The European Commission has published two consultation papers that seek views on the fundamental features and effectiveness of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The purpose of both the targeted and the...more
On 7 September 2023, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) set expectations ahead of its new financial promotion rules for cryptoassets (which we wrote about here).
From 8 October 2023, new rules for...more
Both opportunities and challenges have arisen for the asset management industry as a result of the rapid introduction of UK and EU sustainable finance regulation in recent years. The new requirements have been heightened in...more
9/12/2023
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Asset Management ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
MiFID ,
New Regulations ,
SFDR ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
Taxonomy ,
UK
Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation....more
9/7/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
Commission Delegated Regulation ,
Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure (CPMI) ,
Cryptoassets ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Central Bank ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FSMA ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Firms ,
IOSCO ,
Money Market Funds ,
New Regulations ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation Technical Standards (RTS) ,
UK
In its February 2023 discussion paper (DP23/2) relating to the UK regulatory regime for asset management, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) briefly touched on fund tokenisation as an area of technological drive and...more
31 July -
ESG: The European Commission adopted a Commission Delegated Regulation, setting out the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS”), together with a Q&A (see press release). The ESRS specify...more
8/10/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Capital Requirements ,
Cryptoassets ,
EMIR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FSMA ,
Investment Firms ,
Libor ,
Liquidity ,
Marketing ,
MiFID II ,
Money Market Funds ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Risk Management ,
UK
Background On 12 July 2023 Nikhil Rathi, the CEO of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), delivered a speech on the FCA’s regulatory approach to Big Tech and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”)....more
On 6 June 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published the findings of its review of liquidity management in asset managers (the “Review”). The FCA also published an accompanying “Dear CEO” letter (the...more
MiFIR / MiFID II: The European Parliament published a press release announcing it has reached provisional political agreement with the Council of the EU on the proposed amendments to the Markets in Financial Instruments...more
7/5/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
Cryptoassets ,
CSDR ,
EMIR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
European Parliament ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Exit Planning ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Handbooks ,
Investment Firms ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
SFTR ,
Transparency ,
UCITS ,
UK
Background On 29 June 2023, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a letter on the findings of its review of the sustainability-linked loans (“SLL”) market. SLLs aim to support sustainable economic activity...more
We are 800+ lawyers serving clients from offices located in the leading financial and business centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The world’s leading organizations, companies and corporations choose us to be their...more
On November 4, 2022, compliance with amended Rule 206(4)-1 (the “Marketing Rule”) became mandatory for all investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Seven months since the...more
Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation....more
6/6/2023
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
AML/CFT ,
Cryptoassets ,
ELTIF ,
ESRB ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Libor ,
MiFID II ,
Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPS) ,
Risk Management ,
SFDR ,
UCITS
Recent enforcement actions highlight the increased regulatory scrutiny that private funds may face with respect to internal cybersecurity protocols and responses to cyber-crimes and cyber incidents under new and updated...more
5/23/2023
/ Coinbase ,
Compliance ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Private Funds ,
Robinhood Financial ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation.
Key developments in April 2023:
28 April FCA Handbook: The Financial Conduct...more
5/22/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Asset Management ,
Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) ,
Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) ,
CRD IV Directive ,
Cryptoassets ,
CSDR ,
Digital Assets ,
EMIR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinTech ,
Illiquid Assets ,
Libor ,
UK
As IPOs and other traditional paths to liquidity for private assets have become more challenging, GP-led secondary transactions have emerged as a powerful and popular tool across closed-end private funds, leading to explosive...more
Go to any private equity event in the last 12 months, and “energy transition” will have been discussed, meaning the shift in energy production away from fossil‑based systems to low or zero carbon ones. As fund managers...more
5/10/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Liquidity ,
Risk Alert ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SFDR ,
Taxonomy
It’s a pattern we often see in boom-and-bust cycles—disputes rising in the period after a wave crests. SPAC deal volume hit an unprecedented high in 2021, but then slowed down in 2022 alongside IPOs. However, the fallout from...more
The SEC’s Enforcement Division is conducting a sweep investigation of large investment advisers regarding their employees’ use of “off-channel” communications. The sweep, which has been widely reported in the press, focuses...more
4/25/2023
/ Asset Management ,
Breach of Duty ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investigations ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Private Funds ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Implications of SEC attempt to curb indemnification for private fund managers -
The SEC spent 2022 making multiple and sweeping proposals to amend rules under the Advisers Act, many of which have the ability to...more
Amid rising interest rates, tightening credit markets, geopolitical concerns in Europe and Asia, stubborn inflation and continuing supply chain issues, there is a growing sense of economic uncertainty. This uncertainty will...more
31 March -
SFTR: The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published an updated version of its Q&As (ESMA74-362-893) on complying with reporting requirements under the Regulation on reporting and transparency...more
4/10/2023
/ Amended Regulation ,
AML/CFT ,
Banking Sector ,
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
Capital Markets ,
Cryptoassets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
EMIR ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
EU Benchmark Regulation ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
MiFIR ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Short Selling ,
UK
Crypto firm bankruptcies and resulting disruption in the crypto ecosystem will continue to exacerbate liquidity and regulatory concerns in this space. Signs of contagion are evident as prices of almost every cryptocurrency...more
Everything, everywhere, all at once is our risk thesis for 2023, but one must not forget about concentration risk. This issue has rocketed up diligence agendas for LPs and GPs alike as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank...more
On 29 March 2023, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) announced a delay to the upcoming policy statement on Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR”) and investment labels....more