The Financial Stability Board has extended the implementation timelines for its recommendations on securities financing transactions, in particular those on minimum haircut standards for uncleared SFTs. SFTs involve the use of securities to borrow cash or other higher investment-grade securities, or vice versa. Such transactions can include repurchase transactions, securities lending and sell/buy backs. The FSB published, in 2015, its regulatory framework and recommendations for haircuts on uncleared SFTs, which included timelines for the implementation of the recommendations by FSB member jurisdictions. The FSB notes that while progress is being made in implementing the recommendations, many jurisdictions have not yet done so. The FSB acknowledges that most of the delay is due to the new date for implementing the Basel III framework, including the minimum haircut standards on bank-to-non-bank SFTs, which was postponed to January 2022.

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The International Organization of Securities Commissions has issued a statement on its Liquidity Risk Management Recommendations for investment funds. The statement is in response to the U.K.'s Financial Policy Committee's Financial Stability report which stated that the IOSCO Liquidity Risk Management Recommendations do not prescribe how it should be ensured that funds' assets and investment strategies are consistent with their redemption terms. IOSCO's statement sets out how the Recommendations provide a comprehensive framework for regulators to address liquidity risks in funds. IOSCO notes that the Recommendations allow some flexibility as to how they are implemented by jurisdiction due to the diversity of the funds sector. IOSCO does not believe that a global prescriptive standard is appropriate and will undertake an exercise in 2020 to assess how the recommendations have been implemented across the globe.

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Fulfilling its mandate under the European Commission's FinTech Action Plan to map the current authorization and licensing approaches for innovative FinTech business models in Europe, the European Banking Authority has published a report on the regulatory perimeter, regulatory status and authorization of FinTech activities under its remit, in particular the banking, payment services and electronic money services sectors. The European Securities and Markets Authority published its related report on July 12, 2019.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published two documents relating to sustainable finance in the credit rating sector. The first document is technical advice for the European Commission, responding to the Commission's mandate in its 2018 Action Plan for Sustainable Finance for ESMA to assess the current practice within the credit rating market concerning sustainability considerations. ESMA has assessed the extent to which environmental, social or governance factors are considered within credit rating agencies' credit assessments. ESMA concludes that CRAs are including ESG factors in their ratings, but it is difficult to assess the extent to which each factor is being considered in the various asset classes. ESMA warns that credit ratings should not be understood as providing an opinion on sustainability characteristics of an issuer or entity and recommends that the CRA Regulation should not be revised to require the consideration of sustainability characteristics in CRAs' credit assessments. However, ESMA advises that it may be appropriate to update the disclosure requirements in the CRA Regulation to enhance the transparency on how CRAs are considering the ESG factors.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a call for evidence on the impact of the inducements and costs and charges disclosure requirements under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. MiFID II restricts the payment or receipt of all fees, commissions and non-monetary benefits (which are defined as so-called "inducements") unless these enhance the quality of service provided to a client and do not impair an EU investment firm's duty to act in the best interests of its client. EU investment firms are obliged to disclose to each client all fees, commissions and non-monetary benefits received by them in connection with any investment service provided by them to that client.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a report on enforcement actions taken across the EU for breach of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments package. The report covers administrative sanctions and measures as well as criminal sanctions in aggregated form for 2018. ESMA notes that the data is limited because MiFID II has only applied since January 3, 2018, and some Member States were late in applying the requirements. Therefore, ESMA does not believe that it is possible to detect any trends using the limited data. ESMA will produce the same report annually, based on the submission of information from national regulators.

View the report.

The Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2019 have been made. The Regulations bring into force, from December 9, 2019, the expanded Senior Managers and Certification Regimes for all Financial Conduct Authority solo-regulated firms authorized under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which include asset managers and investment firms carrying out certain activities. These firms need to complete their initial certification assessments for existing certified staff and new hires by December 9, 2020, although they must have identified certification staff by December 9, 2019. A transitional provision states that the regime will only apply to Claims Management Companies that are authorized by the FCA by December 9, 2019 and to other CMCs on the date that they obtain their authorization.

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The European Money Markets Institute has published a Benchmark Statement on the administration of Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor). Earlier in July this year, the EMMI obtained authorization as the administrator of Euribor, which is a critical benchmark under the EU Benchmark Regulation. EMMI has made reforms to Euribor in order to ensure it meets the requirements of the Regulation, including adopting a new hybrid methodology, the phased implementation of which will be completed by the end of 2019.

View EMMI's announcement and the Benchmark Statement.

The draft U.K. Financial Services (Miscellaneous) (Amendment) (EU Exit) (No. 3) Regulations 2019 have been published.

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The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a consultation on proposals to reciprocate the French measure on large exposures, following a recommendation by the European Systemic Risk Board. In July 2018, France's Haut Conseil de stabilité financière (HCSF) imposed a measure under the Capital Requirements Regulation that lowers the large exposure limit, from 25% to 5% of a firm's eligible capital, for French G-SIIs and French O-SIIs for their exposures to French NFCs that are 'highly indebted'.

The PRA is proposing to apply the same 5% large exposure limit for exposures to certain French NFCs through amendments to the Large Exposures part of the PRA Rulebook. The proposals would apply to Global Systemically Important Institutions and Other Systemically Important Institutions from January 1, 2020.

Responses to the consultation should be submitted to the PRA by September 6, 2019.

View the consultation paper.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on proposed guidelines on performance fees in Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities. The consultation closes on October 31, 2019 and ESMA will publish its final guidelines once it has considered all of the feedback.

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Following its consultation earlier this year, the working group charged with implementing the European market's move away from EONIA, has published a recommended legal action plan for new and legacy contracts referencing EONIA. The implementation of the recommended legal measures is intended to address issues arising from the transition from EONIA to the euro short-term rate (known as €STR). €STR is a risk-free rate and, with a fixed spread, will replace EONIA as a reference rate in a variety of euro-denominated financial contracts, including derivatives, collateral remuneration for derivatives and cash products such as commercial paper, repurchase agreements and default interest payable under syndicated loans.

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The Director General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union of the European Commission has written to the European Banking Authority highlighting areas where further analysis is required on the impact and implementation of the Basel III reforms in the EU. The EBA is in the process of finalizing its advice to the European Commission on the impact within the EU of the implementation of the Basel III reforms to credit risk, operational risk, output floor and securities financing transactions.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a consultation paper on proposed guidelines on the compliance function requirements that are set out in the revised Markets in Financial Instruments package. The consultation closes on October 15, 2019 and ESMA intends to publish its final guidelines in Q2 2020. The final guidelines will replace ESMA's guidelines that were issued in 2012 under MiFID I because some of the 2012 guidelines are now set out in MiFID II or its secondary legislation and so reflect the enhanced role of the compliance function under MiFID II.

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The European Banking Authority has published its first report on its monitoring of the Liquidity Coverage Ratio implementation in the EU. The LCR has applied as a 100% minimum binding standard across the EU since January 1, 2018, ahead of the Basel implementation date of January 1, 2019. The LCR requirements are set out in the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive, supplemented by the LCR Delegated Regulation (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/61). The LCR Delegated Regulation allows national regulators some discretion when implementing the LCR requirements. The EBA's report sets out its observations on the implementation of the LCR, focusing on the level of divergence of implementation of the LCR across the EU. To enhance a more convergent implementation of the LCR, the EBA also provides some guidance for national regulators and banks on operational deposits, retail deposits excluded from outflows and notifications on additional liquidity outflows.

The EBA intends to continue monitoring implementation of the LCR, including the extent to which national regulators and banks apply its guidance incorporated in the report and will assess whether any more formal guidance is needed.

View the EBA's report.

Fulfilling its mandate under the European Commission's FinTech Action Plan to map the current authorization and licensing approaches for innovative FinTech business models in Europe, the European Securities and Markets Authority has published a report on the licensing of FinTech business models. The report sets out the key conclusions identified from the information collected from national regulators through two surveys that ESMA conducted in the last two years, and some of the actions that have been taken to address the emerging challenges. The report does not make any recommendations, but instead refers to previous advice and reports that make recommendations for an EU-level response to the issues.

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A Regulation and a Directive aimed at facilitating the cross-border distribution of investment funds have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Directive amends the Directive on Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive by introducing new provisions and amending certain existing provisions of those pieces of legislation. The new Regulation aims to increase transparency on the rules and procedures applicable to cross-border marketing of investment funds and regulatory fees and charges levied by national regulators. Member states are required to transpose the Directive into national laws by, and apply those laws from, August 2, 2021. Certain provisions of the Regulation will apply directly across the EU from 1 August 2019, with the remaining provisions applying from August 2, 2021.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on its proposed guidelines on compliance with disclosure requirements under the new EU Prospectus Regulation. The Consultation Paper may be of particular interest to investors, issuers, offerors or persons asking for admission to trading on a regulated market and any market participant who is affected by the new Prospectus Regulation. Responses to the consultation should be submitted by October 4, 2019. ESMA intends to publish a final summary of all consultation responses and a final version of the guidelines in Q2 2020.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on the development of pre- and post-trade transparency data and the functioning of the consolidated tape for equity instruments under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments package. The consultation paper sets out ESMA's initial views, taking into account feedback received during earlier roundtables and questionnaires. Responses to the consultation should be provided by September 6, 2019. ESMA will consider the feedback it receives in preparing its final report, which it intends to submit to the European Commission in December 2019. The final report will assist the Commission in preparing its review reports to the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, which are expected to be published in 2020.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has issued a Statement clarifying the application and interaction of the EU derivatives clearing and trading obligations following the entry into force of the revised European Market Infrastructure Regulation, known as EMIR Refit.

EMIR Refit has, subject to limited exceptions, applied directly across the EU since June 17, 2019. EMIR Refit amended the definition of a Financial Counterparty, bringing central securities depositories authorized under the EU Central Securities Depositories Regulation within scope and categorizing all Alternative Investment Funds as FCs (or, for non-EU funds, as third-country entities equivalent to FCs). It also introduced a clearing threshold for FCs, meaning that small FCs are exempt from the clearing obligation. In addition, Non-Financial Counterparties that meet the clearing threshold no longer must clear all derivatives that they enter that are subject to the clearing obligation, but only those derivatives in the asset class for which they have exceeded the threshold.

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The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator has launched a consultation on the PSR's proposed approach to assessing the profitability of card-acquiring service providers for U.K. merchants and consumers. The Consultation Paper may be of particular interest to providers of card-acquiring services, merchant trade bodies and merchants, as well as card scheme operators and issuers. Responses to the consultation should be submitted by August 1, 2019. Following the consultation, the PSR intends to publish a report setting out its interim conclusions on the supply of card-acquiring services.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a Statement cautioning contracts for difference providers to comply with its temporary product intervention measure restricting the marketing, distribution or sale of CfDs to retail clients. The measure is due to expire at the end of the day on July 31, 2019, unless ESMA again renews it.

In its Statement, ESMA states that it has noticed and is concerned that certain firms are not complying with the temporary CfD restriction or any similar permanent national measure. ESMA reminds firms that the temporary CfD restriction does not apply to eligible counterparties or professional clients, including to retail clients who opt to being treated as professional clients, as defined in the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. However, firms must comply with the MiFID II requirements when dealing with a retail client that requests to opt up to being treated as a professional client, including by alerting clients to the loss of protection afforded by the temporary CfD restriction. ESMA also reminds firms that they should not incentivize a retail client to become a professional client by using language that promotes the status or benefits of professional clients.

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The Prospectus Regulation Rules Instrument 2019 has been published, setting out the new FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules sourcebook. The Instrument also makes amendments to certain other sections of the FCA Handbook as well as to the FCA's Enforcement Guide and Perimeter Guidance manual. The new rules aim to align the U.K. rules with the EU Prospectus Regulation and will take effect from July 21, 2019.

Any prospectus approved by the FCA before July 21, 2019 will be governed by national law under the old Prospectus Directive regime until either: (i) the end of the prospectus' validity; or (ii) July 21, 2020. Prospectuses submitted for approval on or after July 21, 2019 must be in line with the EU Prospectus Regulation and the FCA's new Prospectus Regulation Rules sourcebook.

View the Prospectus Regulation Rules Instrument 2019.

View details of the FCA Policy Statement on the Prospectus Regulation Rules sourcebook.

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority has published details of its Abnormal Trading Volume ratio, a new metric by which the FCA intends to measure "market cleanliness". Market cleanliness refers to the level of market abuse activities, such as insider dealing or market manipulation, affecting transactions in the market. The FCA currently monitors market abuse using a variety of tools, including the mandatory submission of suspicious transaction and order reports by those involved in executing certain types of financial market transactions.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published its Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2019. The report considers topics including: (i) key highlights from 2018/2019; (ii) the U.K.'s withdrawal from the EU and the FCA's proposed approach to regulation in the wake of Brexit; (iii) the FCA's cross-sector and sector priorities; and (iv) perimeter issues. The report follows the publication of the FCA's first Annual Perimeter Report in June 2019, which provides a review of the FCA's regulatory perimeter.

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The European Banking Authority has published a progress report on its 2016 roadmap designed to address concerns about the variability of own funds requirements arising from the internal models that firms use to calculate their minimum credit risk capital requirements under the Capital Requirements Regulation. 

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have issued a joint statement clarifying how their traditional regulatory approaches would apply to how broker-dealers handle their customers' digital asset securities and transactions. Specifically, the statement focuses on how certain SEC and FINRA rules apply to broker-dealers that wish to take custody of digital asset securities or perform other noncustodial activities involving such assets.

The SEC and FINRA staffs (collectively, the "Staffs") said that a number of firms have applied to FINRA to engage in broker-activities involving digital asset securities, and a number of registered broker-dealers have also submitted applications to expand their businesses to include digital asset securities services. Many of these applications cover proposed business models that would involve the applicant taking custody of digital asset securities, while others would involve certain noncustodial activities.

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The European Banking Authority has published a report on the impact of financial technology on the business models of payment and electronic money institutions. The report aims to provide an overview of the current FinTech landscape and raise awareness of the main trends affecting business models. It follows major developments in the industry including the introduction of the revised Payment Services Directive (known as PSD2), the emergence of new market entrants offering innovative products and the growth of instant and mobile payment methods.

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HM Treasury has published a report on the activities undertaken by the U.K.'s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisory bodies in 2017-2018. The report follows the publication of the Financial Action Task Force's Mutual Evaluation Report, published in December 2018. The Mutual Evaluation Report found that the U.K.'s AML/CTF regime was the strongest of all the countries assessed by the FATF. However, the report still identified shortcomings in regulated firms' compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and the performance of supervisory bodies responsible for overseeing AML/CTF activity.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published the outcome of its multi-firm review into the safeguarding arrangements of customer funds by non-bank payment service providers. The FCA assessed how 11 non-bank PSPs complied with the requirements for safekeeping of customer funds under the U.K.'s Payment Services Regulations 2017 and Electronic Money Regulations 2011. These Regulations require authorized payment institutions and e-money institutions to take measures to safeguard their customers' funds, including segregating relevant funds and performing reconciliations, to ensure that in the event of the insolvency of the firm, the client's funds can be returned in a timely and orderly way. The FCA has provided guidance on complying with the requirements in the relevant Approach Document. Customer funds held by these types of institutions are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

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The European Commission's Technical Expert Group on sustainable finance has launched a call for feedback on the taxonomy for sustainable economic activities. The TEG's Report on Taxonomy was published on June 18, 2019, alongside the Commission's Guidelines on reporting climate-related information, an interim TEG report on EU climate benchmarks and a TEG report on an EU green bond standard. The Report on Taxonomy links to the EU's proposed Regulation on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment.

Feedback on the TEG's Report on Taxonomy should be submitted by September 13, 2019.

View the Report on Taxonomy.

View further details on the call for feedback.

View the Commission's Guidelines on reporting climate-related information.

The Single Resolution Board has published a paper setting out its approach to the Public Interest Assessment under the resolution framework for Eurozone banks. The SRB is the resolution authority for all banking groups and entities as well as cross-border groups that are subject to direct prudential supervision by the European Central Bank (i.e., for banks within the Eurozone Banking Union). Under the resolution framework, an assessment is undertaken as to whether it would be in the public interest for a failing bank or a bank that is likely to fail to be resolved. The assessment is based on the objectives of maintaining financial stability, protecting covered depositors and safeguarding public funds. Where resolution is not appropriate, a bank would instead be subject to national insolvency procedures.

The SRB's paper outlines the factors that it would take into account when carrying out the public interest assessment and how it applies the legal criteria. The paper also includes examples of how the SRB has conducted the assessment in practice by reference to recent resolutions involving banks such as Banco Popular Español S.A., Banca Popolare di Vicenza S.p.A, Veneto Banca S.p.A. and ABLV Group.

View the SRB paper.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation proposing to restrict the sale, marketing and distribution of derivatives and exchange-traded notes that reference certain types of unregulated, transferable crypto-asset to all retail clients by firms in, or from, the U.K. The FCA consultation follows the final report of the U.K. Crypto-Assets Task Force in October 2018. The FCA's view is that although the U.K.'s market in crypto-assets is relatively small, there is still a consumer protection issue that needs to be addressed.

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The Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank, Andrea Enria, has written a "Dear CEO" letter to the larger Eurozone banks on their preparation for the transition from interest rate benchmarks to risk-free-rates. The ECB is responsible for direct prudential supervision of certain significant banks based in the Eurozone as part of the Single Supervisory Mechanism. The ECB is seeking assurance from these banks that they have plans in place to address the transition from interest rate benchmarks to risk-free-rates, focusing on the transition from the Euro overnight index average, EONIA, to the Euro short-term rate - €STR - as a euro risk-free rate. EONIA will be calculated as €STR plus a fixed spread, from October 2, 2019, which is when €STR will be launched. EONIA is due to cease entirely from the beginning of 2022.

The ECB is requesting the significant Eurozone banks to provide: (i) a summary of the key risks to the reform of benchmarks; (ii) a detailed action plan on how to address those risks and pricing issues as well as implement process changes; and (iii) contact details for those at the firm overseeing the transition.

View the letter.

View details of the new EONIA methodology.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a statement setting out its reasons for failing to act in accordance with the European Securities and Markets Authority's Opinion on the FCA's measures restricting the sale of Contracts for Difference and CfD-like options to retail customers. Where a national regulator takes product intervention measures under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation, ESMA must adopt an opinion on whether those measures are justified and proportionate. If ESMA's opinion states that the measures are not justified and proportionate and a national regulator declines to take action on the basis of ESMA's opinion, the national regulator must immediately publish a statement on its website explaining why it has adopted that course of action.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published its signed Administrative Arrangement agreement dictating the circumstances in which it, as an EEA authority, may share the personal data that it holds with non-EEA authorities. The agreement is a standard form of agreement which will be signed by relevant EEA and non-EEA authorities and is designed to safeguard personal data transfers between authorities in light of new requirements imposed by the General Data Protection Regulation. The agreement includes, among other things, provisions restricting the circumstances in which relevant authorities may transfer data (including that it may only be transferred for the purpose of assisting the authority to fulfil its regulatory mandate and that it will only transfer data that are adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which they are transferred) and the processes the authority will establish to review their own policies and procedures on transfers of personal data.
 
View the FCA's signed Administrative Agreement.

The Financial Stability Board has published a report on the Review of the Technical Implementation of the Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity (TLAC) Standard. The FSB conducted a review of implementation of the TLAC Standard by jurisdictions that covered the Global Systemically Important Banks to which the TLAC Standard applied as at January 1, 2019 and the home and material host jurisdictions of those G-SIBs. The focus of the review was assessing whether implementation aligns with the timelines and objectives set out in the TLAC Standard.

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The U.K. Government has published a Green Finance Strategy for transforming finance for a greener future. The Green Finance Strategy has two objectives: to align private sector financial flows with clean, environmentally sustainable and resilient growth, supported by Government action and to strengthen the competitiveness of the U.K. financial sector. The Strategy document states that these objectives will be met by:
 

1. Greening finance: ensuring current and future financial risks and opportunities from climate and environmental factors are integrated into mainstream financial decision-making, and that markets for green financial products are robust in nature. Some of the action committed to by the Government includes: (i) announcing an expectation for all listed companies and large asset owners to disclose by 2022 (as per the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board's Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures); (ii) establishing a joint taskforce with U.K. regulators, chaired by Government, to examine the most effective way to approach disclosure and exploring the appropriateness of mandatory reporting; (iii) clarifying responsibilities for the Prudential Regulation Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Policy Committee to have regard to the Paris Agreement when carrying out their duties. The Government states that it will publish an interim report by the end of 2020, which will include an assessment of these steps.

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The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has announced its decision to review Part 6 of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. Part 6 requires providers of personal current account services to establish a system of alerts to their customers notifying them of specified information, including that the customer's account has exceeded a pre-agreed credit limit.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has ended its temporary prohibition on the marketing, distribution or sale of binary options to retail clients. ESMA's product intervention powers under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation allow it to impose temporary prohibitions or restrictions on certain financial instruments, financial activities or practices to address a significant investor protection concern in the EU.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published the Conduct of Business (Contracts for Difference) Instrument 2019, implementing product intervention measures designed to restrict the sale, marketing and distribution of contracts for difference and contract for difference-like options to retail consumers. The rules will affect: (i) retail clients who invest, or may invest, in CFDs and CFD-like options; (ii) investment firms caught by the provisions of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (including those caught by the Capital Requirements Directive, where appropriate) that are involved in marketing, distributing or selling CFDs and CFD-like options in, or from, the U.K. to retail clients; and (iii) U.K. branches of third-country investment firms that are involved in marketing, distributing or selling CFDs or CFD-like options to retail clients.

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The Bank for International Settlements has announced it will establish an innovation Hub to encourage international collaboration on innovative financial technology for central banks. The Hub's purpose will be to: (i) identify trends in technology affecting central banks; (ii) develop "public goods" in the technology space aimed at improving the functioning of the global financial system; and (iii) act as a focal point for central bank innovation.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has issued a statement confirming its intended approach to enforcing firms' compliance with EU "strong customer authentication" rules that will apply across the EU from September 14, 2019.

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The Global Financial Innovation Network, the group of financial regulators established in 2018 to support international financial innovation, has published a report on the progress made during its first year. The group is made up of 35 global regulators from 21 jurisdictions that work together to share knowledge and market experiences and enable innovative firms to interact with a network of regulators.

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced two new programs as part of its LabCFTC initiative. The first is LabCFTC Accelerator, which will provide the agency with a number of tools to drive its understanding and potential adoption of emerging technologies. The second is the CFTC's second annual FinTech Forward conference, which will take place on October 24, 2019 and bring together a variety of stakeholders in the FinTech ecosystem to explore the latest developments in the space.

As part of the LabCFTC Accelerator program, the agency seeks to better understand emerging technologies through the use of tools such as internal pilots and tests, market research and innovation competitions. The topic for the upcoming innovation competition will be announced at the FinTech Forward 2019 conference.

FinTech Forward 2019 will bring together innovators, regulators, market participants, thought-leaders and the general public to cover a number of areas in the FinTech space, including digital assets, commodities and platforms, machine learning and AI, RegTech and algorithmic trading. The agency also said it expects there to be a greater focus on international FinTech, as the event will coincide with the CFTC's Office of International Affairs' International Regulators Symposium. Registration for the FinTech Forward 2019 conference will be open to the public early this fall.

View the CFTC's announcement.

View details of the CFTC LabCFTC initiative.

The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator has published its fourth report on developments in access to payment systems and the governance of those systems.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has secured convictions against two individuals accused of insider dealing. Fabiana Abdel-Malek, a former senior compliance officer at the London office of a major European headquartered bank, and Walid Anis Choucair, her family friend, were both sentenced to three years' imprisonment for insider dealing.

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The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published revisions to its standards for leverage ratio capital requirements. The revisions relate to: (i) calculations of leverage ratios for "client-cleared" derivatives; and (ii) disclosure requirements for leverage ratios.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a consultation on proposed changes to its Decision Making and Penalties Manual and Enforcement Guide to incorporate its new responsibility for regulation of proxy advisors. The proposals will be of interest to those falling within the Proxy Advisors (Shareholders' Rights) Regulations 2019 and anyone who uses the services of proxy advisors. Responses to the consultation should be submitted by July 26, 2019.

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The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Prospectus) Regulations 2019 have been formally published and will come into force on July 21, 2019.

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