On 30 June 2022, the European Council (Council) and the European Parliament (Parliament), announced that they had reached a provisional agreement on the proposal for regulation on markets in cryptoassets (MiCA), which covers...more
7/15/2022
/ Asset Management ,
Blockchain ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptoassets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Investor Protection ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Stablecoins ,
Token Sales
As set out in our earlier OnPoint, “Is Brexit Green?”, the UK has adopted a different approach to regulating ESG in the asset management sector compared to the EU by not “on-shoring” the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure...more
4/4/2022
/ Asset Management ,
Climate Change ,
Consultation Papers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Management ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SFDR ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) ,
UK
As set out in our earlier OnPoint “Is Brexit Green?”1, the UK has adopted a different approach to ESG compared to the EU, by not “on-shoring” the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) and focussing...more
Amid the uncertainty brought about by the end of the Brexit transition period and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, firms should be aware that the FCA will retain an active approach to financial crime and regulatory enforcement...more
2/16/2021
/ Asset Management ,
BSA/AML ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Markets ,
Market Abuse ,
Senior Managers ,
Short Selling ,
UK
Tackling climate change is not a new initiative in the UK. Indeed, the UK was one of the first countries worldwide to endorse the recommendations of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) – aimed at...more
12/3/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Statements ,
Green Finance ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
MiFID II – ESMA issues statement regarding the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the impact of the "share trading" obligation under Article 23 of MiFIR -
ESMA issued a statement on 19 March 2019 regarding the impact of Brexit...more
4/17/2019
/ Asset Management ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
EU Benchmark Regulation ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Investment Funds ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Trade Repositories
AIFMD – ESMA issues draft guidelines on liquidity stress testing in UCITS and AIFs -
On February 5, ESMA issued a consultation paper on issuing liquidity stress test guidance for investment funds. The draft guidelines aim...more
3/18/2019
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Asset Management ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Investment Funds ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Transparency ,
UK Brexit
MiFID II – updated Q&As on MiFID II and MiFIR transparency topics and obligations on disclosure of information to clients in the context of Brexit -
ESMA updated its Q&As on 4 January on MiFID II and MiFIR transparency...more
2/12/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Asset Management ,
Cryptoassets ,
Derivatives ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU MAR) ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
International Regulatory Standards ,
Investment Funds ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
RegTech ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
MiFID II – updated Q&A on market structures and transparency and supervisory briefing -
ESMA updated its Q&As on market structures and transparency topics on 14 November. The new Q&As provide clarification on the following...more
AIFMD – updated ESMA Q&A -
ESMA published updated Q&As on the application of the AIFMD on October 4. ESMA has added a new Q&A clarifying the application of the AIFMD notification requirements with regard to AIFMs managing...more
11/16/2018
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Asset Management ,
Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Intermediaries ,
Investment Funds ,
Investor Protection ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
Transparency ,
UCITS ,
UK Brexit
AIFMD – further memoranda of understanding ("MoUs") signed -
On 11 September, ESMA updated its table of MoUs signed by the EU authorities. Croatia and Slovenia have still to sign an MoU....more
AIFMD - ESMA updates AIFMD Memoranda of Understanding ("MoUs") -
ESMA updated its list of MoUs on 17 July 2018, singed the EU regulatory authorities (17 July 2018) – Croatia and Slovenia are still to sign MoUs....more
8/10/2018
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Asset Management ,
CFD Trading ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Investment Funds ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
Pension Schemes ,
UK Brexit
MIFID II – end of “no LEI” exemption for transaction reporting; ESMA takes stock of MiFID II achievements -
ESMA confirmed on 20 June that the current exemption from using Legal Entity Identifiers for certain transactions...more
7/12/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Asset Management ,
CCPs ,
CFD Trading ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Investment Funds ,
Legal Entity Identifiers ,
MiFID II ,
Money Market Funds ,
Reporting Requirements ,
UCITS
European Commission Publishes Legislative Proposals on Sustainable Finance Which Impacts Asset Managers
The EU Commission presented a package of measures on 24 May 2018, as a follow-up to its action plan on financing...more
6/13/2018
/ Asset Management ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
EU Benchmark Regulation ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Institutional Investors ,
Investment Funds ,
Investor Protection ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
Popular ,
Short Selling ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UCITS
MIFID II – EMSA updates Q&As on commodity derivatives topics and asks European Commission to clarify “ancillary activity” test under MiFID II -
ESMA updated its Q&As on 27 March 2018 on commodity derivatives topics...more
5/16/2018
/ Asset Management ,
CFD Trading ,
Clearing Agencies ,
Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Investment Funds ,
MiFID II ,
MiFIR ,
Retail Investors
AIFMD - Updated MoUs -
ESMA updated its table of EEA regulators on 15 March with who has signed MoUs with non-EEA regulators, for the purposes of cross-border marketing of AIFs. Slovenia and Croatia are still to sign up...more
4/9/2018
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
Asset Management ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EMIR ,
EU ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Investment Funds ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Pension Funds ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Risk Mitigation ,
UCITS
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published proposed rules to extend the senior manager & certification regime (SMCR) to all financial services firms....more