HM Treasury has issued a joint statement with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority confirming a targeted implementation date of January 1, 2022 for the reforms to the prudential regulation of U.K. investment firms set out in the U.K. Financial Services Bill.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published updated statements regarding the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020. 

Read more.

The U.K. Central Counterparties (Equivalence) Regulations 2020 (SI No. 2020/1244) have been made, granting equivalence for EEA CCPs from 10:59 pm on December 31, 2020. The decision will enable U.K. businesses and trading venues to continue using the clearing services of EEA CCPs under the U.K. European Market Infrastructure Regulation after the end of the Temporary Recognition Regime, provided that the Bank of England grants the individual CCP concerned recognition status.

The EU has granted temporary equivalence for U.K. CCPs, which is set to expire in June 2022.

View the Central Counterparties (Equivalence) Regulations 2020, SI No. 2020/1244.

View details of the temporary equivalence decision for U.K. CCPs.

The European Commission has published a roadmap for its proposed review of the EU's crisis management and deposit insurance framework. The framework consists of the EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, the EU Single Resolution Mechanism Regulation and the EU Deposit Guarantee Scheme Directive. It was introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis and has applied across the EU since 2015 (in the case of BRRD and DGSD) and 2016 (in the case of SRMR). 

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its final report and final draft Technical Standards on the amendments to the Market Abuse Regulation for the promotion of SME Growth Markets. SME Growth Markets were a new sub-category of multilateral trading facility introduced by the revised Markets in Financial Instruments package in January 2018 to facilitate access to capital for SMEs. ESMA is mandated to prepare: (i) Regulatory Technical Standards on liquidity contracts; and (ii) Implementing Technical Standards on insider lists and to submit those to the European Commission by September 1, 2020. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery of the final draft RTS and ITS have been delayed and ESMA acknowledges that it is unlikely that they will be adopted in time for the application of the amendments to MAR, which is January 1, 2021. The final report outlines ESMA's proposals and provides the final draft RTS and ITS that ESMA has submitted to the European Commission for consideration.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published two reports relevant to the EU Central Securities Depositaries Regulation. The CSDR provides a harmonized regulatory and prudential regime for CSDs and increases the robustness and resilience of securities settlement arrangements. There is a single market for CSD services across the EU and a third-country equivalence regime for CSDs. ESMA's reports, which will be considered as part of the upcoming review of CSDR by the European Commission, are on the following:
 

1. Internalized settlement, which is the regime for settlement other than through an EU CSD. In the report, ESMA notes that no significant risks have been identified. National EU regulators have identified that operational risk and custody risk are evident, in response to which, ESMA recommends improved operational processes and enhanced identification of client accounts. According to ESMA, the issues involved in the internalized settlement reporting regime are normal in terms of any new reporting requirements. Noting the limited time period that the data covers, ESMA highlights that continued monitoring of the regime is important to assess whether the area warrants regulation. ESMA considers that custodian clients should at least be informed of the risks and costs of the place of settlement.
2. Cross-border services and handling of applications. ESMA found that CSDR has had a limited impact on the provision of cross-border services in the EU by EU CSDs. ESMA states that future reports will need access to more detailed information and that they should consider whether most of the activity remains with global custodians as well as the impact of CSDR on costs and competition.

View ESMA's reports.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has announced that it will be one of the 23 regulators participating in the cross-border testing initiative launched by the Global Financial Innovation Network. The other regulators involved are Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Bank of Lithuania (LB), Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), Capital Markets Authority (CMA, Kenya), Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (CB UAE), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), Financial Services Commission Taiwan (FSC Taiwan), Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), Hong Kong Insurance Authority (HKIA), Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC), Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC), Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The GFIN was launched at the start of 2019 and is a network of organizations committed to supporting financial innovation in the interests of consumers. One of GFIN's priorities is facilitating cross-border trials of emerging technologies across global jurisdictions (a global sandbox). GFIN has opened applications from firms to test innovative financial products, services or business models across more than one country or jurisdiction, and applications should be submitted by December 31, 2020.

View the GFIN cross-border testing site.

View the FCA's announcement.

The Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures has published its 2020 Status Report, describing progress in the global adoption of the TCFD's recommendations. 

Read more.

Following its consultation earlier this year, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published its final policy statement and rules to extend certain implementation deadlines for the Certification Regime and Conduct Rules. To assist firms impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.K. has made legislation—The Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2020— extending the deadline for completion of firms' first assessments of the fitness and propriety of their Certified Persons from December 9, 2020, to March 31, 2021. This applies only to solo-regulated firms (other than benchmark administrators).

In addition to extending that date, the FCA has also extended the following deadlines from December 9, 2020, to March 31, 2021:

• the date the Conduct Rules come into force for staff that are not Senior Managers, Certification Staff or board directors;
• the date by which relevant employees must receive training on the Conduct Rules; and
• the deadline for submission of information about Directory Persons to the FS Register.

The FCA has reiterated that firms that are able to certify staff and submit information for the FS Register before March 31, 2021, should do so.

View the FCA's policy statement and amended rules.

Following its statement at the start of October 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority has announced that U.K. trading venues have been positively assessed for the purposes of the post-trade transparency obligations and position limits regime under the Markets in Financial Instruments package. From January 1, 2021, EU investment firms will not be required to make transactions public in the EU via an EU Approved Publication Arrangement if they are executed on a U.K. trading venue that appears on ESMA's transparency list. In addition, commodity derivative contracts traded on U.K. trading venues that are on ESMA's position limits list will not be considered as economically equivalent OTC contracts and will thus not be subject to the EU position limit regime.

View ESMA's announcements and lists.

View details of ESMA's earlier statement in October.

View details of the FCA's statement on the U.K.'s position.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a further statement confirming that U.K. credit ratings can be endorsed by EU credit rating agencies from January 1, 2021, when the Brexit transition period ends. The EU CRA Regulation provides that banks, investment firms, insurers, reinsurers, management companies, investment companies, alternative investment fund managers and CCPs may use credit ratings only for certain regulatory purposes if a rating is issued by: (i) an EU CRA registered with ESMA; or (ii) a third-country CRA under the endorsement regime or the equivalence/certification regime. There is currently no equivalence decision for the U.K. CRA regime. Therefore, EU entities may use U.K. credit ratings only for regulatory purposes if the rating has been endorsed by an EU CRA. ESMA confirmed in March 2019 a positive assessment of the U.K.'s CRA regime for the purposes of endorsement. However, the final decision to endorse is for an EU CRA.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published an updated statement on the impact of Brexit on the trading obligation for shares where no decision on the U.K.'s equivalence as a third country market has been made. The EU Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation requires investment firms to conclude transactions in shares admitted to trading on a regulated market or traded on an EU trading venue, i.e., namely regulated markets, multilateral trading facilities, systematic internalisers and equivalent third-country trading venues. The U.K. has adopted this requirement in its onshored MiFID II legislation. Similarly, following its exit from the EU, the new U.K. onshored share trading obligation would restrict the trading of shares in the U.K. to trades on U.K. trading venues unless a third-country equivalence decision was made.

Read more.

The Internationals Swaps and Derivatives Association has launched its IBOR Fallbacks Supplement to the 2006 ISDA Definitions and 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol. Both will become effective on January 25, 2021. The fallbacks provide alternative risk free rates to be used in place of discontinued or non-representative IBORs referenced in derivative contracts. 

Read more.

Following its consultation earlier this year, the Financial Action Task Force has finalized amendments to Recommendation 1 and its Interpretive Note. Recommendation 1 provides guidance on assessing risks and applying a risk-based approach to money laundering and terrorist financing risks. The FATF has updated the Recommendation to require countries and the private sector to identify and assess risks of potential breaches, non-implementation or evasion of the targeted financial sanctions obligations referred to in Recommendation 7 linked to proliferation financing risks.

View the FATF's statement.

View the updated FATF Recommendations.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, in conjunction with certain law firms, has published a series of papers analyzing key legal issues for smart contracts and distributed ledger technology across four jurisdictions: France, Ireland, Japan and New York. These are in addition to the papers covering England and Wales and Singapore, which ISDA published in January 2020.

Read more.

The U.K. Government has published a Financial Services Bill setting out a proposed regulatory framework for the financial services industry following the U.K.'s exit from the EU. The Bill is part of the U.K.'s wider initiative under the Future Regulatory Framework Review to re-frame its regulatory framework. Although Brexit has brought challenges to the financial sector, there may also be post-Brexit opportunities for the U.K. to seize. The aim of these reforms is to cement the U.K.'s position as a global financial centre of excellence. A core piece of that will be to set conditions that continue attracting business to the U.K. and to look for opportunities to cut "red tape" whilst at the same time maintaining the U.K.'s globally recognized high regulatory standards.

Read more

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a further consultation on its proposed implementation of the fifth Capital Requirements Directive. CRD V came into force in July 2019. EU Member States are required to implement the majority of CRD V provisions by December 28, 2020. As this is prior to the end of the U.K.'s Brexit transition period, the U.K. is obliged to transpose those provisions of CRD V that are applicable befor the end of the transition period into U.K. law under the terms of the EU-U.K. Withdrawal Agreement.

Read more.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on possible improvements to the European Long-Term Investment Funds Regulation. The ELTIF Regulation has applied across the EU since December 2015 and is designed to encourage investment in long-term projects in the real economy, such as infrastructure projects, real estate and listed and unlisted small and medium-sized enterprises. However, only a small number of ELTIFs have been launched since the Regulation was introduced. In addition, in its 2020 report, the High Level Forum on the Capital Markets Union recommended that the ELTIF Regulation be reviewed in order to broaden the scope of eligible assets and reduce potential barriers to investment.

Read more.

HM Treasury has launched a consultation on Phase II of the U.K.'s Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review. Phase II focuses on how the U.K.'s financial services regulatory framework must be adapted to be fit for the future given the U.K.'s exit from the EU. The first part of Phase II, to which this consultation relates, seeks to establish a blueprint for financial services regulation. Responses to the consultation should be submitted by February 19, 2021. The second part of Phase II will constitute a final package of proposals and will be consulted on later in 2021.

Read more.

The Financial Stability Board has published a roadmap setting out a target timeline for firm's transition away from LIBOR benchmarks. The roadmap is aimed at financial and non-financial firms to ensure a successful transition away from LIBOR by the end of 2021.

Read more.

HM Treasury has published a summary of the responses to its consultation on the U.K.'s implementation of the fifth Capital Requirements Directive, together with HM Treasury's proposed next steps. CRD V came into force in July 2019 and EU Member States are required to implement the majority of its provisions by December 28, 2020. As this is prior to the end of the U.K.'s Brexit transition period, the U.K. is obliged to transpose these provisions of CRD V that are applicable before the end of the transition period into U.K. law under the terms of the EU-U.K. Withdrawal Agreement. 

Read more.

The European Banking Authority has opened a consultation on proposed revisions to the Guidelines on major incident reporting under the revised Payment Services Directive. PSD2 requires payment services providers to establish and maintain effective incident management procedures for, among other things, detecting and classifying major operational or security incidents. PSPs are required to notify their home state regulator if a major incident occurs. The Guidelines, which have applied across the EU since January 1, 2018, stipulate the criteria that PSPs should use to classify an operational or security incident as "major." Major incidents must be reported to a PSP's national regulator using the format provided in the Guidelines. The EBA is consulting on targeted amendments to the Guidelines. Responses to the consultation may be submitted until December 14, 2020. The EBA expects that the revisions to the Guidelines will become applicable by Q4 2021.

Read more.

The Financial Stability Board has published a Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. The Roadmap is the final stage in the G20's three-stage process to enable countries to enhance their cross-border payments systems. The FSB published the Stage 1 report in April 2020, which identified existing challenges in cross-border payments systems and specified key "frictions" in the cross-border payments system that contribute to these challenges. The Stage 2 report, published by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures in July 2020, covered the 19 building blocks where further public and private sector work would enhance cross-border payments and address the frictions ascertained by the FSB.

Read more.

Following its consultation earlier this year, the Financial Stability Board has published a final report on the regulation, supervision and oversight of global stablecoin arrangements. In the report, the FSB discusses the characteristics of GSCs, the risks posed by GSCs, existing approaches to regulating and supervising GSCs and issues with cross-border supervision of GSCs. Alongside the report, the FSB has published a summary of the responses to its consultation.

Read more.

The Bank for International Settlements, together with seven central banks (Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Sveriges Riksbank, Swiss National Bank, Bank of England and Board of Governors Federal Reserve System) has released a report on the principles and core features of central bank digital currencies. The central banks concerned do not give any opinions on whether they intend to issue CBDCs. Instead, the report sets out three key principles for a hypothetical CBDC, namely: (i) that it should do no harm to central banks' public policy objectives or interfere with financial stability; (ii) that it should complement existing forms of central bank money; and (iii) that it should promote innovation and efficiency, to deter users from adopting other, less safe instruments or currencies.

Read more.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has announced that it will launch its IBOR Fallbacks Supplement to the 2006 ISDA Definitions and its 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol on October 23, 2020, although they will not take effect until January 25, 2021. The Supplement and Protocol implement fallbacks for derivatives contracts that reference discontinued or non-representative IBORs.

Read more.

A Commission Delegated Regulation setting out Regulatory Technical Standards on central contact points under the revised Payment Services Directive has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The RTS apply where a payment institution or electronic money institution with its head office in one EU member state provides payment services on a cross-border basis, under the right of establishment, through agents in another (host) member state. PSD2 gives the national regulators in the host member state the option of requiring that payment institutions or electronic money institutions operating through agents must establish a central contact point in the host territory to ensure adequate communication and information reporting and effective supervision.

Read more.

The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee has published its latest Policy Summary and the minutes of its meeting held on September 30, 2020. The FPC notes a range of near-term risks that could impact the U.K. economy, including the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, post-Brexit trading arrangements between the U.K. and EU and various other geopolitical risks. 

Read more.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement and final rules prohibiting the sale, marketing and distribution to retail clients of derivatives and exchange traded notes referencing certain types of unregulated, transferable crypto-assets by firms acting in, or from, the U.K. The ban will apply from January 6, 2021.

The prohibition will apply to the marketing, distributing or selling of crypto derivatives in, or from, the U.K. to retail clients by MiFID investment firms, MiFID optional exemption firms, U.K. branches of third-country investment firms and to EEA MiFID investment firms that currently passport into the U.K. and which will continue operating after the Brexit transitional period ends on January 1, 2021.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a final report and final guidelines on the portability of information between securitization repositories under the EU Securitization Regulation. ESMA is responsible for the registration and supervision of securitization repositories. It is required under the Securitization Regulation to develop guidelines for supervisory purposes and will apply them from January 1, 2021, except for those provisions that require securitization repositories to have policies for the orderly transfer of data to other securitization repositories, which apply from June 18, 2021. The guidelines will apply to transfers of information between repositories either at the request of a reporting entity or in the event of a securitization repository's registration being withdrawn. The guidelines set out the specific procedures and the content of policies for the orderly transfer of information by securitization repositories.

View ESMA's final report and guidelines.

The European Central Bank has published a report by the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on a digital euro. The digital euro would be a form of central bank digital currency. No decision has been taken yet to issue a digital euro. The report sets out the reasons for having a digital euro, the potential impact of a digital euro, legal considerations, functional design possibilities and technical and operational approaches to digital euro services. A consultation on the potential launch of a digital euro is expected in October 2020.

The Bank of England issued a discussion paper in March 2020 on the opportunities, challenges and design of a potential U.K. CBDC. The ECB and the BoE are two of the central banks that are investigating the potential of CBDCs. Other central banks include the Bank of Canada, the Bank of Japan, the Sveriges Riksbank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank for International Settlements.

View the ECB's report on a digital euro.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has issued a statement confirming the U.K. position from January 1, 2021, for post-trade transparency reporting obligations and position limit regime under the U.K. Markets in Financial Instruments package. The FCA confirms that:

• U.K. firms trading on non-U.K. trading venues will not be required to publish details of those transactions through a U.K. Approved Publication Arrangement; and
• Commodity derivative contracts traded on trading venues are not considered by the FCA to be economically equivalent OTC contracts and will not be subject to the U.K. commodity derivatives position limits regime.

The FCA's statement follows the statement made the previous day by the European Securities and Markets Authority that it intended to assess U.K. trading venues for the purpose of the EU post-trade transparency obligations and position limits regime. If ESMA assesses a U.K. trading venue positively, then trades on the venue will not need to be reported by EU investment firms through an EU APA, and they will not be subject to the position limits regime.

View the FCA's statement.

View details of ESMA's statement.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published updated statements on the impact of Brexit on the application of the Markets in Financial Instruments package and the EU Benchmark Regulation. ESMA issued statements in 2019 to clarify the position in a no-deal scenario. These latest statements provide updates to take into account the Withdrawal Agreement and the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published final draft Technical Standards on the provision of investment services and activities in the EU by third-country firms under the Markets in Financial Instruments package. Amendments that were made to the MiFID II package under the Investment Firm Regulation and Directive require, among other things, third-country firms providing services to all types of clients to provide ESMA with further information. In addition, ESMA has increased powers over third-country firms providing services to eligible counterparties and per se professional clients, such as the ability to conduct on-site inspections and impose product restrictions or prohibitions. The revisions will apply from June 26, 2021.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has announced that it has granted temporary third-country recognition to three U.K. CCPs from January 1, 2021 under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. ESMA's announcement follows the time-limited equivalence decision for the U.K.'s legal and regulatory supervision regime of U.K. CCPs, which was published on September 21, 2020. The third-country recognition for ICE Clear Europe Limited, LCH Limited and LME Clear Limited means that EU clearing members of these three CCPs will be able to continue to access the services and that the CCPs will be able to continue to provide their services in the EU at the end of the transition period on December 31, 2020, following the U.K.'s withdrawal from the EU.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a final report on the review of the Market Abuse Regulation. MAR requires the European Commission to report on certain aspects of the operation of MAR, including where appropriate, making recommendations for legislative change. ESMA's final report and recommendations will support the work by the Commission on producing that report. The proposals will mostly affect issuers of financial instruments admitted to trading or trading on a trading venue, investment firms and asset management firms.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a Communication to EU bodies on its Capital Markets Union Action Plan. The CMU is an EU initiative which aims to enhance and further integrate the capital markets of EU Member States. An action plan to develop the initiative was first adopted in 2015 and has been commented upon and updated since then. The Commission's Communication sets out the latest Action Plan, and is accompanied by a Q&A. It follows the recommendations of the High-Level Forum on the CMU, which proposed 17 key recommendations for the CMU, and the Commission's Roadmap on the CMU which set out details of the Commission's proposed Action Plan for comments by interested parties.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a Communication on its EU digital finance strategy for the coming years. The global economy has been transformed by digital innovation, and this includes financial services. The Commission's strategic objective is to embrace digital finance for the benefit of consumers and businesses while ensuring digital transformation is soundly regulated. To achieve this objective, the Commission sets out four priorities for the digital transformation of the EU financial sector over the next four years and the actions it will take to achieve them.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a proposal for a new EU Regulation on a pilot regime for distributed ledger technology. The pilot regime is intended to promote legal certainty, to support innovation, to preserve market integrity and to ensure financial stability for the use of DLT in crypto-asset and e-money token markets. The Commission has simultaneously published a proposed Regulation on markets in crypto-assets and e-money tokens. The proposed Regulations follow the Commission's consultation on an EU framework for crypto-assets, which closed in January 2020.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a proposal for a new EU Regulation on crypto-assets. The proposed Regulation is intended to improve legal certainty in the regulatory treatment of crypto-assets, to support the development of crypto-assets, to preserve consumer protection and market integrity in crypto-asset markets and to ensure financial stability. The Commission has simultaneously published a Regulation on a pilot regime for distributed ledger technology. The proposed Regulations follow the Commission's consultation on an EU framework for crypto-assets, which closed in January 2020.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a Communication on its EU retail payments strategy for the coming years. The payments sector has experienced significant change in recent years. Retail payments are increasingly dematerialized and disintermediated, with large technology companies playing a more significant part in the payments sector. The EU payments market is also largely fragmented along national borders, leading to a small number of large firms providing cross-border services and inhibiting domestic FinTechs. The Commission's strategic objective is to establish a clear EU policy framework for retail payments that manages the risk of inconsistencies and market fragmentation across the EU.

Read more.

The European Commission has published proposals for a new EU Regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector and a new EU Directive amending certain pieces of existing EU financial services legislation to strengthen digital operational resilience and provide legal certainty on crypto-assets. The new legislation has been proposed as a result of the risks arising from the increase in digital opportunities within the financial sector. There are currently no detailed rules at EU level on digital operational resilience, exposing the need for comprehensive and harmonized legislation governing this area.

Read more.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on its intended approach to international firms seeking to provide regulated financial services in the U.K. after the Brexit transition period ends on December 31, 2020 and the U.K.'s temporary permissions regime comes to an end three years later.  The FCA intends to use the consultation responses to inform the publication of a document that would explain the FCA's general approach to regulating international firms. The consultation does not propose any changes to the FCA's existing rules or to the FCA Handbook. Responses should be submitted by November 27, 2020.

Read more.

The Bank of England has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the BoE and Prudential Regulation Authority's Brexit onshoring legislation. The U.K. left the EU on January 31, 2020. Under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, the U.K. agreed that EU legislation continues to apply in the U.K. until the end of the transition or implementation period on December 31, 2020 (known as "IP completion day"). The existing Brexit onshoring legislation ensures that, after EU law ceases to apply in the UK at the end of the transition or implementation period, U.K. legislation remains functional. Further updates to the onshoring legislation and regulatory rules are needed, however, to take account of the transition or implementation period (which delayed the entry into force of the onshoring legislation) and of additional EU legislation that will apply in the U.K. prior to the end of that period.

Read more.

The U.K. Treasury Committee has written to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, HM Revenue and Customs and the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, seeking answers to a series of questions on the actions each of the bodies are taking to combat economic crime and the significance of the "FinCen files" leak. The FinCen files are essentially a series of leaked suspicious transaction reports originally sent by banks to the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network between 2000-2017 notifying FinCen of suspicious transactions.

Read more.

The European Banking Authority has confirmed that it will phase out its Guidelines on legislative and non-legislative payment moratoria in accordance with its September 30, 2020 deadline. The EBA originally published the Guidelines in April 2020, stipulating that, for a period of three months, banks should not class payment moratoria that were based on national law or private-sector initiatives as forbearance or distressed restructuring practices, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Guidelines were extended for a further three months on June 30, 2020 but the EBA now intends to comply with the September 30, 2020 phase out deadline in light of the success of the temporary moratoria and the need to return to the usual rescheduling of loans on a case-by-case approach.  The treatment described in the Guidelines will continue to apply to payment holidays granted prior to September 30, 2020.

View the EBA's statement on the phase-out of its Guidelines.

View details of the EBA's Guidelines.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a report on the extent of proprietary trading by PRA-authorized deposit takers and investment firms incorporated in the U.K. Restrictions on proprietary trading (being the trading of financial instruments or commodities as principal by banks or investment firms) were introduced for ring-fenced retail banks in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and came into force in January 2019. However, the U.K. decided not to impose a complete ban on proprietary trading for all banks, as had been seen in other countries, such as the U.S. under the Volcker Rule. Instead, the PRA was mandated to produce a report under the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013, with a view to informing the U.K. Parliament of the need for any further restrictions on proprietary trading.

Read more.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions has published guidance on how to address potential conflicts of interest and associated conduct risks for intermediaries involved in the issuance of debt securities. Intermediaries may perform a variety of roles on a debt capital raising transaction and may also have a proprietary interest in the transaction itself.  In 2017, the IOSCO Board decided to examine conflicts of interest and other conduct risks in the capital raising process. IOSCO published guidance for the equity capital raising process in September 2018.

Read more.

The U.K. Law Commission has announced two new projects designed to ensure that English law is able to accommodate smart contracts and digital assets.

Smart contracts are automated contracts such as distributed ledgers which are produced without human intervention. The Law Commission plans to investigate various questions arising from the use of smart contracts, including: (i) in what circumstances will contracts written in code be legally binding; (ii) how should smart contracts be interpreted by the courts; and (iii) what are the legal consequences of the code not performing as intended? The Law Commission is seeking input from the business and technology sectors and intends to publish a call for evidence in late 2020.

Read more.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has written to the Co-Chairs of the Financial Stability Board Official Sector Steering Group seeking input on its proposed timing for the launch of its IBOR Fallbacks Protocol and IBOR Fallbacks Supplement. The Protocol and Supplement will implement fallbacks for derivatives contracts that reference discontinued or non-representative IBORs. The launch of the Protocol and Supplement is subject to approvals from various international competition authorities, which are still pending. Once the approvals have been obtained, ISDA intends to provide market participants with roughly two weeks' notice of the launch and effective dates of the Protocol and Supplement, allowing market participants to adhere to the Protocol 'in escrow' prior to its launch date. ISDA expects the effective dates of the Protocol and Supplement to occur approximately three months after the launch date, and in any case not before the second half of January 2021.

View ISDA's letter.