In this post, we revisit the background to development of operational resilience in the UK, review the publications issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the PRA, and the Bank of England (the Bank) in March, and briefly discuss the wider context. Read more

In this blog post, we continue to highlight the global progress of the legislative fixes in each of the key LIBOR jurisdictions (the UK, US and EU), consider the effect and scope of the NY legislation, look its safe harbour provisions in more detail and highlight the potential jurisdictional issues which may arise from the interaction between the different solutions. Read more

In the last decade, society’s focus on D&I issues has steadily increased and it is against this backdrop that the FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi delivered the address at HM Treasury’s launch of the Women in Finance Charter Annual Review 2021 in March. In this post, we look at the groundwork that Mr Rathi’s speech lays for regulated firms and individuals as they prepare for greater regulatory scrutiny in relation to D&I. Read more

The FCA's recently released guidance on protecting vulnerable customers is the subject of our latest podcast. In it we discuss how the guidance will further the FCA's aim of ensuring that vulnerable consumers experience outcomes as good as other consumers and receive consistently fair treatment across all FCA regulated firms and sectors. 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 2021. Read more

At the end of 2020, we identified the key issues to have in mind as we entered the LIBOR “endgame”: readiness; right time; right information; right rate; remaining contracts; and record keeping. The PRA and FCA have reinforced all these points in a Dear CEO letter published on 26 March 2021, which we consider in this blog post. The issues raised in this Dear CEO letter are not unexpected but are not straightforward to manage. Read more

On 15 March 2021, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a consultation paper inviting comments on the proposed exemption framework (Branch Framework) for cross-border business arrangements between financial institutions in Singapore (Singapore FIs) which are head offices or branches (Singapore Offices) and their respective foreign branches or head offices (Foreign Offices). Read more

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) published an updated version of its “Monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions – guidance”. In this briefing, we have set out some of the key changes to the Guidance, in particular as regards: (i) the stated scope of OFSI’s jurisdiction; (ii) voluntary disclosure, and the impact of legal professional privilege on disclosures to OFSI; (iii) OFSI’s discretion in assessing the seriousness of cases; and overall, (iv) a potentially more aggressive approach to penalties. Read more