The European Banking Authority has published consultations on two sets of draft guidelines under the Securitization Regulation (also known as the STS Regulation) which, along with targeted amendments to the Capital Requirements Regulation, forms part of the new EU Securitization Framework for simple, transparent and standardized securitizations from January 2019. The STS Regulation establishes two sets of criteria for STS securitizations, namely for term (i.e. non-Asset Backed Commercial Paper) securitizations and for short-term (i.e. ABCP) securitizations respectively. The EBA is mandated under the STS Regulation to develop, by October 18, 2018, (i) guidelines and recommendations interpreting the STS criteria applicable to non-ABCP securitization; and (ii) guidelines and recommendations interpreting the transaction level and programme level criteria applicable to ABCP securitization.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a "Dear CEO" letter to the Chief Executive Officers of U.K. listed companies on capital instruments expressed to be perpetual, irredeemable or in some other way that suggests permanence. The FCA wishes to ensure that investors have access to all the information necessary for them to be able to assess properly the risks and rewards attaching to such shares. The letter lists the information that listed companies may wish to make readily accessible to all holders and potential holders of such shares, including:

• the terms and conditions of the instrument as included in the original prospectus or similar document issued at the time of the offer or admission of the shares, and details of any changes made after the issue of the shares;
• the articles of association of the issuer, particularly the articles relevant to the shares concerned; and
• a Q&A or similar publication.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published three proposed rules with request for public comment that would seek to enhance and clarify the standards of care applicable to broker-dealers and investment advisers when dealing with retail clients. The three proposals are designed to be interlocked and complementary, and, as noted by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton in his introduction of the proposals, are aimed, in part, at better aligning regulations and obligations of broker-dealers and investment advisers with the expectations of retail investors, and preserving retail investor choice.

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The International Organization of Securities Commissions has published a final report on regulatory reporting and public transparency in the secondary corporate bond markets. The report discusses the importance to robust capital markets of making information accessible to regulators and the public via regulatory reporting requirements and pre- and post-trade transparency requirements respectively. The report discusses the approach taken in various jurisdictions to impose these requirements before setting out seven recommendations for national regulators.

The recommendations update IOSCO's 2004 report, "Transparency of Corporate Bond Markets," which discussed the then-existing transparency arrangements for corporate bond markets, as well as the regulatory regimes that were in place in member jurisdictions and set out Core Measures for national regulators to consider to ensure adequate transparency and regulatory reporting arrangements. The recommendations also take into account IOSCO's 2017 report, "Examination of the Liquidity of the Secondary Corporate Bond Markets," which set out the findings of an evidence-based examination of the state of secondary corporate bond markets from 2004 until approximately 2015 and provided a detailed overview and discussion of the markets and how they had evolved since 2004.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its final report on its technical advice to the European Commission to supplement the provisions of the Prospectus Regulation with delegated legislation. The Prospectus Regulation entered into force on July 20, 2017 and certain provisions took effect directly across the EU on July 20, 2017. It will further take effect partly on July 21, 2018 with the remainder of its provisions taking effect on July 21, 2019. The Prospectus Regulation is a major part of the European Commission's drive towards EU Capital Markets Union. It will repeal and replace the existing Prospectus Directive as well as its supplemental Regulation on the form and content of a prospectus.

ESMA was mandated by the European Commission to provide technical advice on possible delegated acts on the format and content of the prospectus, the content, format and sequence of the EU Growth Prospectus (a new type of prospectus for small and medium-sized enterprises and in certain cases non-SMEs for small issuances) and scrutiny and approval of the prospectus. ESMA consulted on its draft technical advice in three consultations launched in July 2017. ESMA has made a number of amendments to its technical advice, based on feedback received on the consultations.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published final Guidelines on Internalized Settlement Reporting under the Central Securities Depositories Regulation. The CSDR, which introduces common standards for settlements across the EU, will apply directly across the EU from January 1, 2023 to transferable securities issued after that date and, from January 1, 2025, to all transferable securities. The CSDR requires settlement internalizers to report the aggregated volume and value of all securities transactions that they settle outside of securities settlement systems to their national regulator on a quarterly basis. Settlement internalizers are firms that execute transfer orders on behalf of clients or on own account other than through a securities settlement system. National regulators must, without delay, transmit the information received from settlement internalizers to ESMA and inform ESMA of any resulting potential risk. Regulatory Technical Standards on internal settlement (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/391) provide the content of internalized settlement reporting and Implementing Technical Standards (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/393) provide the templates and procedures for reporting and transmission of the information.

The Guidelines on Internalized Settlement Reporting aim to ensure the consistent application of the requirements under CSDR and the related technical standards. The Guidelines set out the scope of data to be reported to national regulators and the entities responsible for reporting the information. The Guidelines also provide the process for submission of information by national regulators to ESMA.

The Guidelines will apply to national regulators and to settlement internalizers from the date that they are published on ESMA's website in the official languages of the EU.

View the final Guidelines on reporting internalized settlement.

The European Money Markets Institute has published a consultation paper seeking views from stakeholders on a hybrid determination methodology for the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor). EMMI is the administrator for Euribor, a major euro interest reference rate for unsecured interbank short-term lending and borrowing. Euribor was classed as a critical benchmark of systemic importance for financial stability by the European Commission in 2016.

Euribor is currently determined using a survey approach entailing the collection of quotes from contributing panel banks active in the euro money markets, supplemented by expert judgement. In line with the Financial Stability Board's 2014 report, "Reforming Major Interest Rate Benchmarks", EMMI has been working towards a methodology which will strengthen Euribor by underpinning it, to the greatest extent possible, with real transaction data. In 2016, EMMI proposed a new determination methodology for Euribor that was fully anchored in real transactions. However, viability testing of the proposed methodology revealed that a seamless transition from a quote-based to a fully transaction-based methodology was not feasible.

EMMI is now proposing a three-level "hybrid" methodology, under which the calculation of Euribor at particular defined tenors is supported by euro money market transaction data from contributing panel banks whenever available and relies on other related market pricing sources or banks' own appreciation of their funding costs when necessary.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published two consultation papers relating to the regulation of EU securitization repositories under the Securitization Regulation (also known as the STS Regulation). The first consultation paper proposes draft technical standards on applications for registration of a securitization repository and draft Guidelines on data portability between securitization repositories. The second consultation paper consults on draft advice to the European Commission on supervisory fees payable by securitization repositories.

The Securitization Regulation requires, among other things, securitization special purpose entities, originators and sponsors of a securitization to make certain information available via a securitization repository to holders of a securitization position, to national regulators and, upon request, to potential investors. ESMA will register and supervise securitization repositories, as it does trade repositories under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation. Unlike EMIR and SFTR, the Securitization Regulation does not contemplate non-EU firms as securitization repositories.

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The European Central Bank has published a second consultation paper on a new unsecured overnight interest rate for euro transactions. This second consultation follows the ECB's announcement in September 2017 of its intention to develop the new benchmark and an initial consultation in November 2017 on its high level features. The new ECB rate will represent the euro unsecured money market in the very short tenor (i.e. overnight) and will be based entirely on transactions in euro that are reported by banks in accordance with the ECB's money market statistical reporting. It will complement existing benchmark rates produced by the private sector and serve as a backstop reference rate. The ECB proposes to produce the new rate by 2020.

The second consultation sets out a proposed definition of the underlying interest and scope of the benchmark, based on responses received to the first consultation. On the basis of the proposed definition of the rate's underlying interest, the second consultation considers the defined methodology of the new rate, along with the key operational and technical parameters. The consultation document also proposes contingency calculation rules in case certain representativeness thresholds are not met.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a policy statement explaining the methodology the FCA would expect to use if it needed to compel banks to contribute to LIBOR (the London Interbank Offered Rate). LIBOR, which is administered by ICE Benchmark Administration, is a long-established and systemically important benchmark that underpins transactions in many different markets globally. The FCA’s powers to compel contributions to LIBOR under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 have been superseded by similar powers under the EU Benchmarks Regulation, which came into effect on January 1, 2018. LIBOR has been designated a critical benchmark under the Benchmarks Regulation.

The FCA published a consultation paper in June 2017 on how its compulsion powers would need to be amended to align it with the Benchmarks Regulation. Since that consultation, the FCA has announced that all 20 panel banks that currently submit to LIBOR have agreed to continue to do so until the end of 2021. The FCA envisages that, by that time, sufficient progress will have been made on the evolution of LIBOR and transition to alternative benchmarks (which will be based on actual transactions) that the FCA may never need to use its compulsion powers.

View the policy statement (FCA PS18/5).

The European Commission has published a Communication on the law applicable to the proprietary effects of transactions in securities. The Commission's objective is to clarify the conflicts of law provisions in the Financial Collateral Directive, the Settlement Finality Directive and the Winding-up Directive. These Directives apply to book-entry securities and instruments, the existence or transfer of which presupposes their recording in a register, an account, or centralized deposit system. All three Directives designate the applicable law based on the place of the relevant register or account. However, there is a degree of uncertainty because the provisions in the Directives use different language and because there is diverse interpretation and application of the provisions across the EU. The Communication confirms the Commission's view that the terms 'maintained' and 'located' used in these Directives mean the same thing and that the different ways across the EU of determining where the account or register is 'maintained' or 'located' are valid. The Commission's views are subject to any potential future decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union on these issues.

The Commission will monitor developments in this area and assess whether any further action is necessary. National authorities are called upon to take the Commission's clarifications into account when applying the conflicts of law provisions of the FCD, SFD or WUD. The Communication should be read in conjunction with the Commission's proposed Regulation on the law applicable to the third-party effects of assignments of claims.

View the Communication.

View the proposed separate Regulation on assignment of claims.

The European Commission has published a proposed Regulation on the law applicable to the third-party effects of assignments of claims. The proposed Regulation was published alongside a Communication on the law applicable to the proprietary effects of transactions in securities.

Existing conflicts of law rules as to the contractual elements of the assignment of claims are governed at EU-level by the Rome 1 Regulation. However, there are no EU-level conflicts of law rules on the proprietary elements (or third-party effects) of the assignment of claims. The proprietary elements relate to who has ownership rights over a claim, which requirements must be met by an assignee to give him legal title over the claim and the resolution of competing claims. Currently, each Member State's conflicts of law rules govern the assignment of claims. These rules are inconsistent across the EU because they use different connecting factors to determine the applicable law - the rules in some Member States are based on the law of the assigned claim, others are based on the law of the assignor's habitual residence and other conflicts of law rules are based on the law of the assignment contract. In addition, some conflicts of law rules are unclear, particularly where they are not stated in legislation. Without legal certainty, market participants may not be aware of or choose to ignore the risk and then encounter unexpected losses; or they may mitigate the risk by seeking legal advice which will result in higher transaction costs; or they may be dissuaded by the legal risk, choose to avoid it and miss business opportunities.

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The European Commission has published legislative proposals for a new EU covered bonds framework. The legislative package consists of a proposed Directive on the issue of covered bonds and covered bond public supervision and a proposed Regulation to amend the prudential treatment of covered bonds under the Capital Requirements Regulation. The proposals are part of the EU's Capital Markets Union project and follow from the work of the European Banking Authority in this area, in particular, its 2016 recommendations for an EU covered bonds framework.

The proposed Covered Bonds Directive will apply to covered bonds issued by EU credit institutions, which means that only EU credit institutions will be able to issue covered bonds governed by the framework. Issuers using the EU covered bonds label will need to comply with the proposed Directive but can also use the label with national labels. Covered bonds are debt obligations issued by credit institutions and secured against a ring-fenced pool of assets to which bondholders have direct recourse as preferred creditors. The proposed Directive provides requirements for issuing covered bonds and the structural features of covered bonds, including dual recourse and bankruptcy remoteness. There are also provisions to address liquidity risk through the imposition of a liquidity buffer related to the cover pool and transparency provisions requiring information to be disclosed to covered bond investors. In addition, the proposed Directive provides for supervision at national level of covered bonds.

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The European Central Bank has confirmed that a collective agreement signed between the central banks operating TARGET2 component systems and the central securities depositories operating on the TARGET2-Securities platform can enter into force. The provisions of the Collective Agreement will take effect on March 20, 2018. The Collective Agreement provides a definition of a “common moment of entry” for payments and securities transfer orders that are matched in the systems of the signatories to the agreement. This common moment of entry will either be the moment at which a transfer order has been declared compliant with the technical rules of T2S by either the T2S platform or, if the CSD is operating a separate matching component, by the CSD. Defining the common moment of entry makes it possible to establish the point at which securities transactions become irrevocable and accordingly will provide certainty regarding the treatment of outstanding transactions if a participant becomes insolvent.

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The European Commission has published a Communication on completing the Capital Markets Union by 2019. The Communication confirms the Commissions commitment to completing the CMU by mid-2019 and announces the publication of the FinTech Action Plan, including a proposed Regulation on Crowdfunding, and the Sustainable Finance Action Plan. Legislative proposals on covered bonds, the cross-border distribution of collective investment funds and the law applicable to third-party effects of assignment are expected to be published on March 12, 2018. In May 2018, the Commission intends to publish a proposed Directive on credit servicers, credit purchasers and the recovery of collateral as well as impact assessments on the SME listing regime and the resolution of investment disputes.

The Commission states that completion of the CMU is more urgent due to the impending exit by the UK from the EU because the UK is currently the EUs largest financial centre. The Commission notes that an effective CMU will need to "open-up markets to give better access to finance for EU businesses and more and innovative investment opportunities for savers." 

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published on its website trading volumes and calculations for the purposes of the Double Volume Cap under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. The published data covers the periods January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 and February 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018.

The DVC has been introduced under MiFIR as a measure to limit the amount of dark pool trading, which can harm price formation in equity markets. The DVC places a cap on the volume of equities trading using two of the available waivers from the pre-trade transparency obligations of the MiFIR, namely the negotiated transaction waiver and the reference price waiver. The double cap comprises a per-venue cap of 4% of the total volume of trading in a particular financial instrument on all EU trading venues across over the previous 12 months and an EU-wide cap of 8%. ESMA is required to publish reports on the volume of trades that have relied on the waivers.  National regulators must suspend, for six months, trading under the waivers that exceeds either of the caps.

The publication of the data follows a delay announced by ESMA in January 2018 due to issues with the quality and completeness of data that had been submitted.

View the ESMA press release.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions has launched a consultation on proposed recommendations for trading venues and their regulators to consider when implementing, operating and monitoring volatility control mechanisms to preserve orderly trading. The consultation supports IOSCO’s objective of ensuring that markets are fair, efficient and transparent and focuses on automatic volatility interruptions and mechanisms to halt trading or reject orders.

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The International Organization of Securities Commissions has published a consultation report in which it seeks feedback on proposed Guidance to address the significant potential conflicts of interest arising from the role of intermediaries during key stages of an equity raising.

IOSCO has identified a number of key risks. In the early, pre-offering, phase of an equity raising, conflicts of interest can arise where analysts employed by firms managing the securities offering may be under pressure to present a positive view of the issuer. During the investor education and price-formation phase these "connected" analysts may produce conflicted research and conflicts can also be present during the allocation of securities. There can be both conflicts of interest and risks of misconduct where staff employed within firms that are managing an equity raising enter into personal transactions. These issues can damage investor confidence and the effectiveness of the capital markets as route for issuers to raise finance.

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The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Benchmarks) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 have been published to correct a drafting issue in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Benchmarks) Regulations 2018, which are due to implement parts of the EU Benchmarks Regulation with effect from February 27, 2018.

Under the U.K. Benchmarks Regulations, which were laid before Parliament on February 5, 2018, transitional provisions will apply until revoked on May 1, 2020. The transitional provisions include a provision that applies to existing benchmark administrators only in respect of benchmarks they were administering on or before June 30, 2016. The effect of the transitional provision is that these existing benchmark administrators will not need to obtain regulatory permission under the Financial Services and Markets Act.

The newly published Amendment Regulations amend the U.K. Benchmarks Regulations to ensure that the transitional provision applies to existing benchmark administrators in relation to benchmarks administered before, on and after June 30, 2016. These benchmarks administrators will also be able to rely on the transitional provision in respect of new benchmarks during the transitional period.

The Amendment Regulations take effect on February 26, 2018.

View the Amendment Regulations (S.I. 2018/204).

View the explanatory memorandum.

View details of the U.K. Benchmark Regulations.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its Supervisory Convergence Work Programme for 2018. It highlights a total of five key priorities for its work on supervisory convergence in 2018, comprised of three ongoing priorities (application of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments framework, data quality and investor protection) and two new priorities (Brexit and financial innovation).

In addition to the key priorities, the 2018 programme also sets out ESMA key objectives and main planned outputs in relation to a number of thematic and cross-cutting issues, including: investor protection and intermediaries; secondary markets; investment management; market integrity (including market abuse and benchmarks); post-trading (including CCPs, securities financing and settlement); corporate finance (in particular the new prospectus regime); corporate reporting; market data; financial innovation; IT infrastructure; and peer reviews.

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Following the November 2017 call for expressions of interest, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority announced the composition of a new working group on euro risk-free rates (that is, excluding bank credit risk). The working group will consist of 21 banks, which will be the voting members, and five non-voting industry associations (the European Money Markets Institute, the European Fund and Asset Management Association, the International Capital Market Association, the International Swaps and Derivative Association and the Loan Market Association). The European Investment Bank has also been invited to join the working group. The Commission, ECB, ESMA and FSMA will participate as observers. The working group is charged with identifying and recommending alternatives to the benchmark rates currently used in the EU – the EURIBOR and EONIA. The choice of alternative reference rates for the euro is expected by the end of 2018. The working group must also develop best practices for contract robustness and an adoption plan for the new reference rates, including any transitional plan for legacy contracts referencing the existing benchmarks.

View the working group information.

View the working group terms of reference.

The Bank of England has published statements of commitment to the FX Global Code, the UK Money Markets Code and the Global Precious Metal Code. By issuing the statements, the BoE is demonstrating that it will abide by the principles of the three market codes, both when acting as a market participant and also when its activities include acting as agent for HM Treasury in managing the UK's official reserves in the Exchange Equalisation Account. HM Treasury has separately confirmed that it is content with the BoE's ability to adhere to the codes. Six other central banks in the European System of Central Banks have also simultaneously issued their own statements of commitment to the Global FX Code and it is expected all ESCB banks will have done so by May 2018.

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The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Benchmarks) Regulations 2018 have been laid before Parliament and will come into force mainly on February 27, 2018. Certain provisions will come into force on July 1, 2018 and transitional provisions apply until revoked on May 1, 2020.

The UK already has a fairly comprehensive regime for benchmark regulation.  The new UK Regulations make the necessary changes to UK primary and secondary legislation to align it with the EU Benchmarks Regulation, which introduces a common framework and consistent approach to benchmark regulation across the EU and which has been directly applicable throughout the EU since January 1, 2018. The UK Regulations appoint the Financial Conduct Authority as "competent authority" for the purposes of the EU Benchmarks Regulation.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority has published a consultation setting out proposed changes to its Decision Procedure and Penalties manual and its Enforcement Guide. The amendments to DEPP and EG reflect changes introduced by the EU Benchmarks Regulation, which took effect on January 1, 2018. The Benchmarks Regulation has been implemented in the UK by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Benchmarks) Regulations 2018, which will make the necessary changes to the UK statutory framework when they come into force mainly on February 27, 2018.

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The administrator of the Euro OverNight Index Average, the European Money Markets Institute, has announced its decision not to pursue a thorough review of the EONIA benchmark.

EONIA represents the weighted average of all overnight unsecured lending transactions in the interbank market undertaken in the European Union and European Free Trade Association countries. EMMI, which also administers Euribor, had been engaged in a review program since December 2015 with the objective of enhancing EONIA's governance and operation to align it with the requirements of the EU Benchmarks Regulation, which took effect on January 1, 2018.

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Four Commission Delegated Regulations supplementing the Benchmark Regulation have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Benchmark Regulation regulates the provision of benchmarks, contributions of data to a benchmark and the use of benchmarks within the EU. It sets out the authorization and registration requirements for benchmark administrators, including third country entities, and stipulates requirements for governance and control of administrators. The Benchmark Regulation establishes different rules for different categories of benchmarks, depending on the risks involved, and imposes additional requirements on benchmarks considered to be critical. It also sets out the powers of national regulators to mandate, under certain conditions, contributions to or the administration of a critical benchmark.

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Two new EU Regulations introducing the new EU securitization framework for simple, transparent and standardized securitizations have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union - the STS Regulation and a Regulation amending the existing Capital Requirements Regulation. The two Regulations implement the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's amended Securitization Framework for alternative regulatory capital treatment for simple, transparent and comparable securitizations in 2014 as part of Basel III.

The STS Regulation provides the criteria for identifying which securitizations will be designated as STS securitizations, a system to monitor the application of those criteria as well as common requirements on risk retention, due diligence and disclosure. Originators and sponsors will be required to notify the European Securities and Markets Authority of any securitization that meets the STS criteria and ESMA will maintain a list of all such securitizations on its website. The STS Regulation allows (but does not require) originators, sponsors and securitization special purpose entities to use third-party firms to assess whether a securitization meets the STS criteria, provided that those firms are authorized by the relevant national regulator.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a final report setting out its technical advice to the European Commission on elements of the Short Selling Regulation that relate to market making, short-term bans on short selling and the transparency, reporting and disclosure requirements around net short positions. ESMA consulted on a draft of its technical advice in July 2017.

ESMA believes that the differentiation between the concepts of "market maker" under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and "market making activities" under the SSR should remain, but recommends revising the definition of "market making activities" under the SSR to ensure that certain activities carried out on a trading venue and OTC can benefit from the SSR exemption for market making activities. ESMA recommends extending the scope of the market making exemption to additional instruments that are currently only traded OTC and hedged through shares and sovereign debt.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement setting out responses to its earlier consultation in June 2017 on proposed Handbook changes to ensure that the Handbook is consistent with the provisions of the EU Benchmarks Regulation, which takes effect on January 1, 2018. The Policy Statement includes further clarifications, in particular on the treatment of commodity benchmarks, on one-off application fees and annual periodic fees and on other Handbook rules and guidance that the FCA will apply in addition to the BMR.

The Policy Statement includes the final form of the legal instrument which contains the Handbook changes. The FCA will make the Handbook changes once it has the necessary regulatory authority under proposed changes to UK secondary legislation.

The Handbook changes will affect benchmark administrators and also firms that are already supervised under EU financial services legislation and that either use or contribute input data to benchmarks.

View the Policy Statement (PS17/28).

The European Securities and Markets Authority has issued three consultations on technical standards under the new EU framework for simple, transparent and standardized securitizations. The new framework is made up of the STS Regulation and amendments to the existing Capital Requirements Regulation. The STS Regulation, which will come into effect in 2019, provides the criteria for identifying which securitizations will be designated as STS securitizations, a system to monitor the application of those criteria as well as common requirements on risk retention, due diligence and disclosure. The amended CRR sets out the regulatory treatment of exposures to securitizations that are deemed to be STS securitizations.

The STS Regulation requires originators and sponsors to notify ESMA when a securitization meets the STS criteria and ESMA will maintain a list of all such securitizations on its website. The STS Regulation allows (but does not require) originators, sponsors and SSPEs to use third-party firms to assess whether a securitization meets the STS criteria, provided that those firms are authorized by the relevant national regulator.

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The European Commission has published a consultation paper in which it seeks views on the main challenges for SME-dedicated markets and possible changes to EU legislation that might help build the EU high-growth SME markets. The consultation paper follows previous consultations and papers relating to the Capital Markets Union Action Plan.

The consultation focuses on SME Growth Markets, a new type of trading venue introduced under the Markets in Financial Instruments package. The consultation paper is split into two sections, the first of which considers the main drivers behind the downward trend of SME initial public offerings and bond issuances. The second section considers specific regulatory barriers to SME markets, small issuers and the local ecosystems surrounding SME markets. In particular, the Commission is seeking views on the MiFID II provisions which set the scope of SME Growth Markets, the market requirements for SME issuers to be assisted by a key adviser, delisting rules on SME Growth Markets and transfer of listings. 

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The European Banking Authority has launched a consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards on the homogeneity of underlying exposures in securitizations under the new EU framework for simple, transparent and standardized securitizations. The new framework is made up of the STS Regulation and amendments to the existing Capital Requirements Regulation. The STS Regulation, which will come into effect in 2018, provides the criteria for identifying which securitizations will be designated as STS securitizations, a system to monitor the application of those criteria as well as common requirements on risk retention, due diligence and disclosure for all financial services sectors. The amended CRR sets out the regulatory treatment of exposures to securitizations that are deemed to be STS securitizations.

The "simple" criterion provides, among other things, that the securitization must be backed by a pool of underlying exposures that are homogenous in terms of asset type and that the underlying exposures must include obligations that are contractually binding and enforceable, with full recourse to debtors and, where applicable, guarantors. The homogeneity requirement in the STS Regulation is designed to better enable investors to assess risk and conduct robust due diligence.

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The European Banking Authority has launched a consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards on risk retention requirements for originators, sponsors and original lenders under the new EU securitization framework for simple, transparent and standardized securitizations. The new framework is made up of the STS Regulation and amendments to the existing Capital Requirements Regulation. The STS Regulation, which will come into effect in 2018, provides the criteria for identifying which securitizations will be designated as STS securitizations, a system to monitor the application of those criteria as well as common requirements on risk retention, due diligence and disclosure for all financial services sectors. The amended CRR sets out the regulatory treatment of exposures to securitizations that are deemed to be STS securitizations.

The STS Regulation requires, among other things, originators, sponsors or original lenders of a securitization to retain on an ongoing basis a material net economic interest in the securitization of at least 5 %. The draft RTS specify in greater detail the risk retention requirement, including the modalities of retaining risk, the measurement of the level of retention, the prohibition of hedging or selling the retained interest and the conditions for retention on a consolidated basis.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards under the new EU Prospectus Regulation which entered into force on July 20, 2017. ESMA seeks feedback on the draft RTS in relation to: key financial information for the prospectus summary; data for the classification of the prospectus and how to ensure that such data is machine readable; advertisements; supplements; and publication of the prospectus.

ESMA invites responses to the consultation by March 9, 2018. ESMA will then finalize the draft RTS for submission to the European Commission by July 21, 2018.

View the consultation paper (ESMA31-62-802).

The European Central Bank has launched a consultation on the high level features of a new unsecured overnight interest rate for euro transactions, following its announcement of its intention to develop a new interest rate benchmark on September 21, 2017. This new ECB rate will represent the euro unsecured money market in the very short tenor (i.e. overnight) and will be based entirely on transactions in euro that are reported by banks in accordance with the ECB's money market statistical reporting. It will complement existing benchmark rates produced by the private sector and serve as a backstop reference rate.

This consultation is the first consultation in a process which, over the next two years, will see the ECB defining precisely what the new rate intends to measure, developing the calculation methodology and testing the robustness of the rate. The ECB is seeking feedback on a number of aspects in the design of the rate, including on the proposed definition of the rate's underlying interest and the scope of the rate. The ECB also welcomes feedback on any other high-level features or issues which should be taken into account.

Comments are invited by January 12, 2018. The ECB intends to produce the new rate by 2020.

View ECB consultation paper.

The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed that the 20 panel banks for the LIBOR benchmark have agreed to support LIBOR until at least 2021. The announcement follows the statement by the FCA's Chief Executive, Andrew Bailey, earlier this year that the future of LIBOR could not be guaranteed because the underlying markets (the markets for unsecured wholesale term lending to banks) are no longer sufficiently active. Work around moving from LIBOR to alternative reference rates is underway. For example, the Bank of England announced in October this year that the implementation date for the reformed Sterling Overnight Index Average Interest Rate Benchmark, known as SONIA, would be April 18, 2018. The BoE took over as administrator of SONIA in April 2016. The transition to the reformed SONIA is set for April 2018.

View the FCA's statement.

View Andrew Bailey's speech.

The European Commission has published a Report of the Commission Expert Group on Corporate Bonds on improving the European corporate bond markets. The review of the EU corporate bond market is part of the European Commission's Capital Markets Union.
The Expert Group makes 22 recommendations which relate to six objectives for improving the functioning of the corporate bond markets in the EU. The recommendations include, among others, amending the Market Abuse Regulation to ease the market sounding requirements although no specific recommendations on how to achieve that are made. The requirements have been viewed as imposing disproportionate burdens on companies, underwriters and other persons. The Expert Group considers that the requirements are aimed at large and liquid markets and not the more local, less liquid markets, such as the corporate bond markets and that the effect of the burdensome requirements may deter intermediaries from conducting market soundings and also deter the less frequent issuers from carrying out new issuances.

Read more. 

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published two Policy Statements designed to improve effectiveness of the U.K.'s primary capital markets, and the regulatory framework governing them to ensure they continue effectively to serve issuers and investors. The FCA consulted on proposed changes between February and May 2017.

The first Policy Statement sets out enhancements to the UK Listing Regime, including a change to the FCA's approach to the suspension of listing for reverse takeovers. The enhancements to the Listing Regime update how premium listed issuers may classify transactions and will enable property companies to better take into account asset values when seeking a premium listing. These proposals received overwhelming support from market participants.

The second Policy Statement sets out rule changes to improve the range, quality and timeliness of information available to investors during the equity IPO process.

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The Financial Stability Board has published a progress report on reforms to existing interest rate benchmarks and on the construction and implementation of alternative near risk-free interest rates (RFRs). This follows the FSB's recommendations for reforms in this area, published in July 2014. The report examines the progress made towards achieving those recommendations. The FSB's recommendations in the July 2014 report called for a strengthening of existing interest rate benchmarks, such as LIBOR, EURIBOR and TIBOR, collectively coined "IBORs," and other reference rates based on unsecured bank funding costs by underpinning them to the greatest extent possible with transaction data. In addition, the FSB proposed steps to develop alternative near risk-free interest rate benchmarks.

On the progress to fortify the IBORs the FSB notes that challenges remain. In particular, the FSB is concerned that the underlying reference transactions are limited for some maturities and that as a result some submissions remain based on various factors, including transactions and judgement of the submitters.

The FSB’s view is that good progress has been made with the second strand of the recommendations relating to the identification of RFRs. Alternative RFRs have been identified or selected in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States and headway has been made in reforming EONIA in the Euro area. The FSB encourages other member jurisdictions, such as Mexico and South Africa, to accelerate their intended measures. Furthermore, the FSB notes that limited advancement has been made towards transitioning the existing benchmarks to the RFRs and that impetus should be maintained to achieve the FSB recommendations.

The FSB will publish a further progress report in 2018.

View the progress report.

The European Central Bank's Advisory Group on Market Infrastructures for Securities and Collateral has published a report on the potential impact of Distributed Ledger Technologies on securities post-trading harmonisation and on the wider EU financial market integration.

The wide-ranging Report is divided into three parts. Part I of the Report considers the impact of DLT on accounts and account structures, the issuance of securities and Delivery Versus Payment. Part II of the Report considers the impact of DLT on settlement,  collateral management, asset servicing and regulatory and business reporting. The final part of the Report considers cyber-resilience, digital identity in DLT networks, data protection and professional secrecy, interoperability in a DLT environment and the impact of DLT adoption on TARGET2-Securities harmonization activities and on the wider EU financial integration agenda.

View the Report.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on proposed Guidelines on the obligations applying to the provision of and contribution to non-significant benchmarks under the Benchmarks Regulation. The Benchmarks Regulation requires administrators of all benchmarks to establish a permanent and effective oversight function for the provision of their benchmarks. The proposed Guidelines detail the composition, characteristics, positioning and governance arrangements of the oversight function. The draft Guidelines also detail the governance and control requirements for supervised contributors. The proposed Guidelines would apply to administrators of benchmarks, supervised contributors of benchmarks and to the relevant benchmark national regulators.

The Benchmarks Regulation will apply in full from January 1, 2018. The consultation closes on November 30, 2017. ESMA intends to publish its final Guidelines after the European Commission has published its Delegated Regulations that also relate to these topics.

View the consultation paper.

The European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority have announced that a new working group will be established which will be tasked with identifying and recommending alternatives to the benchmark rates currently used in the EU – the EURIBOR and EONIA. The working group, in consultation with market participants, will recommend an alternative risk-free reference rate and develop plans to transition from the existing benchmarks to the new RFR.

The European Central Bank also announced that it will start providing an overnight unsecured index before 2020 to provide further options for the choice of alternative rates for the euro area.

View the joint press release.

View the ECB’s press release.

The European Securities Markets Authority has published a consultation on proposed guidelines to ensure common, uniform and consistent application of the provisions of the Central Securities Depositaries Regulation that apply to internalized settlement reporting and to the exchange of information between ESMA and national regulators.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a consultation paper seeking views on aspects of its January 2017 mandate from the European Commission. The Commission mandate requests ESMA's technical advice on elements of the Short Selling Regulation that relate to market making, short-term bans on short selling and the transparency, reporting and disclosure requirements around net short positions.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched three consultations, setting out its draft technical advice to supplement the provisions of the Prospectus Regulation with delegated legislation to facilitate and reduce the costs of capital raising and to make prospectuses more accessible for investors. The Prospectus Regulation enters into force on July 20, 2017 and will take effect directly across the EU partly on July 20, 2017, partly on July 21, 2018 and the remainder of its provisions take effect on July 21, 2019. The Prospectus Regulation will repeal and replace the existing Prospectus Directive and its supplemental Regulation on the form and content of a prospectus. ESMA is consulting under its mandate from the European Commission, which requested technical advice on possible delegated acts on the format and content of the prospectus, the content, format and sequence of the EU Growth Prospectus and scrutiny and approval of the prospectus.

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The European Commission has published a consultation paper on conflicts of law rules for securities ownership, addressing so-called third party effects of transactions in securities and claims. The consultation relates to the Commission's Capital Markets Union and the objective of creating a single market for capital by facilitating cross-border investment.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its final Report containing draft regulatory and implementing technical standards under the Benchmarks Regulation. The Benchmark Regulation sets out the authorization and registration requirements for benchmark administrators, including third-country entities, and the requirements for governance and control of administrators. It provides for different categories of benchmarks depending on the risks involved, imposes additional requirements on benchmarks considered to be "critical" and gives powers to national regulators to mandate, under certain conditions, contributions to or the administration of critical benchmarks.

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted an amendment to shorten by one business day the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions.  Currently, the standard settlement cycle for these transactions is three business days, known as T+3.  The amended rule shortens the settlement cycle to two business days, T+2.

The amended rule is designed to enhance efficiency, reduce risk and ensure a coordinated and expeditious transition by market participants to a shortened standard settlement cycle.

Broker-dealers will be required to comply with the amended rule beginning on September 5, 2017.

View the final rule.

View the SEC fact sheet.

FINRA issued a notice seeking comment from interested parties regarding its current engagement programs.  The notice provides an overview of the engagement programs, with particular focus on FINRA’s committees, rulemaking process and member relations and related programs.

The notice is part of a new FINRA initiative to evaluate various aspects of its operations and programs to identify opportunities to more effectively further its mission. FINRA’s status as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) requires that FINRA engage effectively with its member firms, as well as investors and other stakeholders, many of whom devote time to these programs.

The comment period expires on May 5, 2017.

View the notice.

The European Commission has published a request to the European Securities and Markets Authority for technical advice on possible delegated acts under the Prospectus Regulation. The Prospectus Regulation has been agreed but is yet to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. It will enter into force 20 days after publication and apply two years after publication - currently expected to be June 2019. The Prospectus Regulation will replace the existing Prospectus Directive and sets out the requirements for a prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market. The Prospectus Regulation aims to simplify the rules and administrative obligations for companies wishing to issue shares or debt on the market and reducing the costs of preparing a prospectus, thus fostering cross-border investments in the single market, while at the same time still enabling investors to make informed investment decisions.

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