We are now starting to see a real shift in the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Enforcement strategy following a changing of the guard in 2023, which brought in Therese Chambers and Steve Smart to be Joint Executive...more
Fraud is the most common offence in the UK, amounting to 41% of all crime. On 26 October 2023, the UK’s long-awaited Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 20232 (the Act) received Royal Assent, setting out...more
2/17/2025
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Fraud ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
UK
Last month, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that it is considering new procedures under which it would publicly identify firms that are under investigation as soon as the investigation has been...more
4/1/2024
/ Cross-Border ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FSMA ,
Investigations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
UK ,
Willful Misconduct
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published its proposed approach to publishing information about the opening and progress of investigations.1 The proposals represent a marked departure from the FCA’s current practice...more
Key Points -
Following a joint Discussion Paper in 2021 issued by the FCA and the PRA, both regulators have now issued Consultation Papers proposing new rules and guidance in relation to diversity and inclusion in the...more
10/27/2023
/ Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Ethics ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Policy Statement ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rules of conduct ,
UK
Key Points -
-Following a joint Discussion Paper in 2021 issued by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), both regulators have now issued Consultation Papers proposing new...more
10/27/2023
/ Banking Sector ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rules of conduct ,
UK
Overview -
A survey conducted by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in early 2022, but published only in 2023, has revealed the stark reality that the regulator is not doing enough for whistleblowers. 15...more
No financial services firm or professional welcomes an investigation by a regulator, let alone enforcement action. Each investigation proceeds differently depending on the target of the investigation, the subject matter and...more
Key Points -
The UK’s prudential and banking regulator has published a Consultation Paper proposing changes to its enforcement policies and procedures. The consultation runs until 4 August 2023.
...more
In September 2021, following the London Capital & Finance ‘mini-bonds’ scandal, the Treasury Select Committee of the UK House of Commons asked for a more “proactive” Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that is “decisive” in its...more
Key Point -
The FCA is introducing a new Principle for Businesses, namely Principle 12: “A firm must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers.” Firms will need to assess and evidence how they are acting to...more
Key Points -
The SEC and the FCA each publish annual reports, which can offer a useful insight into their enforcement actions.
The data in the reports only represents a snapshot of the regulators’ activities, but is...more
On 7 April 2022 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released a three-year strategy for 2022-2025(the “Strategy”), setting out how the FCA aims to improve outcomes for UK consumers and markets. This was released alongside...more
The SFDR and the Taxonomy Regulation: Key Developments and What Firms Can Expect in the Coming Year -
Almost a year on from the date on which the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) came into...more
1/27/2022
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Discussion Draft ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Product Labels ,
SFDR ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
UK
Key Points -
The FCA is consulting on changing its internal decision-making process.
If the FCA’s proposals are made into final rules, certain decisions which are currently taken by the quasi-independent RDC will...more
Key Points -
The Upper Tribunal has issued the first ruling in relation to the FCA’s decision to sanction an individual following a conviction for a criminal offence which did not involve dishonesty.
The FCA had sought...more
Key Points -
The SEC and the FCA each publish annual reports on their enforcement actions.
Whilst enforcement data only shows a snapshot of the regulators’ activities, there is much to be learned from these reports,...more
On 3 April 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) (together the “Regulators”) issued statements regarding changes to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime for both dual...more
4/21/2020
/ Certifications ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Furloughs ,
Investment Firms ,
Notification Requirements ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Senior Managers ,
SMFs ,
UK
Welcome to the 2020 edition of In Principle. With the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU) on31 January 2020, and moving into a transition period which will last until 31 December 2020, Brexit of courselooms...more
1/30/2020
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Asset Management ,
Certifications ,
Climate Change ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EMIR ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Benchmark Regulation ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Firms ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Libor ,
Market Abuse ,
National Competent Authorities (NCA) ,
Personal Liability ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Senior Managers ,
SFTR ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Sustainability ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
The commencement date of 9 December 2019 for the extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) to solo-regulated firms is fast approaching. The SMCR will replace the existing Financial Conduct Authority...more
In the 2018 edition of this publication, we ended the introduction with the line, “We can only hope that we will enter 2019 with greater certainty than 2018 as to how the regulatory landscape will look.” Unfortunately,...more
1/31/2019
/ Amended Regulation ,
Asset Management ,
Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compensation Agreements ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
EMIR ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Infrastructure ,
Libor ,
Market Abuse ,
Market Infrastructure ,
Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs) ,
SMCR ,
Sustainability ,
UK Brexit
There is much for authorised firms to consider in the year ahead. Firms have been through the intensive period of the enactment of the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), but must now step up their...more
1/25/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appeals ,
Asset Management ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Banks ,
Code of Conduct ,
Compensation ,
Competition ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Data Subjects Rights ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EMIR ,
Encryption ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Internal Investigations ,
Investment Funds ,
Investors ,
Law Firm Ownership ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Market Abuse ,
MiFID II ,
Mobile Apps ,
New Legislation ,
Notification Requirements ,
Penalties ,
Performance Reviews ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Royal Bank of Scotland ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs) ,
SFO ,
SFTR ,
Short Selling ,
Skilled Laborers ,
SMCR ,
Technology Sector ,
Transparency ,
Trustees ,
UCITS ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
Wall Street
On 26 July 2017, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its much-anticipated Consultation Paper (CP 17/25) “Individual Accountability: Extending the Senior Managers & Certification Regime to all FCA firms.” The...more