On 30 July 2020, the European Council announced that asset freezing sanctions were to be imposed on six Chinese and Russian individuals and three entities (based in China, Russia and North Korea) responsible for, or involved in, various cyberattacks, including the attempted cyberattack against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and those publicly known as “WannaCry”, “NotPetya” and “Operation Cloud Hopper”. Read more

In this blog post, we round-up forthcoming developments in financial services regulation in the UK and at EU and International levels which are coming up in August 2020.  Read more

HM Treasury has announced the relaunch of its independent Fintech Strategic Review (the Review). The Review, originally announced in March (but delayed due to Covid-19), will aim to identify key priority areas for focus by the industry, policymakers and regulators in order to support the continued growth and mainstream adoption of Fintech solutions in the … Read more

HM Treasury has announced two consultations on possible changes to the UK financial promotions regime: a consultation on limiting the scope of firms that can approve financial promotions of unauthorised persons; and a consultation on extending the financial promotions regime to include unregulated cryptoassets. Read more

On 6 July 2020, the United Kingdom introduced unilateral sanctions against 49 individuals and entities from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Myanmar and North Korea accused of involvement in several high profile human rights violations and abuses. The Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 (the “Sanctions Regulations”), made pursuant to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 ( “SAMLA”), are specifically tailored to address human rights abuses. Read more

On 15 July 2020, shortly after the first anniversary of its assumption of governorship of the Contingent Reimbursement Model (“CRM”) Code, the Lending Standards Board (LSB) launched a consultation which will form the basis of its post-implementation review of the CRM Code. The LSB’s review also extends to its Practitioners Guide (which is made available only to signatories of the CRM Code) and its Information for Customers document. Read more

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that the terms of an English law facility agreement in respect of Tier 2 Capital, allowed the borrower to withhold payment of interest instalments where there was a risk of secondary sanctions being imposed on the borrower under US law. Read more

The FCA recently issued its finalised guidance for payments and e-money firms on safeguarding customer funds and Covid-19. The guidance is designed to mitigate, in the short-term, concerns that some firms are not complying with the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs) and Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMRs) safeguarding rules in the way the FCA expects. It is also designed to help prevent potential harm to customers in the event of insolvencies caused by Covid-19. Read more