, the HM Treasury (HMT) published its much-anticipated response (Consultation Response) to its March 2023 consultation paper (Consultation) on the UK’s future financial services regime for cryptoassets....more
11/10/2023
/ Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HM Treasury ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK
The landscape of cryptoasset regulation in the UK entered a new phase in October 2023 with the extension to cryptoassets of marketing restrictions for financial products and services. In particular, crypto firms based outside...more
"The Standard Formula” host Robert Chaplin introduced the first in the podcast’s Back to Basics series, which will dissect the entirety of the Solvency II regime. In the series’ inaugural episode, Rob is joined by associate...more
As discussed in our November 2022 and July 2023 newsletters, the UK government is implementing a comprehensive set of proposals for regulation of financial services in the UK, including for insurers. This follows the UK’s...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
8/1/2023
/ Capital Markets ,
Equity Markets ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investors ,
Listing Rules ,
MiFID II ,
Retail Market ,
UK
Nearly two decades after the enactment of SOX, which was precipitated by several high-profile corporate and accounting scandals in the US during the late 1990s and early 2000s, UK and European regulators are grappling with a...more
7/19/2023
/ Capital Markets ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Financing Rule ,
Corporate Fraud ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Transparency ,
UK
On 28 June 2023, the European Commission (EC) published its proposals for both a revised Payment Services Directive (PSD3) and a new accompanying Payment Services Regulation (EU PSR). This package of reforms addresses certain...more