The High Court has found in favour of a claimant investor in a dispute arising from the termination of her Bitcoin trading account with an online trading platform and concurrent cancellation of open trades (as a result of an alleged money laundering risk): Ang v Reliantco Investments Ltd [2020] EWHC 3242 (Comm). Although the claim relates to an account used to trade Bitcoin futures, the decision will be of broader interest to financial institutions, given the potential application to other types of trading accounts and accounts more generally. Read more

Following the publication of DP20/2: Prudential Requirements for MiFID Investment Firms in June 2020 (see our blog post), the FCA has now published its consultation on the new UK prudential regime for MiFID investment firms (IFPR) (CP20/24). Read more

The PRA has published a Policy Statement, which includes feedback on the responses it received to its summer consultation on its proposed implementation of the remuneration provisions of the revised Capital Requirements Directive (referred to as CRD5), which will apply in the UK and the EU from 29 December 2020. Read more

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has released its long awaited FAQs regarding its 31 October 2019 circular on the use of external electronic data storage providers (EDSP Circular). While there are some aspects of the FAQs which we anticipate will create practical challenges and will require some careful analysis to implement, we generally consider the FAQs to be a significant step forward and to provide much needed flexibility for the industry. Read more

Earlier today the Supreme Court handed down its hotly-anticipated judgment regarding the certification of an opt-out competition collective action brought by Walter Merricks against Mastercard. The claim is seeking £14bn in damages on behalf of some 46.2 million UK consumers, in respect of losses alleged to have resulted from the use of anti-competitive multilateral interchanges fees. Read more

On 7 December 2020, the Council of the EU announced the introduction of a new global human rights sanctions regime, as part the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024. The new regime introduces a framework to impose a travel ban and asset freeze on individuals and entities identified as responsible for, involved in or associated with, serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Read more

We are pleased to announce the launch of FSR Outlook 2021: Paving the Way Forward. In this annual publication, we survey the regulatory landscape in 2021 and identify some themes that we expect to be at the core of regulatory priorities globally in the next 12 months. Read more

The Court of Appeal has today allowed an appeal from Mr Justice Snowden’s refusal to approve the transfer of some 370,000 annuities from The Prudential Assurance Company Limited to Rothesay Life plc. The court has confirmed that there were errors in Mr Justice Snowden’s approach to the exercise of the court’s discretion on insurance business transfers and has delivered some much needed clarity to the Part VII process. Read more