The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking with respect to the modernization of the Community Reinvestment Act.

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The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued an interim final rule increasing the asset threshold for the applicability of the Federal Reserve Board’s Small Bank Holding Company and Savings and Loan Holding Company Policy Statement (Regulation Y, Appendix C) from $1 billion to $3 billion in total consolidated assets.

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The European Banking Authority has published a consultation paper setting out proposed amendments to existing Implementing Technical Standards on supervisory reporting, to align the reporting of securitizations with the new EU securitization framework. The new securitization framework took effect in January 2018 and comprises: (i) the Securitization Regulation (also known as the STS Regulation), which lays down common due diligence for institutional investors, risk retention and transparency measures and establishes a category of simple, transparent and standardized securitization in the EU; and (ii) a Regulation making targeted amendments to the Capital Requirements Regulation to provide for the capital treatment of STS securitizations and certain SME synthetic securitizations, including measures to reduce reliance on external credit ratings.

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The European Banking Authority has launched a consultation on proposed revisions to the existing Implementing Technical Standards for the financial reporting, or FINREP, framework under the Capital Requirements Regulation.

The proposed revisions relate to the reporting requirements for non-performing and forborne exposures. The EBA proposes revisions to existing templates to provide for additional breakdowns on performing and non-performing exposures, forborne exposures and collateral obtained. The proposals include some new templates for additional reporting by institutions with elevated levels of non-performing exposures that are not "small and non-complex." The new templates are designed to provide further insights into an institution's portfolios of performing and non-performing loans and/or or forborne loans and advances and on collateral obtained. The EBA also proposes revisions to the reporting on profit or loss items in FINREP and to account for the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standard 16 Leases, which is due to replace IAS 17 as the standard for the accounting of leases from January 1, 2019.

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The European Banking Authority has launched a consultation on proposed revisions to the Implementing Technical Standards that relate to supervisory reporting, under the common reporting, or COREP, framework, in line with the Liquidity Coverage Requirement, or LCR, under the Capital Requirements Regulation.

The proposed revisions to the ITS are intended to reflect amendments made to an existing Delegated Regulation supplementing the Capital Requirements Regulation. These amendments were made by an Amending Regulation adopted by the European Commission in July 2018. The changes introduced by the Amending Regulation require the EBA to make related changes to the ITS on LCR reporting to capture the necessary elements for its calculation and monitoring. The revisions to the ITS relate mainly to the calculation of inflows and outflows in securities financing transactions and collateral swaps or the unwind waivers envisaged for some SFTs and collateral swaps with central banks. Further minor amendments are also proposed.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has announced its intention to adopt a Decision to extend the prohibition on the marketing, distribution and sale of binary options to retail investors for a further three-month period from October 2, 2018. ESMA has previously adopted intervention measures for binary options, with the current Decision set to expire on October 1, 2018.

ESMA has power under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation to impose prohibitions or restrictions on certain financial instruments, financial activities or practices. This may be done when, among other conditions, the exercise of ESMA's power addresses a significant investor protection concern in the Union. Product intervention measures imposed by ESMA under MiFIR must be reviewed at appropriate intervals and at least every three months. If a measure is not renewed after three months, it will expire. In reviewing the current Decision, ESMA has agreed to exclude from the scope of product intervention certain types of binary option that are less likely to lead to a significant investor protection concern.

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The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation jointly issued an interim final rule and request for comment to expand the number of insured depository institutions and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks eligible for an 18-month on-site examination cycle.

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has proposed exempting certain bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies and community development financial institutions from swap clearing requirements. The proposed exemptions, issued in response to comments made through the CFTC's Project KISS initiative, codify prior no-action relief provided under CFTC Staff Letters 16-01 and 16-02.

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HM Treasury has published a technical notice entitled "Banking, insurance and other financial services if there's no Brexit deal," to provide guidance about the impact of the U.K. leaving the EU without a ratified withdrawal agreement in place. The guidance is relevant to financial services firms, funds and financial market infrastructures and to their customers. The technical notice is one of the first 25 of a series of U.K. government technical notices setting out information that will enable businesses and citizens to make informed plans and preparations in the event of the U.K. exiting the EU on March 29, 2019 without a deal. These technical notices include a notice on the government's overarching approach to preparing for a "no deal" scenario.

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The European Central Bank has published an Opinion on the legislative proposals adopted by the European Commission in December 2017 for a new framework for the prudential regulation of investment firms. The framework proposed by the European Commission comprises a proposal for a regulation on the prudential requirements of investment firms (including amendments to the Capital Requirements Regulation, the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation and the European Banking Authority Regulation) along with a proposal for a directive on the prudential supervision of investment firms, which includes amendments to the CRD IV Directive and the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. The ECB was asked by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to provide its opinion on the proposed framework in January 2018.

In the Opinion the ECB states that it generally supports the objectives of the proposed framework, which are to create a prudential framework better suited to the risks and business models of different types of investment firms and to subject systemically important investment firms to the same prudential rules as credit institutions.

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The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation jointly issued an interim final rule and request for comment to treat “liquid and readily-marketable,” investment grade municipal obligations as level 2B high-quality liquid assets (HQLAs) for purposes of the liquidity coverage ratio rule.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a final report and technical standards on the disclosure and reporting requirements under the EU Securitization Regulation (or STS Regulation). The Securitization Regulation requires originators and sponsors to notify ESMA of any securitization that meets the "Simple, Transparent and Standardized" criteria. ESMA will maintain a list of all such securitizations on its website. Securitization special purpose entities, originators and sponsors of a securitization will be required to make certain information available via a securitization repository to holders of a securitization position, to the national regulators and, upon request, to potential investors. The Securitization Regulation will apply directly across the EU from January 1, 2019 to securities issued under securitizations on or after January 1, 2019. Securitizations issued before that date may be referred to as STS securitizations provided that they meet certain conditions.

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HM Treasury has released another draft statutory instrument in preparation for Brexit, the Capital Requirements (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 - the draft Capital Requirements Regulations. The EU regulatory capital requirements framework for banks, building societies and investment firms comprises the Capital Requirements Regulation, the Capital Requirements Directive and secondary legislation in the form of technical standards. The CRD is implemented into U.K. law through various sector-specific legislation, for example, the Regulated Covered Bonds Regulations 2008, the Capital Requirements Regulations 2013, the Capital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations 2013, and the Capital Requirements (Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures) Regulations 2014 as well as through PRA and FCA rules. The CRR and the technical standards are directly applicable across the EU.

This draft Capital Requirements Regulations will amend the CRR to ensure that it continues to operate effectively in the U.K. when the U.K. leaves the EU. The domestic legislation implementing CRD is also amended to ensure that it continues to function as intended. The Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority will be responsible for amendments to the technical standards and for updating their rulebooks. They are expected to consult in Autumn 2018 on these aspects.

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has unanimously approved final amendments to clarify and simplify its regulations governing the duties and annual reporting requirements for chief compliance officers at futures commission merchants, swap dealers and major swap participants. The amendments, first proposed in May 2017, are designed to clarify certain requirements (including as to the annual CCO report) as well as harmonize the CFTC's requirements with similar Securities and Exchange Commission rules that will be applicable to security-based swap dealers.

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The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued modification to its Statement of Policy with respect to Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, which (among other things) prohibits persons with convictions for certain criminal offenses, or those who have entered into pretrial diversion or similar programs with respect to the same, from participating in the affairs of a FDIC-insured financial institution without prior approval of the FDIC.

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The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Announced that David Wilcox, the director of the Federal Reserve Board’s Division of Research and Statistics, would retire at the end of the year.  Mr. Wilcox has served as the director of the division for 7 years, and in his 30 years of service has also held positions on the staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, as assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department and as deputy director of the Division of Research and Statistics.

View full text of the Federal Reserve Press.

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and the International Organization of Securities Commissions have published a consultation paper on governance arrangements for OTC derivatives data elements other than the Unique Transaction Identifier and the Unique Product Identifier. Critical data elements are an important aspect of reporting derivatives transactions to a trade repository. The consultation paper proposes the key criteria for the CDE maintenance and governance, the different areas of CDE governance and governance functions and allocation of the governance functions to different bodies.

Responses to the consultation should be submitted by September 27, 2018 using the dedicated response form, available through the links below.

View the press release.

View the consultation paper.

The Financial Stability Board has launched a thematic peer review on implementation of the Legal Entity Identifier and is inviting feedback on implementation of the LEI at the same time. The objective of the LEI system is for unique identifiers to be held by all legal entities participating in financial markets across the globe. It is envisaged that the LEI system will lead to better data aggregation, enhance systemic risk monitoring and reduce costs to market participants.

Using the peer review, the FSB will: (i) consider the approaches and strategies used by FSB members to implement the LEI, including its adoption for regulatory requirements; (ii) assess whether current levels and rates of LEI adoption are sufficient to support the ongoing and anticipated needs of FSB member authorities; (iii) identify the challenges in further advancing the implementation and use of the LEI; and (iv) if appropriate, make recommendations for addressing any challenges.

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HM Treasury has published draft Deposit Guarantee Scheme and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. The draft regulations are expected to be laid before Parliament in autumn 2018 and to come into force mostly on the day the U.K. withdraws from the EU. These draft regulations are part of HM Treasury's measures to onshore EU legislation under the provisions of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The key changes proposed are:

• transferring the power to review, adjust and set the coverage level from EU bodies to the Prudential Regulation Authority, with approval from HMT; and
• removing the cooperation arrangement under which the U.K. Financial Services Compensation Scheme administers compensation payments to depositors at U.K. branches of EEA banks on behalf of EEA deposit guarantee schemes. A transitional provision will allow the FSCS to continue after Brexit to accept instructions and funds from EEA DGS should an EEA firm operating in the U.K. fail immediately before Exit Day.

View the draft Regulations.

View the explanatory guidance.

Two Commission Implementing Regulations supplementing the Benchmark Regulation have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Benchmark Regulation, which took effect across the EU in January 2018, sets out the authorization and registration requirements for benchmark administrators, including third-country entities, and the requirements for governance and control of administrators. It provides for different categories of benchmarks depending on the risks involved, imposes additional requirements on benchmarks considered to be "critical" and gives powers to national regulators to mandate, under certain conditions, contributions to or the administration of critical benchmarks.

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Draft U.K. secondary legislation has been published to onshore the EU Short Selling Regulation on the day the U.K. exits the EU. The draft Short Selling (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (or U.K. SSRs) are expected to be laid before Parliament in Autumn 2018 and to come into force mostly on the day the U.K. withdraws from the EU. The draft U.K. SSRs are made under the provisions of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 to address failures of retained EU law relating to short selling to operate effectively and other deficiencies arising from Brexit.

The explanatory guide to the U.K. SSRs states that changes for firms with shares admitted to trading on a U.K. venue should be minimal. The procedure for notifying U.K. instruments to the Financial Conduct Authority will be kept and instruments admitted to trading on U.K. venues will continue to have the same restrictions applied to them.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a further statement on the transitional exemption from the clearing obligation for pension scheme arrangements under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and delegated regulations. Transitional provisions provide for PSAs to be exempt from the clearing obligation until August 16, 2018. There is no provision in EMIR that would allow for a further extension of this exemption period. It is proposed that this exemption will be further extended under the proposal to amend EMIR, known as EMIR Refit. ESMA issued a statement on July 3, 2018 stating that national regulators are expected not to prioritize "their supervisory actions towards entities that are expected to be exempted again in a relatively short period of time and to generally apply their risk-based supervisory powers in their day-to-day enforcement of applicable legislation in a proportionate manner."

This new statement clarifies that ESMA does not expect national regulators to focus on any non-compliance by PSAs with the related trading obligation under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. Financial counterparties that are exempt from the clearing obligation under EMIR are also exempt from the trading obligation under MiFIR. It is likely that the clearing obligation exemption will expire before it is extended under EMIR Refit and therefore the trading obligation exemption would also lapse.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a "Dear CEO" letter on firms' cross-border booking models in preparation for Brexit. In the letter the FCA reminds firms that where the firm is expanding its European presence, it must still be possible for the FCA to supervise the firm's U.K. business and firms must still meet their threshold conditions. However, unlike other EU regulators, the FCA is not stipulating specific requirements for booking models. Instead, the FCA states that it is "open to a broad range of legal entity structures or booking models. This includes those making use of back-to-back and remote booking, providing their associated conduct risks are effectively controlled and managed. Our starting point is therefore not to restrict business models but to understand the principles and practice involved and how the conduct risks that arise from them are managed."

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A consultation paper on incentives to centrally clear OTC derivatives has been jointly published by the Financial Stability Board, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures. The paper is part of the FSB's post-implementation evaluation of the effects of the G20 financial regulatory reforms. The consultation paper sets out the results of an evaluation of the reforms that have been implemented to incentivize central clearing of OTC derivatives, including mandatory clearing requirements, capital, liquidity and margin requirements, as well as the reforms to CCP resilience, recovery and resolution. The evaluation found that:

• the changes observed in OTC derivatives markets are consistent with the G20 Leaders' objective of promoting central clearing as part of mitigating systemic risk and making derivatives markets safer.
• the relevant post-crisis reforms, in particular the capital, margin and clearing reforms, taken together, appear to create an overall incentive, at least for dealers and larger and more active clients, to centrally clear OTC derivatives.

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12 international financial regulators and related organizations have announced the launch of the Global Financial Innovation Network. The announcement, which was accompanied by a consultation paper on the role and objectives of the GFIN, serves as part two of a whitepaper published earlier this year by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority on the possibility of forming a "global sandbox." The GFIN, as proposed, would consist of three components: (i) information sharing and collaboration through a network of regulators; (ii) joint policy work and regulatory trials; and (iii) cross-border firm trials.

The GFIN hopes to build upon existing information sharing agreements to allow information sharing to take place on a larger and quicker scale, which would allow regulators to fill information gaps related to innovation, technological trends and emerging issues. This would help FinTech firms navigate international regulations by providing a comprehensive forum through which to interact with multiple regulators. In addition, the GFIN aims to provide a space to encourage joint policy work and address areas of divergence between financial services regulators, particularly with respect to emerging technologies and legacy business models and regulatory frameworks. As envisioned, the GFIN would also facilitate cross-border trials of emerging technologies across global jurisdictions.

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The Global Foreign Exchange Committee has published a paper entitled: "The FX Global Code at One Year: a Look Back and a Look Ahead." The FX Global Code was published by the GFXC in May 2017. It superseded and substantively updated existing guidance for participants in FX markets previously provided by the Non-investment Products (NIPs) Code. The Code comprises a set of global principles of good practice for the FX market, covering a broad range of areas, including ethics, governance, execution, information-sharing, risk management, compliance, trade confirmation and settlement.

The paper discusses the achievements of the GFXC and the way in which the Code has been received by market participants over the past year. These include increased awareness of and commitment to the Code, further integration of the Code into the business practices of FX market participants and evolution of the Code with changes in the FX market, in particular for transparency and disclosure.

The GFXC's upcoming priorities are outlined in the paper. These include:

• continuing the existing GFXC working groups - the disclosures working group and the cover and deal working group; and
• establishing two new GFXC working groups - one on buy-side outreach and the other to further integration of the Code.

View the paper.

Following a consultation that ran between November 2017 and February 2018, the Bank of England has published a policy statement on the procedure and necessary revisions to existing policies and procedures required for the establishment of an Enforcement Decision Making Committee.

The EDMC has been established as a response to a recommendation from HM Treasury arising from its review of enforcement decision-making at the U.K. financial regulators. HM Treasury had recommended the establishment of a functionally-independent decision-making committee composed of independent members with expertise suited to the Prudential Regulation Authority's regulatory focus. The BoE has gone beyond HM Treasury's original recommendation and, going forward, the EDMC will be the BoE's decision-making body in contested enforcement cases that relate to all areas in which the BoE has enforcement powers (that is, prudential regulation, financial market infrastructure, resolution and note issuances). It will ensure the necessary functional separation between the BoE's investigation teams and decision-makers.

Alongside the Policy Statement, the BoE has published revised statements of policy and procedures reflecting the EDMC's establishment. These cover the EDMC's remit and operation and the selection, appointment, remuneration and governance of EDMC members. The BoE has also issued a press release announcing its appointment of six EMDC members. Members are appointed for renewable, fixed, three-year periods and cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on proposed changes to its rules to ensure consistency with the provisions of the directly applicable EU Securitization Regulation (also known as the STS Regulation) and related amendments to the Capital Requirements Regulation, which take effect across the EU on January 1, 2019. This forthcoming EU legislation will introduce a new framework for simple, transparent and standardized securitizations, intended to make the EU securitization market function more effectively.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on general standards and communication rules for the payment services and e-money sectors.

Payment Service Providers and e-money firms are authorized or registered under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and Electronic Money Regulations 2011, respectively. The Payment Services Regulations 2017 brought certain of these firms within the scope of the FCA's rulemaking powers.

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The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has issued a statement on selling high-risk speculative investments to retail clients following the European Securities and Markets Authority's product intervention on contracts for difference products.

ESMA issued decisions in March and June 2018 to temporarily prohibit the marketing, distribution or sale of binary options and to impose restrictions on the marketing, distribution or sale of CFDs to retail clients. In the CFD decision, ESMA had clarified that turbo certificates were outside the scope of the CFD restrictions. However, in its recently updated Q&A on its product intervention, ESMA acknowledges that turbo certificates have comparable features to CFDs, such as leverage.

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The International Organization of Securities Commissions has published a report on mechanisms used by trading venues to manage extreme volatility and preserve orderly trading. Following its consultation earlier this year, IOSCO is making eight recommendations for trading venues and their regulators to consider when implementing, operating and monitoring volatility control mechanisms to preserve orderly trading.

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The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced that it would begin accepting national bank charter applications from non-depository FinTech companies that seek to engage in the business of banking.  In connection with the announcement, the OCC released a policy statement that outlines the OCC’s chartering authority with respect to non-depository FinTech companies, the OCC’s stated support for reasonable innovation, and the chartering standards and supervisory expectations applicable to such institutions.

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury released its report on Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation.  The FinTech report is the fourth in a series mandated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13772 on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System.

Read more.

The U.S. Officer of the Comptroller     of the Currency released an updated version of the Comptroller’s Licensing Manual Business Combinations booklet.  The booklet, which was updated in November of 2017, has been revised to make certain technical corrections and process updates with respect to clarifications regarding the public notice and comment period and a change in the public comment calculation period.

View full text of the revised booklet.

The European Banking Authority has published a final report and final draft Regulatory Technical Standards under the EU Securitization Regulation (or STS Regulation) on the risk retention requirements for originators, sponsors and original lenders. The Securitization Regulation requires, among other things, originators, sponsors or original lenders of a securitization to retain on an ongoing basis a material net economic interest in the securitization of at least 5 %. The final draft RTS specify in greater detail the risk retention requirement, including the modalities of retaining risk, the measurement of the level of retention, the prohibition of hedging or selling the retained interest and the conditions for retention on a consolidated basis.

The final draft RTS have been submitted to the European Commission for endorsement. The final RTS will apply directly across the EU twenty days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Securitization Regulation, which will apply from January 1, 2019, has replaced the risk retention requirements in the Capital Requirements Regulation. Once the final RTS enter into force, the existing Commission Delegated Regulation ((EU) No 625/2014) on risk retention requirements, made under the Capital Requirements Regulation, will be repealed.

View the final draft RTS.

View the existing Delegated Regulation on risk retention requirements. 

View details of the EBA's consultation on the draft RTS.

The European Banking Authority has published a final report and final draft Regulatory Technical Standards under the EU Securitization Regulation on the conditions for a securitization to be considered homogenous. Homogeneity is one of the requirements for a securitization to be classed as a simple, transparent and standardized securitization or STS securitization. Exposures related to STS securitizations will attract lower risk weightings for firms subject to the Capital Requirements Regulation. The new EU securitization framework will apply across the EU from January 1, 2019.

Read more.

The European Banking Authority has published a final report and final draft Regulatory Technical Standards under the revised Payment Services Directive on cooperation between national regulators in home and host states of a payment institution that operates cross-border in the EU. PSD2 took effect on January 13, 2018. The final report summarizes the feedback the EBA received to the proposed draft RTS and sets out the EBA's responses. The EBA confirms that it has made a number of the changes to the text of the final draft RTS as a result of the feedback.

The final draft RTS specify the framework for cooperation between supervisors of payment institutions operating on a cross-border basis, including the method for cooperation and details of information that should be provided between regulators. The final draft RTS also specify the means, details and frequency of reporting that a host national regulator may request from payment institutions concerning activities carried out in its territory through agents or branches. The final draft RTS will further apply to the framework for cooperation, and for the exchange of information, between national regulators for electronic money institutions providing services cross-border in the EU.

The EBA has submitted the final draft RTS to the European Commission for endorsement. The final RTS will apply across the EU twenty days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

View the final report and final draft RTS.

The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator has published a Report setting out its understanding of the Contactless Mobile Payments sector, following information-gathering during 2016 and 2017. CMPs are in-store payments made by consumers, using apps installed on their mobile devices, usually using Near Field Technology for communication between the mobile device and the retailer's point-of-sale terminal and with payment security enabled via a "tokenization" process.

The PSR conducted two calls for information in 2016 and 2017, to increase its understanding of:

• whether the way CMPs operate and the way they are being offered in the U.K. potentially affects competition, innovation and the interests of people and organizations that use payment systems (and, if so, how); and
• whether there were any restrictions affecting the provision of tokenization services.

The Report explains how CMPs work from a functional and technical perspective, outlines the main participants and their respective roles, summarizes the PSR's consideration of particular issues and proposes next steps.

Read more.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has published the ISDA 2018 U.S. Resolution Stay Protocol. The protocol was developed to facilitate compliance with regulations issued by the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that require global systemically important banking organizations to include contractual stays on early termination rights within in-scope qualified financial contracts, including swaps and repurchase agreements.

Adherence to the protocol will allow covered entities to comply with the U.S. stay regulations by amending in-scope QFCs to ensure that they are consistent with the limits on counterparties' exercise of default rights under Title II of Dodd-Frank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. The protocol will also limit counterparties' ability to exercise cross-default rights based on the insolvency or resolution of an affiliate of a covered entity.

ISDA members and non-members may adhere to the protocol beginning from the second half of August 2018. ISDA also announced it would also publish frequently asked questions to provide market participants with additional background information on the protocol and the U.S. stay regulations.

The first compliance date for the U.S. stay regulations is January 1, 2019.

View the protocol.

View ISDA's press release.

View Shearman & Sterling's client alert regarding the U.S. stay regulations.

The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on new rules for loan-based crowdfunding platforms, also known as peer-to-peer lending platforms. The FCA implemented rules regulating FCA-authorized firms operating investment-based and loan-based crowdfunding platforms on April 1, 2014. Investment-based crowdfunding is governed by the Markets in Financial Instruments package and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, as transposed into U.K. law. The regime for P2P lending is a national one and is less detailed and prescriptive.

The FCA began a post-implementation review of the crowdfunding sector and the applicable regimes in 2016. In the post-implementation review, the FCA identified that harm may be caused to investors as a result of poor business practices and due to the business models that some platforms have adopted. The consultation paper summarizes the FCA's findings from that review and sets out the FCA's proposals to change certain rules and guidance.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a Communication announcing its intention to adopt, with amendments, the Regulatory Technical Standards and Implementing Technical Standards prepared by the European Securities and Markets Authority under the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation. ESMA submitted final draft RTS and ITS to the Commission in March 2017.

The Commission has amended the draft RTS on the details of Securities Financing Transactions to be reported to Trade Repositories and the draft ITS on the format and frequency of reports on the details of SFTs to TRs. The draft RTS and ITS had contained wording to the effect that ESMA would have the power to endorse global unique trade identifiers for transactions or the global legal identifier system as it applies to the branch of an entity. This wording would have had the effect of delegating regulatory powers on potential future reporting requirements directly to ESMA, which is not possible under the legal framework for the European Supervisory Authorities. The Commission has made amendments to clarify that the Commission, rather than ESMA, has the responsibility to introduce changes to the reporting requirements, on the basis of a proposal by ESMA.

Read more.

The Prudential Regulation Authority has opened a consultation on proposals to implement the European Banking Authority's recent regulatory products on the definition of default in the Capital Requirements Regulation. The CRR risk quantification provisions set out that a default occurs when an obligor is past due more than 90 days on any material credit obligation to a firm, its parent or any of its subsidiaries. The materiality of the credit commitment is to be assessed against a threshold set by the national regulator according to its view of a reasonable level of risk.

The EBA developed a roadmap of regulatory products that aim to reduce unwarranted variability in the risk weighted assets calculated using banks' Internal Ratings-Based models. Three of these products pertain to the definition of default: the Regulatory Technical Standards on the materiality threshold for credit obligations past due, the Guidelines on the application of the definition of default and the EBA Opinion on the use of the 180 days past due criterion.

Read more.

The Financial Action Task Force has published a report on professional money laundering. The report is intended to assist authorities to target professional money launderers and the structures that they set up and use to launder money and to disrupt the organizations of their criminal clients. PMLs are referred to by the FATF as "individuals, organisations and networks that are involved in third-party laundering for a fee or commission." PMLs specialize in providing professional money laundering services, such as locating investments or purchasing assets, establishing companies or legal arrangements, acting as nominees, recruiting and managing networks of cash couriers or money mules, providing account management services and creating and registering financial accounts. By providing detailed explanations of the roles performed by PMLs, the FATF aim to facilitate the identification and understanding of how PMLs operate. The report provides recent examples of financial organizations acquired by criminal operations or co-opted to aid money laundering and focuses on some of the common methods used to launder funds, such as trade-based money laundering, account settlement mechanism and underground banking.

Read more.

The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a call for input on the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation. Since January 1, 2018, the EU PRIIPs Regulation has required manufacturers of PRIIPs to prepare and publish a stand-alone, standardized Key Information Document for each of their PRIIPs. Those advising retail investors on PRIIPs, or selling PRIIPs to retail investors, must provide retail investors with a KID in good time before the transaction is concluded.

The FCA is seeking input about the initial experience of: (i) those producing, advising on, or distributing PRIIPs and preparing and providing KIDs; and (ii) consumers using KIDs to decide whether to invest in these investment products. In addition, the FCA is asking for feedback on the scope of the PRIIPs Regulation, in particular, which instruments fall in or out of the scope of the requirements, and on practical aspects of certain cost and risk disclosure requirements.

Feedback to the call for input should be provided by September 28, 2018. The FCA intends to publish a feedback statement in Q1 2019.

View the call for input.

The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System launched the Consumer Compliance Supervision Bulletin.  The bulletin will be published by the Federal Reserve Board’s Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, and will provide high-level summaries of supervisory issues, highlight violations that have been identified, include practical guidance with respect to the management of consumer compliance risks and enhance transparency with respect to the Federal Reserve Board’s consumer compliance supervisory program.  The current issue of the bulletin includes content with respect to fair lending, unfair or deceptive acts or practices and regulatory and policy developments.

View full text of the bulletin.

The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator has published for consultation its draft terms of reference for a planned market review into the supply of card-acquiring services in the U.K. Merchants that accept card payments from customers purchase card-acquiring services from specialist providers to enable card payments to be accepted and processed on their behalf. The market review is a response to concerns raised by stakeholders that the supply of these services may not be working well for some merchants and, ultimately, consumers.

The market review will examine: (i) the nature and characteristics of card-acquiring services; (ii) the providers of these services and how their market shares have developed historically; (iii) how merchants buy card-acquiring services; (iv) the availability of credible alternatives to card-acquiring services for some or all merchants; and (v) how competition is working in the sector, including looking at issues around the fees merchants pay and the quality of service they receive.

The PSR is inviting feedback on its draft terms of reference until September 14, 2018. The PSR intends to publish finalized terms of reference, including a timetable for the review, before the end of 2018.

View the draft terms of reference for the review (MR 18/1.1).

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies and Core Activities) (Amendment) Order 2018 has been made and will come into force on October 31, 2018.

The Amendment Order amends the definition of a "core deposit" (set out in The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies and Core Activities) Order 2014) for the purposes of the U.K. framework for the ring-fencing of retail from wholesale/investment banking. Under the U.K. framework, if a deposit is not a "core deposit," then carrying on the regulated activity of accepting deposits in relation to that non-core deposit can take place in the non-ring-fenced bank.

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The European Banking Authority has published a final report in response to a call for advice from the European Commission, in the context of the Commission's Capital Markets Union project, to help the Commission assess the case for introducing European Secured Notes, an additional instrument which would be available for institutions to gain funding on the capital markets, particularly infrastructure loans and loans to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. ESNs are defined in the call for advice as "dual recourse financial instruments on an issuer's balance sheet applying the basic structural characteristics of covered bonds to two non-traditional cover pool assets - SME bank loans and infrastructure bank loans."

The Commission asked the EBA to assess whether a dual recourse instrument, similar to covered bonds, may provide a useful funding option to banks engaged in lending to SMEs and infrastructure projects and to determine an appropriate EU framework and regulatory treatment for this new product.

In the final report, the EBA: (i) assesses the business case for ESNs; (ii) analyzes the potential implications of issuances of ESNs on asset encumbrance; and (iii) considers the risk profile of SME loans and project finance. The EBA makes suggestions on the pool eligibility criteria and the structure and features of ESNs and on their potential regulatory treatment. The EBA makes five main policy recommendations on crucial aspects for the Commission to consider when possibly designing the legislative framework for ESNs. These relate to the structure, cover assets and regulatory treatment of SME ESNs, the EBA's reservations about introducing Infrastructure ESNs and the impact of ESNs on asset encumbrance.

View the final report.

The U.K.'s Department for Exiting the EU has published a further Brexit white paper, entitled: "Legislating for the Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union." The paper describes the Bill that will implement the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement in the U.K. The Bill, which must pass before exit day (March 29, 2019) will only be introduced once Parliament has approved the finalized Withdrawal Agreement as required under the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018. In the paper, the Government sets out how it envisages the Bill will implement the U.K.'s withdrawal and provides detail on those parts of the draft Withdrawal Agreement that have been agreed so far: citizens' rights, the implementation period and the negotiated financial settlement. The final provisions of the Bill will be subject to the final terms of the Withdrawal Agreement. The paper also sets out the procedures for Parliament's approval of the terms of the final Withdrawal Agreement.

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A draft of the Central Counterparties (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provisions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 has been laid before Parliament. The finalized Regulations will come into force partly on the day after the day they are made and fully on the day the U.K. withdraws from the EU.

The draft Regulations have been prepared using the power under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 to address failures of retained EU law to operate effectively or other deficiencies arising from the withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU. These draft Regulations deal with "onshoring" certain aspects of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation that relate to the regulatory framework for CCPs. The Bank of England wrote to non-U.K. CCPs in December 2017, outlining how it envisaged that non-U.K. CCPs will be recognized to provide services in the U.K. once the U.K. has withdrawn from the EU. Recognized status under EMIR enables third-country CCPs to provide clearing services to clearing members or trading venues established in the EU. The BoE explained in its letter that U.K. domestic law requirements for the recognition of non-U.K. CCPs would be substantially the same as the current requirements under EMIR, although references to international MoUs being in place would change, such that these must be established between third countries and relevant U.K. authorities.

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