On 4 June 2020, Megan Butler, Executive Director of Supervision – Investment, Wholesale and Specialists at the FCA, delivered a speech on the FCA’s response to Covid-19 and expectations for 2020. Addressing a virtual audience at PIMFA’s Virtual Festival, Ms Butler explored the FCA’s priorities and longer-term expectations, in particular for the wealth management and advice industry. This briefing considers the key points from the speech. Read more
Welcome to the Spring 2020 edition of our corporate crime update - our round up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters. Read more
In this blog post, we round-up forthcoming developments in the UK and at EU and International levels in financial services regulation which are expected for May 2020. Read more
On April 30, 2020, the US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a Finding of Violation to American Express Travel Related Services Company (“AMEX”). OFAC’s findings, and its decision not to penalize AMEX, highlight three important sanctions compliance considerations for US and non-US companies alike. Read more
On 31 March 2020, HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) announced the imposition of a monetary penalty on Standard Chartered Bank (“SCB”). This represents OFSI’s fourth use of its power to impose a monetary penalty in respect of suspected breaches of UK financial sanctions restrictions. Read more
On 7 April 2020, the FCA released its Business Plan for 2020/21. The FCA had planned to focus on the areas identified in its Sector Views published on 18 February 2020 (see our blog post here), but recognises that its work will be fundamentally reshaped by the impact of COVID-19.
Aware that the current circumstances create the need for it to both respond to change and initiate it, the FCA outlined plans for transforming fundamentally the way the FCA works and regulates, with a view to becoming a more efficient and effective regulator. Read more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a ‘Dear CEO’ letter (the letter) with an update on key issues in light of COVID-19 to firms providing services to retail investors. In addition to the measures it has taken with the Bank of England (BoE) and HM Treasury (HMT), the FCA has considered many requests for … Read more
In this blog post, we round-up forthcoming developments in the UK and at EU and International levels in financial services regulation which are expected for April 2020. Read more
On 18 February, the FCA published its Sector Views for 2020. Described as its view of how the markets it regulates are performing, this “performance” is inevitably framed by its role as the UK’s conduct regulator. Sector Views also looks at how the financial environment is changing, through a range of different lenses – the … Read more
