The PRA has published a policy statement (PS25/21) which sets out its final policy on the various proposals it consulted on in occasional paper CP13/21. These proposals included: For banks, building societies and PRA...
Following its consultation earlier this year, the FCA has published its final rules on the regulation of pre-paid funeral plans which will take effect from 29 July 2022. The latest policy statement sets out additional...
UK Finance has published a paper on the PRA’s supervisory statement on outsourcing and third-party risk management (SS2/21). The paper summarises the key elements of SS2/21 and reminds firms that they are expected...
The government has set out its plans for the UK to be the world’s first net zero aligned financial centre and has called for other countries to follow suit. The government has confirmed it will be introducing...
The FCA’s chief data, information and intelligence officer, Jessica Rusu, has delivered a speech on the FCA’s role as a data-led regulator. The speech explores the FCA’s response to new technologies...
FOS has published the feedback to its consultation which set out the proposed temporary amendments to the way the FOS reports business-specific complaints data. As a result of the feedback the FOS has confirmed it will...
The FCA has published a final notice banning Colin Bermingham from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity carried on by any authorised or exempt person or exempt professional firm. In 2019, Mr...
The CMA has written to NewDay Ltd about 5 breaches of the PPI Market Investigation Order 2011. The breaches, which have affected c.27,000 customers, relate to: NewDay’s failure to issue Annual Review statements to...
The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published the final report on its updated outsourcing principles. The report covers the definition of outsourcing, the assessment of materiality and...
The FCA has converted the near-final rules from its first two policy statements on IFPR into final rules, which are set out in the legal instruments FCA 2021/38 and FCA 2021/39. The FCA will publish a third policy...
The third Commencement Order under the Financial Services Act 2021 brings into force the provisions on dealing with maximum sentences for insider dealing and financial services offences (section 31 of the Act). This...
The FCA has published its latest Perimeter Report, in which it calls for greater consumer protection and legislative change to address concerns beyond its remit. Highlights include recommendations that: duties on...
The EU Commission has adopted its 2022 work programme which sets out the next steps in its agenda towards a greener, fairer, more digital and more resilient Europe. The programme contains 42 new policy initiatives...
The FCA has published the number of financial promotions which have been amended or withdrawn due to non-compliance with FCA rules in Q3 2021. In the last quarter, the FCA reviewed 514 financial promotions by authorised...
The FCA has published a final notice banning Omar Hussein, former director at pension switching firm Consumer Wealth Ltd, from working in financial services. Mr Hussein has also been fined £116,000 for providing...
Following the publication of near-final rules in July, the PRA has published a policy statement (PS) setting out its CRR rule instrument to implement part of the Basel standards that still need to be implemented in the...
The FCA has published a new webpage which sets out its expectations for firms working in a remote or hybrid environment so firms can continue to meet their regulatory responsibilities. Firms should be able to prove that...
The FCA has published a final notice banning Shaffarat Parvez from performing regulated activities. Whilst a director and an approved person at an authorised firm, Mr Parvez engaged in criminal activity and was...
The Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC) has launched its ‘Future Skills Framework‘. The online tool will provide organisations with a uniform set of 8 essential industry skills and behaviours...
FOS is consulting on a range of initiatives to help reduce customer waiting times, including a temporary proposed change to how firm-specific complaints data is published. FOS is proposing that, for a limited period...
ESMA has published a call for evidence on various retail investor protection topics under MiFID II, the results of which will feed into ESMA’s technical advice to assist the Commission in the development of its...
The latest edition of Ombudsman News warns customers to be extra vigilant about fraud and scams following a significant rise in cases seen by the FOS in the last 12 months. The FOS received 5,025 fraud and scam...
The EDPS has published his opinion on the European Commission’s proposed package of AML changes. The EDPS welcomes the proposals but says further clarifications are needed to minimise intrusion into individuals’...
ESMA is consulting on proposals for improvements to the MiFID II framework on best execution reports. The proposals include technical changes to: the reporting obligations for execution venues: aimed at simplifying the...
The government has published its report of the independent review of the regulation of Football Index. BetIndex Ltd provided a gambling product, Football Index, which allowed customers to bet and receive dividends on...
Nikhil Rathi and Sam Woods, CEOs of the FCA and PRA respectively, have set out the regulators’ current areas of focus. Highlights from Mr Rathi’s speech include that the FCA: is collaborating with...
The BEA has published the results of its economy-wide stress test, which tested the impact of climate change on over 4 million firms worldwide and 1,600 euro area banks. The findings show that: firms and banks are to be...
The Complaints Commissioner has published its decision to reject a complaint made about the FCA’s failure to regulate unregulated investments. The complainant, who suffered financial loss having invested in...
The ECJ has ruled that the EBA acted within its powers when it adopted guidelines on product governance and oversight arrangements for retail banking products in 2015. The guidelines set out requirements for...
The government, FCA and BoE have responded to the Treasury Committee’s fifth report on the future framework for regulation of financial services. Government response The government’s response is brief as it...
Clare Cole, Director of Market Oversight at the FCA, has delivered a speech on the FCA’s proposals for a new listing regime. Highlights include: the UK Listing Review, chaired by Lord Hill, achieved unprecedented...
The FCA has published the latest data it has collected (as of 5 September 2021) from all affected insurers on the progress of their non-damage business interruption insurance claims. The data includes the number of: BI...
Several major technology companies including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft and TikTok have pledged to support UK Finance’s anti-fraud campaign – Take Five to Stop Fraud. The tech...
The PSR panel has published its annual report for 2020/21 which outlines how it has engaged with the PSR over the last year. Key themes that the panel highlighted over the last 12 months include the rapid acceleration...
The EBA has published its revised guidelines on the stress tests conducted by national deposit guarantee schemes (DGS) under the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive. The revised guidelines extend the scope of the DGS...
The FCA has published a new strategy to give consumers the confidence to invest and to tackle investment harm. By 2025, the FCA aims to: reduce by 20% the number of consumers who could benefit from investment earnings...
The Treasury Committee has published responses from the Treasury and the FCA to its report on the FCA’s regulation of London Capital & Finance plc (LCF). Highlights from the government’s response...
The FCA’s latest Policy Development Update highlights: a policy statement on restricting CMC charges for financial products and services claims – expected to be published on 25 October 2021; and a policy statement...
The CMA has written to Lloyds Banking Group about its non-compliance with the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) Market Investigation Order 2011. LBG breached the PPI Order by failing to include the monthly PPI benefit...
The Financial Services Act 2021 has given the FCA an additional power, allowing it to more quickly and efficiently: vary or cancel the statutory permissions to conduct FCA-regulated activities of many FCA-authorised...
In October 2020, the FCA introduced temporary guidance on maturing interest-only and part-and-part mortgages. The guidance allowed borrowers with certain mortgages due to mature between 20 March 2020 and 31 October 2021...
The PRA is consulting on proposed changes in respect of the applicable requirements on the identification of material risk takers (MRT) for the purposes of the PRA’s remuneration regime. The proposed amendments...
EU prudential supervisors and central banks have written to the EU Commission in support of a full, timely and consistent implementation of the Basel III agreement, saying that diluting the framework would not be in the...
Following the decision to remove FCA regulated 730k investment firms from the scope of the UK resolution regime, the government is now consulting on whether short-term liabilities owed to FCA investment firms should...
Following the success of the pilot challenge in 2018, the FCA has announced that the application window for the 2021 Green FinTech Challenge is now open. The Green FinTech Challenge is open to start-ups, incumbents and...
Charles Randell, Chair of the FCA and PSR has delivered a speech on the risks of regulating crypto tokens. Speech highlights include: whilst platforms’ efforts to crack down on fraudulent advertisements are welcome, a...
The Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) has launched two liaison panels which have been set up to act as independent and transparent advisory councils to the BBRS. The panels will create a feedback loop between...
The City of London Law Society (CLLS) has formed a working group to consider and respond to the Law Commission’s call for evidence and consultation on “Digital assets: electronic trade documents”. In...
The City of London Law Society (CLLS) has published its response to HM Treasury’s consultation paper “Amendments to the Insolvency Arrangements for Insurers” which was published on 20 May 2021. CLLS...
In February 2021, UK Finance published the Future Ready Payments 2030 report which set out an ambitious 10-year strategy for the payments industry. The recently-formed Payments Standards Strategy Group (PSSG) has now...
EIOPA has published a follow-up report to the 2018 peer review on the supervisory practices for the application of the proportionality principle in government requirements regarding key functions. The follow-up report...
In July 2021, the European Commission unveiled an ambitious package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU’s AML/CFT rules. The closing date of the Commission’s various consultations on these...
The FCA has written to mortgage third party administrators (TPAs) to set out its view of the key risks TPAs pose to their customers or the markets in which they operate and to outline its expectations of TPAs, including...
Nikhil Rathi has responded to Rt. Hon. Mel Stride MP’s questions following press reports that NatWest might have frozen the accounts of some customers on low incomes without good reason. Highlights of the...
The FCA is opening the application window for the sustainability cohort on 6 September, with a view to opening the Digital Sandbox to successful applicants in November and access to the testing environment from January...
Following Pay.UK’s confirmation that the reach of the Confirmation of Payee Service (CoP) will be extended, a group of the UK’s major banks has written to the PSR to provide a public commitment to deliver...
The FCA’s consultation on a new Consumer Duty has now closed and the FCA has outlined its next steps. After considering the responses, the FCA will set out the proposed text for any new rules in a second...
The FCA, PRA and the US SEC have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in relation to consultation, cooperation and the exchange of information in the supervision and oversight of certain over-the-counter...
BIS Innovation Hub and Monetary Authority of Singapore have published proposals for enhancing global payments network connectivity via multilateral linkages of countries’ national retail payment systems. The...
The FCA has published a Decision Notice against Geoffrey Edward Armin of Retirement and Pension Planning Services Limited (in liquidation). The FCA has decided to fine Mr Armin £1,284,523 and ban him from performing any...
The FCA has published its third and final consultation on the IFPR. The IFPR creates a new regime for solo-regulated MiFID investment firms. The first consultation introduced the IFPR and focussed on the categorisation...
The Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC) has launched an inclusion measurement guide to improve and develop inclusion data metrics and analysis across the UK financial services sector. The guide will enable firms...
The FCA has updated its webpages on regulating the funeral plans sector to set out what firms should be doing to prepare for FCA regulation on 29 July 2022. It has also published the authorisation and variation of...
The Complaints Commissioner has issued its final report in respect of a complaint made to the FCA – the complainant received what they considered to be an aggressive and threatening email from the FCA’s...
The PRA has written to the largest PRA-regulated life and general insurers to set out the high-level scope for the 2022 Insurance Stress Test (IST) exercise. For life insurers, the IST will focus primarily on economic...
EMSA has published guidelines on marketing communications under the Regulation on cross-border distribution of funds. The guidelines set out principles on the identification of marketing communications, the description...
The FCA has launched a new online form for reporting concerns about wrongdoing by firms or individuals to the FCA. It has also published a new webpage to help whistleblowers decide where to make a report.
The EBA has published the results of its 2021 EU-wide stress test which involved 50 banks from 15 EU and EEA countries. The results show that under a very severe scenario, the EU banking sector would stay above a CET1...
The FCA’s regulatory sandbox is now open permanently, meaning firms can submit their applications throughout the year, rather than on a cohort basis. The FCA has also published guidance for firms applying to the...
The FCA has restarted its work on the Credit Information Market Study following a pause during the Covid-19 pandemic. It intends to engage with industry and consumer groups and complete its analysis during Q3 2021...
The latest edition of Ombudsman News looks at complaints about business interruption insurance (BII) after the test case. In the case of most complaints, the insurer is now accepting that the policy provides cover...
Following the publication of various MIFIDPRU application forms on 27 July, the FCA has made further application forms available on its website. The FCA intends to make the remaining application forms and all...
The FCA is consulting on proposals to improve transparency for investors on the diversity of listed company boards and their executive management teams. The proposals include changes to the FCA’s Listing Rules to...
The PRA has launched a consultation on its approach to insurance business transfers. The proposals update the PRA’s approach following legislative changes post-Brexit and provide greater clarity on the PRA’s...
The Chair of the Treasury Committee, Rt. Hon. Mel Stride MP, has written to Nikhil Rathi following press reports that NatWest might have frozen the accounts of some customers on low incomes without good reason. The...
In December 2020, Treasury published a call for evidence asking for views on the UK’s framework for cross-border financial services. Treasury has now published the response to this call for evidence which covers:...
The Treasury is consulting on amendments to the MLR 2017 Statutory Instrument 2022. These amendments will allow the government to make some time-sensitive updates to the MLRs, which are required to ensure that the UK...
The FCA has published the terms of reference setting out the steps it will take in its mortgage prisoners review. Data review: the FCA will review and update its data to consider the demographic and loan characteristics...
Following onshoring changes made to the FPO post-Brexit, the definition of “Relevant Market” inadvertently no longer includes relevant UK markets. This means the exemptions under Articles 37, 41 and 67-69...
The European Commission has unveiled an ambitious package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU’s AML/CFT rules. The proposals include: a new EU AML/CFT Authority (AMLA) – the new AMLA will coordinate...
HM Treasury is consulting on proposals to create an SMCR for financial market infrastructures (FMIs). The proposed regime would mirror the existing SMCR and would give the BoE new rule-making, supervisory and...
The FCA is consulting on proposed amendments to the PRIIPs Regulation. The proposed changes aim to address the lack of clarity on the PRIIPs scope and address concerns with performance scenarios, summary risk indicators...
The PRA has written to the CEOs of PRA-regulated Solvency II firms to introduce the Solvency II Review Quantitative Impact Study and to set out the PRA’s thinking on two key areas being assessed under it – the...
In February 2021, the FCA published Finalised Guidance on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers. It held a webinar in May to help firms understand the role they play in treating vulnerable customers fairly. The FCA...
The FCA is asking firms to complete a short mandatory survey to help obtain a more accurate view of firms’ financial resilience as a result of Covid-19. The FCA will email the survey to firms in Tranche 1 on 2-4...
Sir Greg Knight MP asked what steps the government is taking to help ensure that (a) vulnerable people, (b) the elderly and (c) people living in rural areas continue to have access to cash. In response, John Glen MP...
ESMA is consulting on draft guidelines that aim to clarify certain aspects of the new MiFID II remuneration requirements, replacing the existing ESMA guidelines on the same topic, issued in 2013. The consultation paper:...
The FCA has updated the travel insurance section of its insurance and coronavirus webpage. The FCA says that, when buying travel insurance, customers cannot rely on their pre-pandemic knowledge and experience. It...
The FCA has written to the chairs of authorised fund managers setting out its expectations on the design, delivery and disclosure of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainable investment funds. The FCA...
The FCA has published its final 2021/22 regulated fees and levies including feedback on CP21/8. The FCA will invoice fee-payers from July 2021 onwards for their 2021/22 periodic fees and levies.
The FCA has provided updates on the following 4 workstreams: Assessing Suitability Review (ASR 2) – ASR 2 was placed on hold in April 2020. The FCA has decided not to continue planned work on ASR 2 in 2021/22. This will...
The FCA has published a report setting out the work it has done to July 2021 to implement the recommendations from: the Independent Investigation into the FCA’s Regulation of London Capital & Finance plc (the...
The Complaints Commission has published its annual report for 2020/2021 which reviews how the financial services regulators consider complaints. Highlights include: the Commissioner dealt with 393 complaints in the year...
Sam Woods, PRA Deputy Governor, has written to the Rt. Hon Mel Stride MP to outline his thoughts on possible enhancements to the conditions for assessing a proposed change in control (Conditions) under FSMA. Mr Woods...
Economic and Monetary Affairs MEPs have voted in favour of a temporary common EU pilot regime for financial services based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). The project follows a ‘sandbox’ approach...
The FCA has published a second letter of concerns explaining to Provident why it does not support its proposed scheme of arrangement. The FCA’s key concern is that consumers are being offered significantly less...
The BoE has published the record of the Financial Policy Committee’s (FPC) meeting held on 30 June 2021. Meeting highlights include: The UK financial system has provided support to households and businesses to...
On 10 December 2020, the PRA published a statement on “Capital distributions by large UK banks” in which it set out guardrails for distributions to ordinary shareholders in relation to full-year 2020 results...
Independent Assessor (IA), Dame Gillian Guy, has published her annual report of FOS for the year 2020-2021. The report looks at complaints received about the FOS and highlights areas for improvement. Key learning points...
The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) have had their third official meeting under the Italian G20 Presidency. Highlights include: The global outlook has improved, mainly thanks to the roll out of...