The Abu Dhabi Global Market announced that it was officially open for business and that the Financial Services Regulatory Authority was ready to accept applications for a license from financial institutions. The ADGM is the newest international financial centre and it has adopted English common law by applying it in its jurisdiction for civil and commercial law. The application of English common law will govern matters such as contracts, tort, trusts, equitable remedies, unjust enrichment, damages, conflicts of laws, security and personal property.

Shearman & Sterling helped develop ADGM's world-class legal and regulatory regime to be in line with international standards to provide the sophistication and certainty found in the world’s top financial centres. The firm drafted all the Financial Services and Markets Regulations and Financial Services Regulatory Authority Rules as well as legislation governing matters such as companies, insolvency, interpretation, commercial licensing, arbitration, courts, employment, limited liability partnerships, real property and strata title.

View the ADGM press release.

The European Supervisory Authorities published two consultations on proposed joint guidelines for: (i) financial institutions on the factors for financial institutions to consider when assessing money laundering and counter terrorist financing risks associated with individual business relationships or occasional transactions and the extent to which a firm's customer due diligence can be adjusted based on the risk identified; and (ii) national regulators on the supervision of AML/CFT on a risk sensitive basis. The guidelines are required to be prepared by the ESA's by the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, also known as 4AMLD, which Member States must transpose into national law by June 26, 2017. The proposed guidelines would apply to banks, investment firms, insurers, insurance intermediaries, money brokerage firms, collective investment undertaking marketing its units or shares and to branches of those firms (regardless of whether their head office is located in an EU Member State or a third country) and to national regulators of those financial institutions. The consultations are open until January 22, 2016 and the ESA's expect to finalise them in Spring 2016. The final guidelines will apply from June 26, 2017.

View the proposed Risk Factors Guidelines.

View the proposed Risk-based Supervision Guidelines.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission named Wenchi Hu and Christian Sabella as Associate Directors in the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets. As Associate Director of Risk and Supervision, Ms. Hu will be responsible for supervising registered clearing agencies including those firms that clear securities-based swaps. Mr. Sabella will become Associate Director of Regulation, for which he will spearhead a team issuing recommendations for SEC policy and rulemaking focused on financial market infrastructure including clearing agencies, transfer agents and security-based swap data repositories. Ms. Hu joined the SEC in 2011 as a senior special counsel in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations before moving to the Office of Derivatives Policy in the Division of Trading and Markets. Mr. Sabella joined the SEC in 2011 as a branch chief in the Office of Trading Practices.

View the SEC press release.

The Regulatory Oversight Committee launched a consultation on its proposed approach to incorporating data on branches into the Global Legal Entity Identifier System, known as GLEIS. The ROC is proposing that only branches that meet the following conditions would be eligible for an LEI: (i) the branch is an international branch; (ii) the branch is registered in a publicly accessible local business registry or local regulatory registry in its host country; and (iii) the head office of the branch already has an LEI so that the two entities could be linked through their respective LEIs. Responses to the consultation are due by November 16, 2015.

View the consultation paper.

The UK Supreme Court considered the case of United States of America v Nolan. The case gave thought to whether a statutory instrument made under section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972 could effectively be deemed to amend a UK Act of Parliament. It was held that the ECA was wide enough for a statutory instrument to be effective in this way, however the Court found that the question was “difficult and borderline”. The EU Financial Collateral Directive was implemented in the UK via the Financial Collateral Regulations 2003, a statutory instrument, that was also made under the same section of the ECA. The Directive relates to title transfer financial collateral arrangements and security financial collateral arrangements made between certain classes of qualifying persons. Lord Mance considered previous case law on section 2 of the ECA, and in particular the decision taken in Cukurova Finance International Ltd v HM Treasury which related to the FCR. Lord Mance considered that Cukurova's unsuccessful challenge was "greatly underestimated", suggesting that it may have been wrongly decided, casting doubts on the enforceability of certain aspects of the FCR.  In our view, these remarks are obiter dicta, given that the particular situation of these regulations was not at issue in the case.
 
View the decision in USA v Nolan.

The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced the appointment of Lawrence Gross, Jr., as the new Chief Information Officer. As CIO, Mr. Gross will advise senior leaders at the FDIC on a number of information technology-related issues including governance, investment, program management, strategic planning, and security. Mr. Gross has over 25 years of experience in technology-related roles both in the federal government and in military service.

View the FDIC press release.

The SEC announced that Michael Liftik will replace Erica Williams as deputy chief of staff of the agency. Since April 2013, Mr. Liftik has been a Senior Advisor to SEC Chair Mary Jo White, counseling on enforcement policy matters and cases. He has worked with the SEC staff and other agencies to address issues such as the asset management industry, cybersecurity, and macroeconomic trends. He also serves as the representative of Chair White on the Deputies Committee of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

View the SEC press release.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that Kevin Stiroh has been named executive vice president in the New York Federal Reserve’s Integrated Policy Analysis Group as well as head of its Financial Institution Supervision Group, effective October 26, 2015. In his new roles, Mr. Stiroh will lead the teams responsible for supervising financial institutions in the Federal Reserve’s Second District. Mr. Stiroh has over 15 years of experience at the New York Federal Reserve and holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

View the New York Federal Reserve press release.

The European Stability Mechanism appointed Andrew Harkness and Jean Guill to its Board of Auditors for a period of three years.

View the press release.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Chyhe Becker has been named the Associate Director in the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, responsible for the Office of Litigation Economics. The appointment is effective immediately.

View the press release.

The European Stability Mechanism announced that Françoise Blondeel has been promoted to its Management Board. Ms Blondeel was previously Head of Middle and Back Office at the ESM and will now also be in charge of the ESM’s internal coordination.

View the press release.

The European Commission published its Action Plan for building the Capital Markets Union which follows its earlier consultation. The Action Plan sets out the steps for the medium and long term that the Commission intends to take in five priority areas: (i) providing more funding choices to EU businesses; (ii) ensuring an appropriate regulatory framework for long term investment and financing of Europe's infrastructure; (iii) increasing investment and choices for retail and institutional investors; (iv) improving bank lending capacity; and (v) removing cross-border barriers and developing more harmonized capital markets for all Member States. The Action Plan includes a detailed action list and indicative timeline of steps that the Commission intends to take, including publishing proposals to amend the Prospectus Directive before the end of 2015. Several proposals and consultations were published with the Action Plan, including (i) a call for evidence on the impact of the EU regulatory framework for financial services which seeks feedback on unnecessary regulatory burdens, inconsistencies, gaps and unintended consequences; and (ii) a proposed Commission Delegated Regulation amending the regulatory capital requirements for several categories of assets held by insurance and reinsurance undertakings.

View the Action Plan.

View the Call for Evidence.

View the proposed Commission Delegated Regulation.

The European Commission published a guide for small and medium enterprises on how to use crowdfunding. The guide describes the different types of crowdfunding available, such as peer-to-peer lending as well as equity, revenue-sharing, and debt-securities crowdfunding and includes details on how to plan and prepare for crowdfunding.

View the guide.

The Financial Stability Board convened to discuss its ongoing workplan. The FSB discussed issues including ending too-big-to-fail, transforming shadow banking into resilient market-based finance, risks associated with market liquidity and asset management activities, reducing misconduct and the prospective policies that could mitigate potential risks. Further to the FSB's consultation last year which proposed a global standard for Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity to be applied to Global Systematically Important Banks, addressing the risks of bail-outs funded by taxpayers, the FSB has now agreed the draft final principles and supports the consistent implementation of this standard. Amongst other things, the FSB has also identified areas in which it aims to conduct further detailed analysis relating to structural vulnerabilities in asset management, such as the mismatch between liquidity of fund investment and redemption terms of conditions for fund units, leverage within investment funds and securities lending activities of asset managers and funds. 

View the press release.

The European Central Bank announced that Pedro Gustavo Teixeira will become the new Secretary to the ECB's decision-making bodies and Director General Secretariat from January 1, 2016. Petra Senkovic will become Secretary to the Supervisory Board and Director in Directorate Secretariat to the Supervisory Board from January 1, 2016.

View the press release.

The European Securities and Markets Authority announced the extension of the terms of office for its Chair, Steven Maijoor, and Executive Director, Verena Ross by five years.  ESMA also announced the appointments of David Lawton, Misu Negritoiu and Edwin Schooling Latter as chairs of its standing committees, for a period of two years, from October 1, 2015.

View the press release.

View the press release.

The European Banking Authority published final translations of its Guidelines on methods for calculating contributions to Deposit Guarantee Schemes under the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive. The Guidelines include: (i) the principles that should be used for developing or approving methods for calculating contributions to DGSs; (ii) the mandatory elements of calculation methods; and (iii) the optional elements of calculation methods. National regulators must notify the EBA within two months of the publication of the translated guidelines whether they comply or intend to comply with those Guidelines.

View the Guidelines.

Participants of the US-EU Financial Market Regulatory Dialogue met to discuss key regulatory topics including recent developments in bank resolution, derivatives reforms, securitization and the creation of the a new Capital Markets Union, cybersecurity and plans to review the Prospectus Directive. Amongst other things, EU participants outlined the efforts that have been made to assist access to market-based funds through the creation of a CMU, and reported, together with participants from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission that constructive bilateral discussions were continuing on derivatives reform and in particular on recognition under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. Emphasis was placed on the importance of clear and well-designed recovery and resolution frameworks for CCPs and well-governed benchmark frameworks. The participants included representatives of the European Commission, European Securities and Markets Authority, European Banking Authority, US Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The next meeting will take place in Washington DC in February 2016.

View the joint statement.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Lara Shalov Mehraban has been named Associate Regional Director for Enforcement in the New York Regional Office. Mehraban has been with the SEC since 2007 and has been an Assistant Regional Director in the office since 2012. Amelia Cottrell previously filled the position and left the agency in July 2015.

View the SEC press release.

Anthony J. Albanese, Acting Superintendent of Financial Services, announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services approved Circle Internet Financial's BitLicense application. This would make Circle Internet Financial the first company to receive a BitLicense from the NYDFS. The NYDFS finalized its BitLicense rules in June 2015 after receiving public comments on the proposed framework, making New York's BitLicense the first comprehensive regulatory framework for firms dealing in virtual currency. The rules include guidelines on consumer protection, anti-money laundering compliance and cybersecurity. The NYDFS has received 25 BitLicense applications to date.

View the press release.
 

The Financial Conduct Authority announced Georgina Phillippou's appointment to the FCA's Executive Committee as the new Chief Operating Officer.

View the press release.

The Financial Stability Board published three reports provided to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors ahead of their meetings in September this year. The reports are: 1. The Sixth Progress Report by the FSB and the International Monetary Fund on the Implementation of the G20 Data Gaps Initiative which states that the set of 20 recommendations to close the data gaps identified following the global financial crisis, known as the first phase, should be completed by end 2015/early 2016. 2. A Joint Progress Report by the FSB, IMF and Bank for International Settlements on foreign currency exposures. The work seeks to address data gaps involving FX exposures so as to prepare for improved assessments of cross-border risks and analyze the vulnerabilities arising from such exposures. The work requires building on existing data initiatives and heavy coordination between the FSB, IMF and BIS. 3. The FSB Final Report on Corporate Funding Structures and Incentives, which examines the factors that shape the liability structure of corporates focusing on the implications for financial stability

View the Sixth Progress Report on the G20 Data Gaps Initiative.

View the Joint Progress Report on FX Exposures.

View the Report on Corporate Funding Structures.

The Financial Conduct Authority published a press release announcing that the FCA and Payment Systems Regulator has appointed new members to its decision making committees. The FCA's Regulatory Decisions Committee will welcome Tim Parkes as Chair, Elizabeth France and John Hull as Deputy Chairs and Kevin Brown, Caroline Ramsay and Chris Cummings as members. The PSR's Enforcement Decisions Committee will also welcome Tim Parkes as Chair, Elizabeth France as Deputy Chair and Kevin Brown, Chris Cummings, Stuart McIntosh, Professor Robin Mason, Malcolm Nicholson, Caroline Ramsay and Jonathan Haskel as members. The FCA and PSR Competition Decisions Committee will welcome Jonathan Haskel, Stuart McIntosh, Professor Robin Mason and Malcolm Nicholson as members.

View the FCA announcement.

The Financial Conduct Authority published two guides which set out its new approach to classification of firms for conduct supervision. Firms will now be classified as either flexible or fixed portfolio firms according to their size, market presence and customer footprint. Fixed portfolio firms require the highest level of supervision and are the smaller of the population of firms. The guides summarize the FCA's approach that will apply to the two different kinds of firms. The revisions aim to help the FCA to take a more sector-based approach to identifying risk and engaging more widely with market representatives.

View the guide for fixed portfolio firms.

View the guide for flexible portfolio firms.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that Sarah Dahlgren stepped down as head of the Financial Institution Supervision Group. James Hennessy was named interim head of the Financial Institution Supervision Group.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced the appointment of Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Senior Vice President, Todd Aadland, as its Payments Security Strategy Leader.  Mr. Aadland will lead the initiative to address fraud risk and improve the safety, security and resiliency of the payment system.

View the press release.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Timothy Massad announced that Eric J. Pan will be the CFTC’s new Director of the Office of International Affairs. Mr. Pan was previously the Associate Director for Regulatory Policy in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of International Affairs.  At the SEC, he oversaw international regulatory policy and represented the SEC in IOSCO and the Financial Stability Board.  
 
Chairman Massad also announced the retirement of CFTC employee Phyllis Dietz who served as Acting Director of the Division of Clearing and Risk and named Jeffrey Bandman as Acting Director of the Division of Clearing and Risk.

View the press release.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced the designation of Robert Cohen and Joseph Sansone as co-chiefs of the Division of Enforcement’s Market Abuse Unit.  The Market Abuse Unit is a national specialized unit that focuses on complex insider trading issues as well as other market trading misconduct and abuse.

View the press release.

The UK Payment Systems Regulator has announced the full membership of the new Payments Strategy Forum. Ruth Evans was appointed chair of the Forum in July this year. The 21 new members, apointed for an initial period of two years, are comprised of individuals who are advocates for consumers, retailers, small and medium-sized businesses, corporations and government, as well as individuals from credit unions, e-money firms and high street banks that are experienced providers of payment services. The Forum has been established to set strategic priorities for the development of innovative payment systems.
 
View the PSR announcement.

The Board of Supervisors of the European Banking Authority announced that Andrea Enria and Adam Farkas, Chairperson and Executive Director of the EBA respectively, would continue in their positions for a further five-year term from 2016 to 2021.  
 
View the EBA announcement.

The Financial Conduct Authority announced the launch of the new Financial Services Register, which aims to make it easier to locate a firm, individual or collective investment scheme or exchange that is regulated by the FCA or Prudential Regulation Authority. Firms that the regulators believe are providing regulated products or services without the necessary authorization are also included in the register for the first time, flagged in red. The Mutuals Public Register and Regulated Covered Bonds Register do not form part of the new register and can be searched separately.

View the new Financial Services Register.
 

The Legal Entity Identifier Regulatory Oversight Committee published proposals for a process for collecting data on parents of legal entities within the Global Legal Entity Identifier System. The LEI ROC is proposing to require entities that have or obtain an LEI to report their ultimate accounting consolidating parent and direct accounting consolidating parent, with the information to be published on the Global LEI System. LEIs are principally used by trade repositories to record derivatives transactions against particular legal entities. This initiative should therefore assist regulators in understanding the overall exposures of corporate groups. It is intended that the process would be phased in, according to priorities yet to be identified, with implementation starting near the end of 2015. The consultation closes on October 19, 2015.
 
View the consultation paper.

The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors issued a communiqué highlighting the actions required to achieve the goals of the G20 for this year. The group endorses the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Principles on Corporate Governance, welcomes the progress made on the principles on SME financing and aims to finalize remaining elements of the global financial reform agenda this year. In addition, the OECD published a report prepared by the Financial Stability Board on corporate funding structures and incentives. The report sets out: (i) the growth and differences across countries and regions in nonfinancial corporate debt since the financial crisis; (ii) insights into the incentives that are influencing these trends; (iii) associated financial stability concerns; (iv) the role of macroprudential policies; and (v) potential action and next steps that could be taken, such as the use of macro prudential tools to moderate the risks of corporate leverage growth.

View the communiqué.

View the principles of corporate governance.

View the progress report on principles on SME financing.

View the report on corporate funding structures and incentives.

The Financial Conduct Authority launched a new website for its Handbook of rules and guidance. The Prudential Regulation Authority launched its new website for the new PRA Rulebook. 

View the new FCA website.

View the new PRA website.

View the FCA announcement.

View the PRA announcement.

On August 19, 2015, the SEC named Shelly Luisi the Associate Director in the Division of Corporation Finance. In her new role, Ms. Luisi will oversee the Disclosure Standards Office, which conducts research and assesses the Division of Corporation Finance program created to selectively review public-company filings. She begins her new role in September.

View the press release.

The European Commission published the 2015 Management Plans for the Directorate-General of Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN) and the DG for Financial Stability, Financial Markets and Capital Markets Union (FISMA) which replaces the financial services directorates of the DG for Internal Market and Services (which ceased to exist in 2014). These DGs provide specialized services to the European Commission as departments of the Commission. The Management Plans include the mission statements, objectives and strategies. ECFIN’s objectives include to foster jobs, growth and investment and to promote prosperity beyond the EU. FISMA’s objectives include to ensure that the EU financial sector is adequately supervised, stable, transparent and is conducive to growth and jobs, that effective investor protection is applied through the use of strict conduct and disclosure rules, and that the banking, insurance and pension sectors are stable and resilient due to adequate prudential, supervisory and resolution regimes.

View the ECFIN Managament Plan.

View the FISMA Management Plan.

The European Stability Mechanism announced the appointment of Juan Rojas as Head of Economics and Market Analysis.

View the ESM press release.

On August 14, 2015, Commissioner Mark P. Wetjen announced his resignation from the US CFTC, effective August 28, 2015. During his time as Commissioner, Mr. Wetjen played a significant role in implementing the Dodd-Frank Act, including the implementation of the first trading mandate for interest rate and credit default swaps.

View the press release.

On August 13, 2015, Amrit Sekhon was named the OCC’s Deputy Comptroller for Capital and Regulatory Policy from October 4, 2015. Mr. Sekhon joined the OCC in 1998 and most recently served as Director for Capital Policy, overseeing the implementation of the Dodd-Frank capital and leverage rules. In his new role, Mr. Sekhon will be the key advisor to Comptroller Curry on domestic and international policies on bank capital. He will further serve as the OCC’s representative for Basel Committee meetings.

View the press release.

On August 11, 2015, the OCC assigned Greg Coleman the role of Deputy Comptroller for Large Bank Supervision. Mr. Coleman joined the OCC in 1989 and became a commissioned national bank examiner in 1994. In his new role, Mr. Coleman joins three other Deputies for Large Bank Supervision and the Deputy Comptroller for International Banking Supervision in overseeing the large complex financial institutions subject to supervision by the OCC.

View the press release.http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2015/nr-occ-2015-112.html

On August 6, 2015, Stephen W. Warren was named Chief Information Officer at the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. He will join the OCC on September 6, 2015.

Linda Cunningham was named the first Chief Risk Officer at the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The Prudential Regulation Authority published a Policy Statement which sets out further rules that have been migrated from the joint Financial Conduct Authority/PRA Handbook to the PRA’s Rulebook. The PRA began reshaping the materials inherited from the Financial Services Authority to create a Rulebook which contains PRA rules only and follows the split of the FSA into the PRA and the FCA. The Policy Statement includes rules on passporting, regulatory reporting and reverse stress testing and final Supervisory Statements on: (i) the aggregation of holdings for the purpose of the prudential assessment of controllers; (ii) the internal capital adequacy assessment process or ICAAP and the supervisory review and evaluation process or SREP; (iii) guidelines for completing regulatory reports (entering into force on 1 January 2016); and (iv) internal governance. The Supervisory Statements set out the PRA’s expectations of firms in the relevant areas. The PRA has postponed publishing a Rulebook part and a related Supervisory Statement for internal governance of third-country branches because of the impact that the final rules under the Senior Managers Regime for third-country branches will have on those rules and its Supervisory Statement. The PRA intends to launch its online Rulebook before the end of 2015.

View the Policy Statement.
 

Christopher Woolard has been appointed to the FCA Board as Director of Strategy and Competition for a three year term as of August 1, 2015.

Megan Butler, Executive Director of International Banks Directorate at the Bank of England, will undertake a one year secondment as Director of Supervision—Investment, Wholesale & Specialists at the FCA, as of September 1, 2015. Sarah Breeden, Director of Overseas Banks Division will act as Executive Director of International Banks Directorate during Ms. Butler’s absence.

The Federal Reserve Board announced the appointment of Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Senior Vice President Sean Rodriguez as the Faster Payments Strategy Leader. Mr. Rodriguez will chair the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force, comprised of more than 300 payment system stakeholders interested in improving the speed of authorization, clearing, settlement and notification of various types of personal and business payments.

The European Securities and Markets Authority announced the new members of its Consultative Working Group for the Investor Protection and Intermediaries Standing Committee. The new chair of the Committee is Jean-Paul Servais, Chair of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority. The Committee is responsible for work on investor protection in the provision of investment services and activities by investment firms and banks, including the conduct of business rules, distribution of investment products, investment advice and suitability, and for providing technical advice and draft technical standards to the European Commission on relevant issues under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions published its Thematic Review of the implementation on the timeliness and frequency of disclosure to investors according to Principles 16 and 26 of the IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation. Thirty‑seven jurisdictions participated in the review. Principle 16 relates to issuers and states that there should be full, accurate and timely disclosure of financial results, risk and other information material to the decisions of investors. The review found that there are differences on the type of information that must be disclosed and the timing of the disclosures: listed issuers are more often subject to disclosure requirements compared to other issuers, and disclosure deadlines for listed issuers are tighter. Principle 23 relates to Collective Investment Schemes and states that regulation should require necessary disclosure to evaluate the suitability of a CIS for a particular investor and the value of the investor’s interest in the scheme. The review found that timely disclosure requirements on value, risk reward profile and costs of CISs were found to be in place for all jurisdictions.

View the Review. 

The Bank of England announced the appointment of David Thorburn and Dr Norval Bryson as independent members of the Board of the Prudential Regulation Authority, effective September 1, 2015.