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 27 March 2020, the House of Lords EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee published a letter from its Chair, Lord Sharkey, to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon. Rishi Sunak MP, emphasising the importance of the UK remaining actively engaged in shaping the future relationship with the EU in financial services. In the letter, Lord … Read more
It was confirmed yesterday by HM Treasury (HMT) in a statement to Parliament that it will retain the UK regulators’ “Temporary Transitional Power” (TTP), which was introduced as part of the UK Government’s no-deal contingency planning legislation, and shift its application such that it is available for use by the regulators for a period of … Read more
On 19 March, the UK Government published guidance requesting that schools and other educational institutions provide limited care for children whose parents have roles that are critical to the COVID-19 response. This includes parents working in certain financial services roles that are essential to the functioning of the economy (referred to as “key financial workers” … Read more
This post was last updated on 1 April 2020 to reflect updated guidance from the FCA. SHORT SELLING REGULATION During this unprecedented period of disruption, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and other national regulators have taken various extraordinary steps to address the risks faced by financial markets in the EU. In the past … Read more
This post was first published on our Digital TMT and Sourcing Notes blog. On 4 March 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority published a short set of findings from its review of outsourcing in the UK life insurance sector. Despite the review’s narrow scope, the FCA’s findings are readily applicable to other outsourcing contexts, so regulated firms … Read more
The FCA has published information for firms on COVID-19. Communication with the FCA will be key as the situation evolves, and we recommend that firms regularly monitor the FCA’s website for news and developments. Firms are expected to: take reasonable steps to ensure they are prepared to meet the challenges coronavirus could pose to customers … Read more
On 6 March 2020, the HKMA issued a circular setting out its expectations on risk management for algorithmic (algo) trading, as well as sound practices observed from thematic on-site examinations of seven authorised institutions (AIs) in 2019.
The on-site examinations of the seven AIs, mainly international banks using algorithms for making investment decisions, were conducted following a survey by the HKMA which found (among other things) that around 40% of the AIs surveyed were engaging in algo trading and that a majority of such AIs were intending to expand the scale of their algo trading.
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