The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published a report to the G20 Leaders, providing an update on finalizing its post-crisis reforms, reviewing the work it has carried out to strengthen the international regulatory framework for banks since the global financial crisis. The report states that the Basel Committee has made good progress in finalizing its post-crisis reforms, which include: (i) carrying out a consultation on proposed revisions to the standardized approaches for credit risk, market risk and operational risk as well as on the design of a capital floor based on these standardised approaches; (ii) finalizing the revised Pillar 3 disclosure requirements; and (iii) completing its analysis and monitoring of the drivers of variability of risk-weighted assets in the banking book and trading book. The Basel Committee also published a second report to the G20 Leaders, providing an update on the implementation of Basel III standards since its 2014 progress report to the G20 Leaders. The report states that all member jurisdictions have implemented the Basel III risk-based capital regulations and that almost all member jurisdictions have implemented final rules on the liquidity coverage ratio. Work remains ongoing for the adoption of the Basel III standards for the leverage ratio and the net stable funding ratio. The Basel Committee aims to finalize the remaining core elements of the global bank regulatory reform agenda by the end of 2016.
 
View the reports.

The Prudential Regulation Authority published its Policy Statement, including final rules, and Supervisory Statement on contractual stays in certain financial contracts governed by third-country law. The rules will apply to all UK incorporated PRA-authorized banks, building societies, PRA-designated investment firms and their qualifying parents.  Those firms will need to agree with their counterparties to certain financial contracts governed by the laws of a jurisdiction outside the EEA that any action taken by the UK authorities to stay the termination rights in those contracts or to enforce a security interest would be recognized. Contractual agreement in writing is not required, as initially proposed. Instead, firms must ensure that the counterparty has agreed in an "enforceable manner" that its termination rights and rights to enforce a security interest will be limited according to the UK rules. The PRA states that legal opinions are not required as a matter of course but firms will need to ensure and demonstrate that they are in compliance. The rules will apply to contracts with counterparties that are credit institutions or investment firms from June 1, 2016 and to contracts with all other counterparties from January 1, 2017.
 
View the Policy Statement.
 
View the Supervisory Statement.

The Financial Stability Board published a report to the G20 Leaders on transforming shadow banking into resilient market-based finance. The report sets out the actions taken so far to address concerns raised over the past year associated with financial stability and shadow banking, such as the FSB's annual monitoring exercise to assess global trends and risks in the shadow banking system. This year's monitoring exercise covered 26 jurisdictions, four of which represent around 80% of global GDP and 90% of global financial system assets. The FSB has also taken steps to strengthen the oversight and regulation of shadow banking, in particular in the area of securities financing. The report also sets out the next steps required to transform shadow banking into resilient market-based financing, including on: (i) the implementation of the regulatory framework for haircuts on non-centrally cleared SFTs at the international level; (ii) the implementation of policy recommendations related to structural aspects of the securities financing markets; and (iii) the monitoring of global trends and risks in the shadow banking system. The FSB intends to report further on its progress in September 2016. On the same day, the FSB also published its 2015 global shadow banking monitoring report, regulatory framework for haircuts on non-centrally cleared securities financing transactions as well as its updated roadmap towards strengthened oversight and regulation of shadow banking in 2015.
 
View the FSB's report and related documents.

​The SEC named Marc Wyatt Director of its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations and leader of its National Exam Program.

The European Banking Authority published a consultation paper including draft Guidelines on the treatment of Credit Valuation Adjustment risk further to the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process under the Capital Requirements Regulation. The draft Guidelines implement the recommendations of the EBA's report on CVAs published in February 2015 and aim to form a common and proportionate approach to determine: (i) the materiality of CVA risk for an institution; (ii) material CVA risk under the SREP; and (iii) adequate additional own fund requirements where risks aren't sufficiently covered. The EBA has also published a data collection exercise for a Quantitative Impact Study to ensure the appropriate calibration of threshold values. The Guidelines will be finalized once the consultation process and QIS are complete. National regulators will then have two months from the date of publication of the translated versions of the guidelines on the EBA website to report whether or not they comply with the Guidelines. Comments on the consultation are due by February 12, 2016. It is expected that the data collection exercise will be completed by January 28, 2016.
 
View the consultation paper and draft Guidelines.

UK Regulations amending primary and secondary legislation to give effect to the EU Regulation on European Long-term Investment Funds, known as ELTIFs, was published. ELTIFs are a new type of alternative investment fund managed by authorized Alternative Investment Fund Managers.  The Regulations come into force on December 3, 2015.
 
View the Regulations.

The European Banking Authority published a report on the use by banks of the possibility to increase the maximum ratio between variable and fixed remuneration up to 200% with shareholder approval. Under the Capital Requirements Directive, the ratio is limited to 100% unless a Member State allows firms to increase the ratio provided certain criteria are met. All Member States, except for Belgium, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden, have allowed firms the ability to increase the ratio. Only firms in 15 Member States have used that ability. The report also notes that firms have made use of the increase in Member States where remuneration levels are higher.
 
View the report.

The European Banking Authority published a report on the steps taken by national authorities to ensure that firms that had introduced role-based allowances as fixed remuneration had taken or were taking steps to revise their remuneration policies. Role-based allowances were introduced by some firms following the introduction of the EU bonus cap, a limit of the ratio between the variable and fixed parts of remuneration of 100%. The EBA published an Opinion in October 2014 in which it stated that role-based allowances that are not predetermined, transparent to staff, permanent and that provide incentives to take risks are not compliant with the requirements under the Capital Requirements Directive. The EBA had asked national regulators to ensure that remuneration policies complied with its Opinion by December 31, 2014. The EBA's report confirms that national regulators have taken such measures although some of those will only be effective for remuneration awarded for the performance year 2015. The EBA intends to include criteria on classifying remuneration as either fixed or variable in its guidelines on sound remuneration policies. It is also working with the European Commission to review whether the CRD requires further reinforcement in this area.
 
View the report.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association re-launched the ISDA Resolution Stay Protocol. The new Protocol, called the ISDA 2015 Universal Resolution Stay Protocol, was developed in coordination with the Financial Stability Board. The ISDA 2015 Universal Resolution Stay Protocol includes an annex covering securities financing transactions, developed by ISDA with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. 21 financial institutions have adhered to the new Protocol and ISDA expects more to do so. By adhering to the Protocol, relevant parties are able to amend the terms of Protocol Covered Agreements and opt in to existing and forthcoming resolution regimes, ensuring that cross-border derivatives and securities financing transactions are caught by statutory stays on cross-default and early termination rights under the US Bankruptcy Code, should a counterparty enter into resolution.
 
View the Protocol.

The European Banking Authority, European Securities and Markets Authority and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (known as the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities) published two final draft Implementing Technical Standards on the mapping of credit assessments to risk weights of External Credit Assessment Institutions under the Capital Requirements Regulation and Solvency II Directive. The ITS aim to ensure sound credit assessments to encourage financial stability in the EU and determine an objective approach for attributing risk weights to the assessment of ECAIs. The final ITS will replace the Committee of European Banking Supervisors' guidelines on the recognition of ECAIs as well as the existing mappings of ECAIs' credit assessments issued by national regulators. The final draft ITS have been submitted to the European Commission for endorsement.
 
View the final draft ITS.

The European Central Bank published a consultation on harmonizing the exercise of Options and Discretions (O&Ds) available to EU member state national supervisory authorities under the Capital Requirements Regulation and Capital Requirements Directive, together known as CRD IV. Alongside the consultation, the ECB also published a draft Regulation on the exercise of O&Ds, a draft Guide on available O&Ds, an Explanatory Note as well as Q&As. An Option can allow a member state or a national regulator to choose how to comply with a given provision of CRD IV, selecting from a range of alternatives set out in such legislation. A Discretion can allow a national regulator or a member state to choose whether or not to apply a certain provision in CRD IV. The aim of the Regulation is to encourage the harmonization of supervision of significant banks in the Euro area, with the aim of safeguarding the financial stability and integration of the EU banking system. Comments on the consultation are due by December 16, 2015.
 
View the consultation and related documents.

The Prudential Regulation Authority published an updated Supervisory Statement on the Internal Ratings Based approaches to credit risk under the Capital Requirements Regulation. This is the approach under which certain banks and investment firms with sophisticated risk management systems are allowed to calculate capital requirements based on internally produced parameters. Amongst other things, expectations that have been superseded by decisions or technical standards adopted by the European Commission have been deleted, including on third country equivalence, and expectations for the notification of changes to IRB rating systems have been amended.
 
View the updated Supervisory Statement. 

The European Securities and Markets Authority published a final report setting out additional final draft Regulatory Technical Standards on the clearing obligation, in particular, the central clearing of interest rate OTC Derivatives in additional currencies. The additional final draft RTS propose a clearing obligation for fixed-to-float Interest Rate Swaps as well as forward rate agreements denominated in Norwegian Krone (NOK), Polish Zloty (PLN) and Swedish Krona (SEK). ESMA considers that because substantial trading volumes exist in these currencies, such contracts are of significant systemic relevance for the EU as well as to specific local markets and the addition of these classes to the clearing obligation will play an important role in reducing systemic risk. ESMA has already deemed IRS denominated in Euros (EUR), Great British Pounds (GBP), Japanese Yen (JPY) and United States Dollars (USD) eligible for mandatory clearing, for which RTS have already been endorsed by the European Commission and central clearing is expected to begin in mid-2016. ESMA has submitted the additional final draft RTS to the European Commission for endorsement.
 
View the final report.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions published its final report on standards for the custody of Collective Investment Schemes' assets. The report seeks to develop guidance for the custody of CIS assets consistent with the IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation. The report sets out standards that aim to identify core issues that require consistent review to ensure investors' assets are well protected. The key risks identified by the report are: (i) operational risk; (ii) misuse of CIS assets; (iii) risk of fraud or theft; and (iv) information technology risk. The report sets out the role and responsibilities of custodians and examines the ways in which key risks associated with the custody of CIS assets can be managed and mitigated.
 
View the report.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published proposals for the capital treatment of simple, transparent and comparable securitizations which will amend the revised securitization framework published in December 2014. The proposals should be read with the criteria for identifying simple, transparent and comparable securitizations released in July 2015 by the Basel Committee and the International Organization for Securities Commissions. The proposals include the additional criteria that a STC securitization would need to meet in order for lower regulatory capital requirements to apply. Asset-backed commercial paper programmes and synthetic securitizations are excluded from the proposals. Responses to the consultation are due by February 5, 2016. The Basel Committee intends to publish the final standard in 2016. The implementation date will take into account that the revised securitization framework is to be implemented by 2018.
 
View the consultation paper.

View the press release.

The Financial Stability Board published its fourth progress report on implementing the FSB's principles for sound compensation practices and their implementation standards. The progress report states that almost all FSB jurisdictions have fully implemented the principles and standards for banks which were issued in 2009. The FSB report also states that: (i) the oversight of compensation practices has been embedded in bank supervisory frameworks in most jurisdictions; (ii) several jurisdictions have shown an increase in the fixed portion of remuneration in 2014 compared to 2011; and (iii) compensation and risk governance frameworks are increasingly linked.
 
View the report. 

The European Banking Authority published a consultation paper on draft Implementing Technical Standards for common procedures that national regulators in the EU should use when consulting with each other about prudential assessments for proposed acquisitions and increases of qualifying holdings in credit institutions. The draft ITS set out the proposed process and timeframes for requests of information and includes proposed templates and forms that are to be used by national regulators. Comments on the consultation are due by February 10, 2016.
 
View the consultation paper.

The Financial Stability Board published a report on removing remaining obstacles to resolvability. The report states that significant work is still to be carried out to make resolution plans fully operational and recognizes that not all FSB jurisdictions have a bank resolution regime that is in line with the FSB's key attributes of effective resolution regimes for financial institutions, which were last updated in October 2014. The FSB intends, amongst other things, to develop guidance to implement the Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity standard and undertake work on CCP resolution and resolution planning, including possibly making a proposal for draft guidance.
 
View the report.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published a consultation paper on Total Loss Absorbing Capacity holdings, setting out the proposed prudential treatment of investments in TLAC-qualifying instruments by both Global Systemically Important Banks and non-G-SIBs that are subject to the Basel Committee's standards. The consultation proposes that banks deduct their holdings of TLAC instruments from their regulatory capital, subject to certain thresholds, and seeks to limit contagion within the financial system, should a G-SIB enter into resolution. The consultation also sets out revisions that are required to the text of Basel III, specifying how G-SIBs must take on board TLAC requirements when calculating regulatory capital buffers. Comments are due by February 12, 2016.

View the consultation paper.

The US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, together with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, issued guidance entitled Deduction Methodology for Investments in Covered Funds, in order to reconcile the regulatory capital rule and the Volcker Rule with respect to the capital treatment for investments in certain hedge funds and private equity funds (i.e. covered funds under the Volcker Rule). The Methodology provides banking organizations with guidance on reporting deductions of covered funds under the Volcker Rule as well as a step-by-step process to reconcile the treatment of overlapping tier 1 capital deductions for investments in covered funds required by the Volcker Rule with any regulatory capital rule’s deductions for investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions. 

View the press release and guidance.

The Financial Stability Board published a progress report on measures to reduce misconduct in the finance industry. The report, amongst other things, sets out the next steps that the FSB will take to address such misconduct. The FSB's aims include: (i) establishing a working group so that outlooks and good practices can be exchanged with a view to create possible necessary guidelines; (ii) examining the use of compensation tools for addressing misconduct, with a view to making recommendations on better practices if needed; and (iii) organizing a workshop so that national experiences can be shared on the role of enforcement powers of bank regulators in addressing misconduct by individuals.
 
View the report.

HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority jointly published a policy statement on the implementation of the directive amending the Transparency Directive, setting out final rules and summarizing feedback received on their previous joint consultation on proposed amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules (known as DTRs) for such implementation. The policy statement sets out the responses to the previous consultation, including on the requirement to disclose voting rights arising from holdings of financial instruments that have a similar economic effect to holding shares, as well as on the extension of deadlines for the publication of half-yearly reports and the period of time for which financial reports are publicly available. The policy statement also includes the FCA's new DTRs Sourcebook (Transparency Directive Amending Directive) Instrument 2015, implementing the changes as set out in the policy statement. The new rules enter into force on November 26, 2015.
 
View the Policy Statement.

The European Securities and Markets Authority announced it had elected three members to its management board, replacing outgoing members whose terms expire in November 2015. Lourdes Centeno and Elisabeth Roegele are both new members, whilst Klaus Kumpfmüller has been re-elected for another term. All three members will serve a term of two and half years starting December 1, 2015.
 
View the press release.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the FDIC and OCC released results from the annual Shared National Credit review. The SNC review has been conducted by the banking agencies since 1977 to assess risk in the largest and most complex credits shared by numerous financial institutions. A SNC generally includes large loans or formal loan commitment extended to borrowers by a federally supervised institution, its subsidiaries and certain affiliates and is shared by three or more unaffiliated supervised institutions. According to the release, leveraged lending continues to be a key issue in the SNC portfolio. Specifically, the agencies noted that leveraged transactions originated over the past year continue to show structural deficiencies, an issue that has persistently been cited by US regulators as problematic, including the 2013 interagency guidance on leveraged lending. The release notes that there seems to be a discrepancy between industry practices and safe and sound banking expectations when looking at leveraged transaction structures. The review also pointed out weaknesses related to oil and gas credits. 

View the press release. 

View the SNC Review. 

US FDIC Vice Chairman Thomas M. Hoenig spoke at the Annual International Banking Conference regarding “Post-crisis risks and bank equity capital”. Vice Chairman Hoenig’s remarks focused on the comparison of capitalizing banks with debt or equity capital. Specifically, he pointed out the key risks of using debt capital, as required by the recent TLAC proposal by the Federal Reserve. He noted that costly debt may put earnings pressure on firms and may even accelerate failure in the case of financial distress. Moreover, debt rules essentially require regulators to “predict what activities and investments might cause future crises”. Vice Chairman Hoenig suggested that equity rules would allow well capitalized institutions to withstand shocks and crises in the financial system and would not require any “extraordinary insight” from financial regulators. He argued that the overall economic benefits will be higher than the related costs, and points to the current outperformance of well-capitalized US institutions as compared to less well-capitalized European institutions as an example. According to Vice Chairman Hoenig, “…our goal to prevent failure should be every bit as important as resolving failed firms” and increased equity capital would be a stronger deterrent as compared to debt. 

View the remarks. 

Federal Reserve Board Governor, Daniel K. Tarullo, spoke at the 18th Annual International Banking Conference on “Shared Responsibility for the Regulation of International Banks”. He spoke about the benefits of international banking, including diversification and improved efficiencies, and the associated risks including contagion risk. Governor Tarullo also made recommendations encouraging further cross-border coordination including: (i) greater information sharing between countries; (ii) encouraging financial regulators to fully understand the risks and standards in other jurisdictions when considering substituted compliance; and (iii) regular contact between top country officials. In his conclusion, Governor Tarullo encouraged a “strong set of international prudential standards” and “good institutional relationships” in order to establish an improved environment for internationally active banks. 

View the speech.

William C. Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, made opening remarks at the Reforming Culture and Behavior in the Financial Services Industry: Workshop on Progress and Challenges. In his remarks, he reiterated certain points from his previous speeches, noting that there still remain “deep-seated cultural and ethical failures” in the financial services industry that need to be handled from the inside out. He continued to encourage the industry to focus not just on banning specific examples of misconduct, but rather to try to find the underlying causes. “I think our focus should be less on the search for bad apples and more on how to improve the apple barrels.”

View the remarks. 

The European Banking Authority published the details of its 2016 EU-wide stress test exercise that will be launched in the first quarter of 2016. The names of the 53 EU banks that will take part in the exercise have been published, of which 39 fall under the jurisdiction of the Single Supervisory Mechanism. The stress test will cover broadly more than 70% of the EU banking sector and will assess the ability of EU banks to meet relevant supervisory capital ratios in the event of adverse economic conditions. The EBA also published its draft methodological note for discussion together with a draft template to be used as part of the stress test exercise.  The results of the stress tests will be published in the third quarter of 2016.

View the press release.

HM Treasury published the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Relevant Authorised Persons) Order 2015 which amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. A RAP is a UK institution that, amongst other things is: (i) a credit institution with permissions under FSMA to carry on the regulated activity of accepting deposits; or (b) an investment firm that deals in investments as principal; and (c) is not an insurer. The Order provides for non-UK institutions to be "relevant authorised persons" if they fall into one of two categories and if they are not insurers. The two categories are: (i) a non-UK firm that is a credit institution with a branch in the UK and that is authorised to take deposits; or (ii) a non-UK firm that is an investment firm with a branch in the UK, authorised to deal in investments as principal in the UK and is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority for that activity. The Order enters into force on November 9, 2015.
 
View the Order and Explanatory Note.

The Financial Conduct Authority published a consultation paper on proposals for necessary changes to the FCA Handbook that are required to implement the new Market Abuse Regulation. The consultation paper seeks views, amongst other things, on the different options for implementing the new regime in two areas, namely: (i) the requirement for issuers to provide an explanation for a delay in the disclosure of inside information under certain circumstances; and (ii) the threshold for disclosure of managers' transactions, for persons discharging managerial responsibilities within issuers. MAR replaces the Market Abuse Directive and will apply from July 3, 2016. Comments on the consultation are due by February 4, 2016.
 
View the consultation.

HM Treasury published the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Misconduct and Appropriate Regulator) Order 2015 which amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Order, amongst other things, grants the Financial Conduct Authority with disciplinary powers over individuals working in financial services firms, and when there has been a breach of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2013 by a firm. The Order enters into force on March 7, 2016 (excluding Article 2 and 3(4) of the Order which enter into force on March 7, 2017).
 
View the Order and Explanatory Note.

The European Securities and Markets Authority published a consultation paper on draft Regulatory Technical Standards for Indirect Clearing Arrangements relating to OTC derivatives under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and on Exchange-Traded Derivatives under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. Indirect clearing is a situation where a person accesses clearing through two or more layers of intermediation, i.e. both a clearing member and another intermediary such as a regional bank or affiliate. The draft RTS on ICAs developed under MiFIR included rules for ETDs and a separate RTS under EMIR applies to OTC derivatives. A draft new RTS under EMIR is proposed. Both RTS aim to resolve well-known market difficulties resulting from the incompatibility of existing RTS with insolvency laws and current market practice. There are proposals for persons using indirect clearing to have a choice of separate net margined or gross margined accounts at clearing house level.  The requirements for "leapfrog" payments to be made by clearing members, bypassing insolvent intermediaries, are to be watered down considerably, due to concerns around conflicts with insolvency laws. New proposals are made for chains involving more than one intermediary. Both sets of draft RTS are included in the annexes of the consultation paper. Following the consultation period and any changes resulting from it, ESMA would submit new RTS to the European Commission. Comments are due by December 27, 2015.  
 
View the consultation paper.  

Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services on supervision and regulation of financial services. Her testimony consisted largely of a review of the regulatory framework and steps US regulators have taken since the financial crisis to strengthen the regulation and supervision of the largest banking institutions, including instituting capital, liquidity, stress testing and annual resolution planning requirements. Chair Yellen further spoke to the work of the Federal Reserve’s Large Institution Supervision Coordinating Committee, which is responsible for the supervision of the eight largest US G-SIBs. Though noting that the “financial condition of the firms… has strengthened considerably since the crisis…” both from financial stability and corporate governance perspectives, she stated that US G-SIBs continue to have “substantial compliance and risk-management issues”, which the Federal Reserve Board, through the LISCC, is dealing with “directly and comprehensively”. 

View the statement.

The Financial Stability Board published an updated list of banks identified by the FSB and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision as Global Systemically Important Banks. The list, which is updated on an annual basis, sets out 30 banks that are considered to be G-SIBs. Compared to the list of G-SIBs identified in 2014, China Construction Bank has been added and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has been removed. The next updated list will be published in 2016.
 
View the list of G-SIBs. 

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight extended time-limited no-action relief to Swap Execution Facilities from certain requirements in the definition of “block trade” in CFTC Regulation Section 43.2. Section 43.2 includes in its definition of “block trade,” a publicly reportable swap transaction that “occurs away” from a registered SEF’s trading system and executed according to the SEF’s procedures. The No-Action Letter extends time-limited relief to SEFs from the “occurring away” requirement until November 15, 2016. Overall, the extension will allow the CFTC continued time to monitor and evaluate SEF trading practices, specifically in regards to pre-execution credit checks. It will also allow the CFTC time to evaluate best practices and create a more comprehensive permanent solution for screening block trade orders for compliance with risk-based limits. 

View the press release. 

View CFTC Staff Letter 15-60. 

The US Comptroller of the Currency, Thomas J. Curry, once more discussed the issue of increased credit risk confronting the federal banking system during the Risk Management Associations' Annual Risk Management Conference. He argued that credit quality issues are a rising concern because banks are beginning to increase their risk appetite and are taking on additional credit risk. He notes that credit risk is increasing in two forms: relaxed credit underwriting and increased loan concentrations. In his statement, Comptroller Curry recommended that banks take initiative to address concentration risk on their own and also review more closely their loan loss allowance levels to determine whether it is appropriate in relation to the level of credit risk within the bank's loan portfolio.

View Comptroller Curry's remarks.

Mr. David Lewis was appointed Executive Secretary of the Financial Action Task Force as of November 1, 2015.

The US SEC issued final rules providing a framework of regulation to allow companies to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding. Concurrent with the adoption of the final rule, the SEC also proposed amendments to Rule 147 and Rule 504 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, to facilitate intrastate and regional offerings. The proposed amendments to Rule 504 of the Securities Act would increase the aggregate amount that may be offered and sold pursuant to the rule from $1 million to $5 million and apply bad actor disqualifications to Rule 504 offerings. The final rules enable individuals to purchase securities in crowdfunding offerings, subject to certain limits. Specifically, the rules: (i) allow a company to raise up to a maximum aggregate amount of $1 million through crowdfunding offerings in a 12-month period; (ii) permit individual investors to invest in crowdfunding offerings, subject to specified limits over a 12-month period; and (iii) limit the aggregate amount of securities sold to an investor during any 12-month period to an amount not to exceed $100,000. In addition, companies that conduct crowdfunding offerings must, pursuant to the adopted rules, make certain disclosures about their business as well as the offering. The adopted crowdfunding rules and forms will be effective 180 days after publication in the Federal Register and the forms permitting funding portals to register with the SEC will be effective January 29, 2016. Public comments on the proposed amendments to Rule 147 and Rule 504 are open for a 60-day period following their publication in the Federal Register.

View the final rule.

View the proposed rules.

The Farm Credit Administration, the FDIC, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency jointly issued a final rule establishing margin requirements for uncleared swaps. The FDIC and OCC had previously approved the final rule on October 22, 2015. The rule will apply to swap dealers, security-based swap dealers, major swap participants and major security-based swap participants supervised by the aforementioned agencies and registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sections 731 and 764 of the Dodd-Frank Act require the agencies to establish capital and margin requirements for registered swap dealers, major swap participants, security- based swap dealers and major security-based swap participants in order to address the risks to such entities and the financial system from non-cleared derivatives. Specifically, the final rule requires that initial and variation margin be exchanged between covered swap entities and certain counterparties in connection with non-cleared swaps and security- based swaps. The rule also specifies how margin is to be calculated, what types of margin are eligible and how margin is to be held. Additionally, the agencies approved an interim final companion rule to the joint final rule establishing swap margin requirements.

View the final rule.

View the interim final rule.

View the OCC press release.

The US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System proposed a rule, in consultation with the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, requiring the largest US Global Systemically Important Banking Organizations (known as G-SIBs) and the US Intermediate Holding Companies of foreign G-SIBs to maintain a minimum amount of unsecured long-term debt and a minimum amount of “Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity” as a percentage of total risk-weighted assets. Generally, TLAC is intended to increase the resiliency of an organization by providing a significant capital buffer comprised of regulatory capital and certain eligible debt, together with related capital buffers. The long-term debt, once converted to equity, is aimed at absorbing losses and recapitalizing the covered entity's subsidiaries in resolution. There are four major components of the proposed rule: (i) external long-term debt and related TLAC requirements applicable to the top holding company of a US G-SIB; (ii) internal long-term debt and related TLAC requirements applicable to covered US IHCs; (iii) clean holding company requirements; and (iv) regulatory capital deductions applicable to certain investments in long term debt of covered G-SIBs. Additionally, the Federal Reserve Board is requesting comment on internal TLAC requirements for US G-SIBs. Once finalized, the rules would apply to 8 US G-SIBs and their related entities as well as IHCs controlled by non-US G-SIBs. Banking organizations covered by the rule would be required to comply with most of the proposed requirements by January 1, 2019. The calibration of the risk-weighted assets component of the external TLAC requirement would be phased in over a three-year period commencing on January 1, 2019.

View the proposed rulemaking.

The Competition and Markets Authority published a provisional report related to its investigation into the supply of Personal Current Accounts and of banking services to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. The report identifies several competition issues in the PCA and SME banking market, including: (i) small numbers of customers switching to different bank accounts, due to banks not being under sufficient competitive pressure to attract customers; (ii) new banks and new products not attracting new customers; and (iii) high numbers of SMEs holding their business accounts in the same banks as their PCAs, with low levels of switching. The report also states that customers that are holders of more expensive accounts are not switching to better value and better quality cheaper accounts, which would be expected in a well-functioning market. The CMA is proposing remedies which include: (i) requiring banks to prompt customers to review the service they receive by receiving individual messages at certain "trigger points"; (ii) encouraging consumers and businesses to compare bank products by using Midata, an industry online tool, that allows consumers to easily access their banking data and compare it with other services; and (iii) creating a price comparison service for SMEs. Responses to the report are invited by November 20, 2015. The CMA also announced that it intends to review the undertakings put in place after the 2002 Competition Commission review into PCA banking in Northern Ireland and into SME banking generally.

View the CMA's report.

The European Banking Authority published a consultation paper on the draft Guidelines on the disclosure of confidential information in summary or collective form under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. BRRD prohibits the disclosure of confidential information received by national regulators, resolution authorities, the EBA, central banks and government ministries as well as potential acquirers, bridge institutions and others involved in the resolution of a financial institution unless such disclosure is in the exercise of their functions under the BRRD, or is made with the express and prior consent of the authority or institution providing the information or the information is in summary or collective form which does not identify the individual institution or entities. The EBA's proposed Guidelines specify how confidential information in a summary or collective form must be disclosed, requiring that the information is: (i) in an anonymized format; (ii) relates to a minimum of three entities subject to certain exceptions; and (iii) avoids making reference to specific characteristics, distinctive features or other qualitative data that would identify specific firms. The draft Guidelines are expected to apply from February 2016. Comments on the proposed Guidelines are due by January 27, 2016.

View the consultation paper.

HM Treasury published a consultation paper on the proposed amendments to UK legislation required to implement the Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities Directive V. UCITS V must be implemented by March 18, 2016. Whilst UCITS V will primarily be implemented through changes to the Financial Conduct Authority rules, legislative changes are also required. HM Treasury's consultation seeks views on such legislative changes whereas the FCA is consulting separately on the FCA rule changes. HM Treasury will be implementing legislative provisions on national sanction regimes and UCITS depositaries. HM Treasury is seeking views on its approach to the implementation of the depositary provisions, in particular: (i) governance practices such as the eligibility to act as a depositary; (ii) liability for safekeeping of a UCITS fund’s assets; and (iii) the delegation of custody of a UCITS fund’s assets. In relation to sanctions, HM Treasury aim to make minor amendments to the relevant sections already in place in the Financial Services and Markets Act, clarifying that breaches of national legislation transposing UCITS V trigger the FCA’s existing sanctions. Comments are due by December 17, 2015.
 
View the consultation paper.
 
View the proposed legislation.

The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation approved a final rule and a notice of proposed rulemaking that revise certain provisions of its Securitization Safe Harbor Rule. The final rule pertains to the treatment of financial assets transferred in connection with a securitization or participation. The rule clarifies the requirements of the securitization safe harbor as to the retention of an economic interest in the credit risk of securitized financial assets in connection with the effectiveness of the credit risk retention regulations adopted under Section 15G of the Securities Exchange Act. The final rule will be effective on the date that is the later of (i) 60 days after publication in the Federal Register and (ii) January 1, 2016. The notice of proposed rulemaking intends to align the Securitization Safe Harbor Rule with US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations dealing with the servicing of residential mortgages that became effective in January 2014. Specifically, the proposed rule would clarify that the requirement that a servicer take loss mitigation action within 90 days of delinquency does not necessitate that the securitization documents require a servicer to act contrary to the CFPB's mortgage loan servicing requirements as set forth in Regulation X. Comments on the proposed rule will be due 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register.

View the FDIC’s final rule.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued for public comment a proposal to increase the reserve ratio of the Deposit Insurance Fund to the statutorily required minimum level of 1.35 percent. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act increased the minimum for the reserve ratio from 1.15 percent to 1.35 percent and required the ratio to reach the new minimum by September 30, 2020. Moreover, the Dodd-Frank Act made this increase the responsibility of large banks with $10 billion or more in total assets. In effect, the proposed rule, if finalized, would impose upon banks a quarterly surcharge of 4.5 cents per $100 of their assessment base, with certain adjustments. It is expected that the surcharges will commence in 2016 and the reserve ratio would reach 1.35 percent following approximately eight quarters of payments of such surcharges (i.e. in advance of the required 2020 date). Comments on the proposed rule will be due 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register.

View the proposed rule.

View the FDIC Chairman’s statement.

 
The European Securities and Markets Authority published, as part of the preparations for the revised Transparency Directive entering into force on November 26, 2015, the following: (i) a new standard form for issuers to disclose details of their home member state to relevant national regulator; (ii) a new standard form for the notification of major holdings to relevant national regulators; (iii) an updated indicative list of financial instruments subject to notification requirements; and (iv) an update to its Q&As on the Transparency Directive.
 
View the ESMA documents.

The European Commission published a consultation on the possible impact of the maximum remuneration ratio rule for variable and fixed remuneration required by the Capital Requirements Directive. The consultation also addresses the overall efficiency of the remuneration rules as set out in the CRD and Capital Requirements Regulation, together known as CRD IV. The consultation aims to obtain views on the remuneration provisions of CRD IV, including on: (i) the efficiency, implementation and enforcement of the principle of proportionality, as well as the identification of any gaps arising from the application of the principle; (ii) compliance with the maximum ratio rule for variable and fixed remuneration as prescribed by the CRD; and (iii) the impact of the maximum ratio rule on competitiveness, financial stability and staff in non-EEA countries. The Commission must report back to the European Parliament and Council by June 30, 2016. Responses are due by January 14, 2016.
 
View the European Commission's consultation page.

View the consultation.

The European Commission announced that it had referred the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to transpose the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive into national legislation.  The BRRD was due to be transposed by all EU Member States by December 31, 2014. The referral follows a request in May 2015 by the Commission to eleven Member States, including the above six Member States, to fully implement the BRRD.

View the press release.

The European Banking Authority published translations of its final guidelines on the application of simplified obligations under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. The EBA's guidelines set out: (i) criteria for considering whether a firm can be subject to simplified obligations; (ii) entitlement for national regulators to attribute certain weightings to such criteria; and (iii) creation of mandatory indicators which must be used and optional indicators which may be used, in assessing application criteria. The BRRD allows national regulators to apply simplified recovery obligations, including simpler requirements as to the contents and details of resolution plans, and less frequency in their updates. Such obligations will not apply to globally systemically important institutions and other systemically important institutions. The Guidelines are addressed to national regulators and national resolution authorities and will apply from December 17, 2015.

View the Guidelines.

The Comptroller of the Currency, Thomas J. Curry, in a speech before the Exchequer Club, discussed the increasing credit risk in the federal banking system. Comptroller Curry believes the financial system is currently at a point in the market cycle where loan underwriting standards are weakening and credit risk is becoming an increasing point of focus. He stated, “...we should be asking whether banks have the appropriate risk management processes and structures in place to measure, monitor and control the increased credit risk they are taking on.”  In his remarks, the Comptroller mentioned leveraged lending and auto lending as two specific products of concern.

View the  press release.

View the Comptroller’s remarks.