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

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The U.S. House of Representatives passed four bills from the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, all by voice vote, which are primarily designed to reduce the regulatory burden on financial institutions.

Read more.

The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published a proposed rule for that would amend Regulation J (Collection of Checks and Other Items by Federal Reserve Banks and Funds Transfers through Fedwire).  The proposed amendments are intended to better harmonize Regulation J with the Federal Reserve Board’s recent amendments to Regulation CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks), and to reflect a transition from a paper-based check collection system to one that is essentially entirely electronic.  The proposed amendments are designed to clarify and simplify provisions of Subpart A of Regulation J, while removing obsolete provisions, and to better reflect the rights of stakeholders, including with respect to the Federal Reserve Banks.  The amendments also include proposed clarifications to Subpart B of Regulation J to reinforce that terms used in financial messaging standards do not confer legal status or responsibilities.  Comments to the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal are due 60 days from its publication in the Federal Register.

View full text of the Federal Reserve Board proposal.

The Financial Stability Board has published an update to its correspondent banking data report. The latest data report updates the data report the FSB published in July 2017 alongside a report for the G20 on progress made on the four point action plan the FSB launched in November 2015 to address the decline in correspondent banking relationships. The latest data report updates the July 2017 data report with additional information provided by SWIFT incorporating the period from January to June 2017.

This new data reveals the average number of active corridors per country (that is, direct relationships between countries, measured by the flow of SWIFT messages) increased in the first half of 2017 in Oceania, Eastern Europe, and Northern America but declined in the rest of the Americas and of Europe, as well as Africa and Asia. There was continued reduction in the total number of active correspondents (as measured by the number of banks that have sent or received messages corridor by corridor in a given month). This decline in active correspondents has not resulted in a lower number of payment messages (volume) or a lower underlying value of the messages processed through SWIFT, leading the FSB to conclude that the higher volume of messages could in part reflect a lengthening of payment chains, as previously discussed in its July 2017 report. Concentration levels of correspondent banking remain high.

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HM Treasury has directed the Prudential Regulation Authority to conduct an independent investigation into the prudential regulation of the Co-operative Bank plc during the period 2008 to 2013. HM Treasury is empowered to require the Financial Conduct Authority or PRA to undertake investigations where it considers that such an investigation is in the public interest and the relevant regulator has not launched an investigation on its own initiative. The investigation will consider the actions, policies and approach of the Financial Services Authority and one of the successors to its functions, the PRA, during their respective periods in charge of prudential supervision, including the withdrawal by the Co-operative Bank from the bidding process to purchase bank branches from Lloyds Banking Group (known as Project Verde).

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The Wolfsberg Group has published an updated version of its Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire (dated February 22, 2018). The CBDDQ has been enhanced and expanded in line with regulatory expectations on strengthening and building due diligence tools. The Group has also published guidance on completing the CBDDQ, frequently asked questions and a glossary. The CBDDQ is intended to provide a standardized document for use by those needing to conduct due diligence on correspondent banks. Over time, it is hoped that use and availability of the CBDDQ may, among other things, help prevent unnecessary de-risking.

The Wolfsberg Group was established in 2002 and comprises thirteen banks. Its objective is to develop frameworks and guidance for the management of financial crime risks. The CBDDQ is intended to support the work on de-risking in correspondent banking by the Financial Stability Board, the Financial Action Task Force and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures.
 

View the updated CBDDQ (version 1.2).

View the completion guidance.

View the FAQs.

View the Glossary.

Randal Quarles, U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Vice Chairman for Supervision, discussed the need to examine post-crisis reforms.  Focusing on post-crisis regulations that impact foreign banking organizations operating in the U.S., he noted that regulations should be reviewed to ensure not only efficacy, but also efficiency and transparency.

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The U.K.’s Joint Money Laundering Steering Group has confirmed that it has received approval from HM Treasury for the final revised guidance it published in December 2017 on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing for the financial services sector. The revisions to the guidance align it with the provisions of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, which is the UK implementing legislation for the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive (4MLD) and the revised Wire Transfer Regulation (WTR) which came into effect on June 26, 2017. 4MLD seeks to give effect to the updated Financial Action Task Force (FATF) global standards which promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. WTR sets out the minimum requirements that are essential to ensure the traceability of transfers of funds.

Read more.

The Financial Stability Board has published final Reporting Guidelines for implementing the November 2015 Global FSB Securities Financing Data Standards, which set out the standards and processes for global securities financing data collection, aggregation and reporting by national regulators for financial stability purposes. The standards, among other things, define the data elements for repurchase agreements, securities lending and margin lending and set out recommendations for national regulators on the collection of data from market participants, so that timely and comprehensive visibility into trends and developments in these markets can be obtained. National regulators must report in USD to the Bank for International Settlements, acting as the global aggregator.

Read more.

The European Central Bank has published two consultations on draft guides on the internal capital adequacy assessment process (ICAAP) and the internal liquidity adequacy assessment process (ILAAP). The draft Guides, which will be relevant to institutions within the Single Supervisory Mechanism, are designed to assist institutions in strengthening their ICAAPs and ILAAPs and encourage the use of best practices by explaining in greater detail the ECB’s expectations.

Read more.

The U.K. Prime Minister delivered her third major speech on the future partnership between the U.K. and the European Union following Brexit. In it, the Prime Minister restated the key elements and provided greater detail about the U.K.’s aims for a free trade agreement with the EU post-Brexit.

 The Prime Minister was candid about the fact there are some “hard facts” to be accepted, one of which is that access to each other’s markets may in certain ways be less than it is now. Two key aspects of the speech are of particular interest for financial services businesses and their advisers.

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The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced that the Secure Payments Task Force will conclude its efforts this month with a final publication detailing the lifecycles and security profiles of today's primary payment methods.  Established in 2015, the Secure Payments Task Force, which has engaged more than 200 financial institutions, payment service providers, and other stakeholders, has made a number of contributions to improve the security and resiliency of payment systems, including identifying key security priorities, developing resources and documentation to educate stakeholders and providing feedback to the Federal Reserve Board.  The members of the Secure Payments Task Force will transition into the FedPayments Improvement Community, a network established to provide stakeholders with opportunities to engage in the Federal Reserve Board with respect to its payment improvement initiatives.

View full text of the Federal Reserve Announcement.

As part of its market investigation into the supply and acquisition of investment consultancy services and fiduciary management services, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has published the first in a series of working papers on specific aspects of the investigation, as envisaged by the progress report it published in February 2018. The working paper sets out the CMA’s analysis and emerging findings to date in respect of the information available to pension trustees on the fees and quality of investment consultants and fiduciary managers. It should be read together with the issues statement for the investigation, which was published in September 2017. The working paper also provides an update on the CMA’s developing thinking on potential remedies that might be applied in the event that the CMA was to find an adverse effect on competition. Remedies being considered by the CMA include guidance and off-the-shelf materials for running better tenders, standardised information for prospective clients in response to tenders, better fee information, standardised performance metrics and stronger service quality metrics.

Read more.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has announced it will begin publication of three Treasury repo reference rates on April 3, 2018. The rates will reflect data from the previous day and will be published each day at approximately 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

These rates include the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), which will be based on triparty repo data from Bank of New York Mellon and cleared bilateral and GCF Repo data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation; the Triparty General Collateral Rate (TGCR), which will solely include triparty repo data; and the Broad General Collateral Rate (BGCR), which will be based on triparty repo data and GCF Repo data. In December, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee recommended SOFR as an alternative to U.S. dollar LIBOR in certain new U.S. dollar derivatives and other financial contracts.

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The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator has published the outcome of the consultation it launched in November 2017 on a contingent reimbursement model for the victims of so-called “authorized push payment” scams. That consultation, which closed on January 12, 2018, outlined high level principles for the CRM and requested input from stakeholders on how the model should be further developed, implemented and administered.

Taking into account responses to the consultation, the PSR proposes to proceed with the CRM model and will establish a dedicated steering group to develop it, in the form of an industry code for reimbursement of APP scam victims. The steering group will be comprised of representatives from key stakeholder groups, particularly consumer representatives and PSPs, with oversight and support from the PSR. Other relevant regulatory and governmental bodies will also be involved as observers.

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted 245-169 in favor of passing H.R. 4296.  The bill prohibits federal financial regulators from establishing operational risk capital requirements for financial institutions unless the requirements are based upon, and appropriately sensitive to, the risks posed by the institution’s current business and operations.  The requirements also must be forward-looking, rather than focused on historical losses of the financial institution, and provide for adjustment to capital requirements based upon the operational risk mitigating activities of the financial institution.  The bill was originally part of the larger Financial CHOICE Act, which passed the House in June 2017.  The bill was read in the U.S. Senate and referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, & Urban Affairs.

View full text of the bill.

The European Systemic Risk Board has published a final report setting out proposed amendments to the ESRB Handbook on Operationalising Macroprudential Policy and policy proposals on the legal framework of the systemic risk buffer and the structural buffers for global systemically important institutions (G-SIIs) and O-SIIs. Alongside the final report, the ESRB has also published an Opinion to the European Commission on structural macroprudential buffers.

Read more.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published a Consultation on its proposals for the third phase of the Pillar 3 Framework. Pillar 3 comprises a set of quantitative and qualitative disclosure requirements applicable to banks in relation to capital, risk exposures and risk assessment processes, which are designed to allow other market participants to assess each bank’s capital adequacy.

The Pillar 3 framework was last updated in March 2017, following a Basel Committee review. The Basel Committee now proposes some revisions and additions to the Pillar 3 framework which result from the finalization of the Basel III framework in December 2017.

Read more.

A Commission Implementing Regulation providing Implementing Technical Standards on the procedures and forms for exchange of information and assistance between national regulators under the Market Abuse Regulation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. MAR, which entered into force on July 3, 2016, requires national regulators to cooperate with each other in investigations and on supervision and enforcement matters by exchanging information, taking statements from individuals, conducting on-site inspections or investigations and in the recovery of monetary sanctions. The new ITS describe the procedures to be followed by national regulators when making, acknowledging, processing and replying to requests for assistance and when unsolicited assistance is provided and contain standard forms for national regulators to use when doing so.

The ITS enters into force on February 28, 2018 and apply directly across the EU.

View the Commission Implementing Regulation.

Randal Quarles, U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Vice Chairman for Supervision, provided brief remarks at the Financial Services Roundtable 2018 Spring Conference.  Vice Chairman Quarles noted the importance of reviewing the post-crisis regulatory regime to determine which regulations may not be functioning effectively or as intended, and make changes, as necessary.  He noted the importance of evaluating the costs and benefits of regulatory initiatives as well as evaluating their effect on both the resiliency of the financial system and on credit availability and growth.  He focused in particular on the topic of cybersecurity, which he remarked is a high priority for the Federal Reserve Board.  Given the dynamic and highly sophisticated nature of cyber attacks, Vice Chairman Quarles emphasized the need for collaboration in this area, both among private sector stakeholders and between the private sector and federal financial regulators.  He noted that the Federal Reserve Board is continuing to work with other financial regulatory agencies to harmonize cyber risk-management standards and supervisory expectations to align them with existing best practices such as the National Institution of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework.

View full text of Vice Chairman Quarles's remarks.

The Financial Conduct Authority has announced that it will be putting forward proposals for aligning the Financial Services Register with the expanded Senior Managers & Certification Regimes. The SM&CR has been in place for banks, building societies, credit unions and PRA-designated investment firms since March 2016, whilst certain insurers have been subject to the separate Senior Insurance Managers Regime. The remainder of authorized firms have continued to be subject to the Approved Persons Regime. The FCA recently consulted on expanding the existing SM&CR to all other authorized firms.

Under the SM&CR, the FCA only approves Senior Managers and it is only these individuals that appear in the FS Register. The Certification Regime requires firms to certify that all individuals in roles which pose a risk of significant harm are "fit and proper".

Feedback on the proposals to extend the SM&CR indicated that there would be public value in including details of certification of employees and other important individuals at firms in the FS Register. The FCA intends to consult in the Summer on implementing that feedback. If these proposals are implemented, non-executive directors, financial advisers, traders and portfolio managers would appear in the revised FS Register.

View the FCA's statement.

View the proposals to extend the SM&CR.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a final rule that makes certain technical amendments to its annual stress testing regulation.  The stress testing regulation provides that the OCC may require an institution to include trading and counterparty components in its adverse and severely adverse scenarios if the institution has significant trading activities.  Under the final rule, the date range of this position data has been expanded from between January 1 and March 1 of the current calendar year to between October 1 of the preceding calendar year and March 1 of the current calendar year.  The final rule notes that this will provide the OCC with greater flexibility in establishing an appropriate as-of date and that the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has made a similar change to its corresponding regulations.  The final rule also amends and clarifies the transition period for institutions that meet the $50 billion asset threshold, which subjects the institution to different stress testing requirements.  Under the final rule, if an institution crosses the $50 billion threshold in the fourth quarter of a calendar year, it will not be subject to the supervisory stress testing requirement until the third calendar year after it crossed the threshold.  Otherwise, institutions become subject to the over $50 billion stress testing requirements two calendar years after crossing the threshold.  The final rule also makes definitional and other technical changes.  The final rule will become effective 30 days from its publication in the Federal Register.

View full text of final rule.

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a Policy Statement on Pillar 2 liquidity, following two consultations in May 2016 and July 2017. The Capital Requirements Directive gives national regulators discretion to set additional Pillar 2 liquidity requirements. The Pillar 2 framework complements the Pillar 1 Liquidity Coverage Ratio requirements by capturing those liquidity risks that are either not captured or not fully captured under Pillar 1. In its May 2016 and July 2017 consultations, the PRA set out proposals for liquidity assessments, the introduction of a framework for cashflow mismatch risk (CFMR) and survival guidance on the granular liquidity coverage requirement stress within the CFMR framework.

The PRA received a number of consultation responses. The Policy Statement sets out the PRA's feedback and explanation of a number of changes it has made to its original proposals.

Read more.

The House of Commons Treasury Committee has launched an inquiry into digital currencies and distributed ledger technology in the U.K. The inquiry will consider the risks and opportunities of digital currencies for consumers, businesses and the Government as well as the impact of DLT on financial institutions, financial market infrastructure and the central bank. The regulatory response of the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to anti-money laundering legislation will also be assessed against the need to ensure the protection of consumers without repressing innovation.

View the announcement.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury released its report and recommendations regarding the Orderly Liquidation Authority established under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act.  The report proposes a “bankruptcy first” approach to the resolution of financial institutions, recommending the establishment of a new chapter of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.  This new Chapter 14, which has been the subject of academic and industry debate for several years, would generally involve placing the top-tier parent of a financial group into bankruptcy proceedings and transferring the subsidiaries to a new bridge company and would also include procedural features tailored to address specific nuances in respect of the resolution of financial institutions.

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

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

Read more.

Following a market investigation reference from the Financial Conduct Authority in September 2017, the Competition and Markets Authority has published a progress report on the Investment Consultants Market Investigation that it is carrying out into the supply of investment consultancy services and fiduciary management services to, or the acquisition of such services by, institutional investors and employers. The institutional investors who use investment consultancy services are mainly pension schemes but also include charities, insurance companies and endowment funds.

The progress report sets out the steps that the CMA has taken to date, such as the publication of the Issues Statement in October 2017, the hearings it has held and the visits it has made to the three largest investment consultants. The report also provides a list of working papers that the CMA intends to publish in the next few months, which will provide the CMA's emerging thinking on specific areas of the Investigation, such as information on fees and quality of service that investment consultants and fiduciary managers provide to current and prospective clients, the performance of investment consultants' recommended asset managers, conflicts of interest and market concentration. The CMA also confirms, as proposed in the Issues Statement, that the Investigation will focus on pension schemes as clients of investment consultants and fiduciary managers.

The CMA will publish a Provisional Decision report in July 2018, to which interested stakeholders can provide feedback in advance of the publication of the final report in March 2019.

View the progress report.

View the Issues Statement.

The U.K. Banking Standards Board has published further Supporting Guidance to its Statement of Good Practice on the Certification Regime: Fitness and Propriety Assessment Principles (known as Statement of Good Practice 1). The new Supporting Guidance, "Establishing Pass/Fail Criteria and Evidencing the F&P Assessment" (known as Supporting Guidance 2), aims to assist firms and other persons assessing fitness and propriety in making certification decisions, particularly in borderline cases. The Certification Regime is part of the regulatory reforms introduced in the U.K. to strengthen individual accountability (namely, the Senior Managers Regime, the Certification Regime and the Conduct Rules). It requires firms to certify that all individuals in roles which pose a risk of significant harm are "fit and proper." The U.K. regulators are proposing to extend the Certification Regime to all other regulated firms. The BSB was launched in April 2015 as an industry initiative to help raise standards of behavior and competence in the banking sector.

Read more. 

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

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

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

The Amendment Regulations take effect on February 26, 2018.

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

View the explanatory memorandum.

View details of the U.K. Benchmark Regulations.

The Financial Conduct Authority is seeking input on using technology to assist firms to meet their regulatory reporting requirements. The FCA would like to improve regulatory reporting by firms so that it is more accurate, efficient and consistent, less reliant on human interpretation and quicker for firms to implement changes to the requirements.

As part of its RegTech strategy, the FCA holds regular TechSprint events which are attended by financial services providers, technology companies and financial regulation experts to develop solutions to regulatory challenges. The Call for Input explains the proof of concept for Model Driven Machine Executable Regulatory Reporting which emerged at the November 2017 TechSprint.

The proposed Model Driven Machine Executable Regulatory Reporting has the potential to make regulatory reporting requirements machine-readable and executable, enabling firms to use automated, straight-through processing of regulatory returns. The proof of concept successfully used rules from the FCA Handbook, the Prudential Regulation Authority's Rulebook and International Financial Reporting Standards, illustrating the possibility for firms to comply with multiple regulatory reporting requirements.

Read more. 

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published a report, "Sound Practices on Implications of FinTech developments for banks and bank supervisors." The report is a result of the analysis by the Basel Committee-mandated taskforce of financial technology innovations and emerging business models in the banking industry, including the consultation that was run last year. The report sets out the final 10 key implications and considerations for banks and banking systems and for bank supervisors and regulatory frameworks. The report also provides an overview of the current state of play in the industry.

The Basel Committee has decided not to determine whether there is a need to stipulate specific requirements at this stage. It will continue to monitor FinTech developments and assess whether any updates to the implications and considerations are warranted.

View the report.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a new "Dear CEO" letter that it has sent to the Chief Executive Officers of certain firms for which it acts as prudential regulator.

The letter is addressed to the CEOs of "IFPRU Firms" (firms solo-regulated by the FCA that fall within the definition of "investment firm" in the Capital Requirements Directive and which are subject to the requirements of CRDIV) and "BIPRU Firms" (firms solo-regulated by the FCA that fall outside the definition of "investment firm" for CRD IV purposes). The FCA has observed that the prudential returns (in particular the Common Reporting (COREP) and Financial Reporting (FINREP) returns) submitted by these firms often contain inaccurate or incomplete data. The FCA stresses that, while errors or omissions can appear minor in isolation, they can materially distort data that are aggregated and used to analyse a sector or a group of firms.

Examples of the issues the FCA has observed include; failure to submit certain returns, such as the FINREP return; failure to complete underlying templates; inaccurate calculations; inconsistent submissions; reporting using incorrect units; and failure to report cumulatively where that is required.

The FCA instructs CEOs of IFPRU and BIPRU firms to review their firm’s regulatory reporting practices to ensure that they are fit for purpose, comply with the relevant reporting provisions and produce materially accurate data. The FCA plans to conduct a review of a sample of firms' returns as of October 1, 2018 and, should the same issues persist at that time, it will consider taking further steps to improve reporting standards.

View the Dear CEO letter.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority have signed a Cooperation Arrangement on Financial Technology Innovation, an arrangement that commits both regulators to collaborating and fostering innovation through their respective FinTech initiatives, LabCFTC and FCA Innovate. This is the CFTC's first agreement of its kind with a non-U.S. counterpart and the FCA's first such agreement with a U.S. regulator. The arrangement will focus on information-sharing based on FinTech market trends and developments in each jurisdiction, simplify the referral process for FinTech companies interested in entering the other's market and facilitate sharing insight gained from each regulator's relevant sandbox, proof of concept or innovation competitions.

CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo in a statement said he believes this collaboration will allow the CFTC to contribute to the growing role of regulators in new technology markets, and FCA Chairman Andrew Bailey argued that international borders should not inhibit global technological innovation. Chairman Bailey also announced an upcoming joint event between the CFTC and FCA in London to demonstrate how firms can work and engage with both regulators in the FinTech space.

View the joint press release.

View the Cooperation Arrangement.

The Prudential Regulation Authority is consulting on its expectations regarding the eligibility of guarantees as unfunded credit protection for the purposes of a firm's Pillar 1 regulatory capital requirements. The PRA is intending to add a new section to the Supervisory Statement 'Credit risk mitigation'.

The EU Capital Requirements Regulation allows firms to recognize certain forms of credit risk mitigation when calculating their regulatory capital requirements. Unfunded credit protection can be attained through a guarantee where a third party becomes obliged to pay out in the event of non-payment or default of the credit obligor. The CRR sets out the eligibility criteria for a guarantee to qualify for CRM.

Read more. 

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued its first customer advisory regarding pump-and-dump schemes in virtual currency markets. The CFTC warned customers to exercise extreme caution when investing in virtual currency listings promoted on social media, reportedly backed by famous high-tech business leaders and investors or accompanied by posts creating false urgency or telling investors to purchase right away.

The CFTC noted particular concern with the anonymous nature of virtual currencies, which makes enforcement actions against pump-and-dump schemes difficult. These schemes may occur in the largely unregulated virtual currency cash markets, over which the CFTC only has anti-fraud and anti-manipulation enforcement authority.

Additionally, the CFTC stated it has received multiple complaints from customers who have suffered losses due to virtual currency pump-and-dump schemes. The CFTC warned that virtual currencies should only be purchased after they have been thoroughly researched and that customers should avoid purchasing virtual currencies based on sudden price spikes.

The CFTC also encouraged market participants to come forward with any information that could lead to an enforcement action against a virtual currency pump-and-dump scheme.

View the CFTC’s customer advisory.

View the CFTC’s press release.
 

The FDIC adopted amendments to its international banking regulations that primarily impact the asset pledge requirements applicable to FDIC-insured branch offices of non-U.S. banks (of which there are only 10) as well as certain securities-related powers of foreign branch offices of state nonmember banks, which depend in part on whether the branch is transacting in investment grade securities.  The amendments implement Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Act, which generally requires the removal of reliance on credit ratings in banking (and other) regulations for determining the creditworthiness of a security or money market instrument.  Under the amended regulation, an investment grade security is one “whose issuer has adequate capacity to meet all financial commitments under the security for the projected life of the exposure.”

Read more.

The European Systemic Risk Board has published a Recommendation addressed to the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Commission, outlining a set of recommended actions designed to address the systemic risks that could arise from liquidity mismatches and the use of leverage by investment funds.

Read more.
 

The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a questionnaire on whether a global regulatory sandbox for fintech and other innovative businesses would be beneficial and how it would operate. The FCA set up the United Kingdom's Regulatory Sandbox in 2016 to provide a controlled environment for firms looking to develop and launch innovative businesses models. Similar sandboxes have been introduced in other countries as diverse as the United States, Australia, Bahrain, the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada and Singapore. Other countries have officially announced the establishment of a sandbox or are in the process of setting up their sandbox.

The FCA considers that a global sandbox could allow firms to conduct tests in different jurisdictions at the same time. It could also bring regulators together to identify and work on solutions to common cross-border regulatory issues. Recognizing that establishing a global sandbox would be an enormous task, the FCA also suggests, as an interim measure, the establishment of an international college of regulators with innovation or sandbox models, so that firms could access multiple regulators simultaneously. This approach would also allow the regulators to share and learn from each other about new innovative business models.

The FCA requests feedback on the ideas by March 2, 2018. The FCA expects to provide an update on the global sandbox proposition later in March 2018.

View the FCA webpage.

View the questionnaire.

The U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a letter permitting Deutsche Bank AG to establish a second U.S. intermediate holding company to hold its asset management business pursuant to Regulation YY.

View More.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority have published co-ordinated papers on their expectations around firms' use of algorithmic trading strategies in wholesale markets. Firms have had to comply, since January 3, 2018, with new requirements introduced by the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and related Regulatory Technical Standards. The FCA's paper sets out the applicable regulatory requirements and provides examples of good and poor practice for firms regulated by the FCA. Firms that are dual-regulated by the FCA and the PRA should also review the PRA paper, which takes the form of a formal consultation on a proposed Supervisory Statement, covering the PRA's expectations regarding firms' governance and risk management. The PRA consultation runs until May 7, 2018.

Read more.

The European Banking Authority has published a letter, dated February 9, 2018, from the EBA Chairperson, Andrea Enria, to Olivier Guersent, Director-General of DG-FISMA at the European Commission, relating to the regulatory perimeter of the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive. The letter is in response to the January 22, 2018 letter to the EBA from the European Commission regarding the EBA's Opinion on regulatory perimeter issues under the EU capital requirements framework and the proposed changes under CRD V.

Read more. 

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chief of Staff Michael Gill provided an update on the CFTC's Project KISS initiative at the CFTC KISS Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. He said that after a thorough review of public comments received through the initiative, the Commission has broken the recommendations down into three tiers: (1) simple housekeeping changes with no discretionary policy adjustments; (2) suggestions reducing regulatory burdens with minor policy implications; and (3) initiatives that have more significant policy implications. Through the Project KISS review process, the CFTC is only focused on the first two tiers, although suggestions in the third tier will be addressed at a later date, Gill said.

The proposals cover a wide range of policy issues across the CFTC's divisions. The Division of Clearing and Risk is examining the process through which the CFTC grants exemptions from derivatives clearing organization registration, amendments to various DCO regulations and extensive proposed amendments to current Part 190 regulations.

Read more. 

The Bank of England has published a consultation paper on a new rule to formalize the supervisory expectation that CCPs will report any incidents relating to their information technology systems to the BoE. The BoE's move from a supervisory expectation to a rule will align its requirements with the UK's approach to implementing the Cyber Security Directive. Under that Directive, CCPs are classed as operators of essential services and must take measures to manage risks to their network and information systems as well as notify their regulator of incidents which have a significant impact on the continuity of the services they provide.

The consultation paper states that the BoE encourages other financial market infrastructures to follow the rule. However, it will not be a binding requirement for them.

The consultation closes on April 3, 2018. The rule is expected to come into effect by May 9, 2018, which is the date by which Member States must implement the Cyber Security Directive.

View the consultation paper.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a document combining its 2017 Annual Report and 2018 Work Programme in relation to Trade Repositories, Credit Rating Agencies and third-country Central Counterparties.

ESMA is the single direct supervisor of Credit Rating Agencies and Trade Repositories in the European Union. It also has direct responsibilities regarding the registration, supervision and recognition of TRs based outside the EU. The 2017 Annual Report highlights its direct supervisory activities and key achievements in 2017 in respect of eight registered TRs, 26 registered CRAs and four certified CRAs. ESMA recognised 10 third-country CCPs in 2017 and conducted monitoring of the activities and services provided by those third-country CCPs in the EU.

ESMA has conducted a supervisory risk assessment regarding CRAs and TRs in the EU. The 2018 Work Programme sets out the supervisory priorities for the year ahead that ESMA has identified for CRAs and TRs and also highlights issues affecting both CRAs and TRs where ESMA will be conducting further work. These areas include Brexit, fees charged by CRAs/TRs, internal control frameworks, cloud computing and guidelines for periodic information.

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The European Commission has announced that KPMG has been appointed to carry out a survey on the functioning of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, calling for all stakeholders to provide their feedback. The online survey seeks stakeholder views on the requirements of the AIFMD, their experience in applying those requirements and the AIFMD's impact on the market.

View the Commission's announcement.

View the KPMG survey page.

William Dudley, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, participated in a panel discussion entitled “Banking Culture - Still Room for Improvement?”  Mr. Dudley commented that there has been significant progress and improvement in bank culture, but noted that there is room for making even further progress.  The discussion also highlighted that regulation and compliance are complements, not substitutes, for good institutional culture.  Mr. Dudley also noted that while many often think that supervision by regulators and firm profitability are in conflict, in reality these two forces are aligned.  The panel discussed that good culture can provide a competitive advantage with respect to recruiting, given changing priorities among the growing millennial workforce, the importance that bank culture plays in the health and maintenance of a financial institution’s reputation, and how a good culture also promotes bottom-line success.  The panel did note, however, that changing culture in large and complex financial institutions can be a very difficult task, and stressed that good firm culture needs to be promoted from the top down.

View full transcript of the panel discussion.

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

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

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The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a Final Report setting out Guidelines for compliance, by central counterparties authorized under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, with their obligations to manage conflicts of interest under EMIR and related Regulatory Technical Standards. ESMA was not directly mandated by provisions in EMIR to prepare the Guidelines. Instead, ESMA has prepared the Guidelines pursuant to the wider mandate in its founding regulation to ensure common, uniform and consistent application of the relevant provisions of EMIR and the RTS.

The Final Report summarises the feedback ESMA received to its consultation on draft Guidelines, which ran between June 1, 2017 and August 24, 2017, and sets out the final form of the Guidelines. After clarifying the concept of conflicts of interest in the context of a CCP's commercial relationships, the Guidelines summarize the organisational arrangements CCPs should have in place, along with additional measures that apply in a group context. Finally the Guidelines specify a procedure for conflicts of interest management.

The Guidelines apply to all EU national regulators that supervise CCPs, and will take effect on April 7, 2018. This date is also the deadline for national regulators to inform ESMA whether they comply or intend to comply with the Guidelines, with reasons for non-compliance. All CCPs must report to their national regulator on their compliance with the Guidelines.

View the Guidelines (ESMA70-151-1094).

The European Commission has published a position paper, titled "Transitional Arrangements in the Withdrawal Agreement", which has been prepared by its Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom.

A transitional period was agreed in principle in December 2017.  The stated aim of the position paper is to outline in legal terms how arrangements for the transition period following Brexit should be given effect in the eventual Withdrawal Agreement. Draft clauses for the Withdrawal Agreement relate to the duration of the transition period, the application of EU law to the UK during the transition, the extent to which the UK Parliament and the Bank of England can participate in the EU institutions and the extent to which the UK can participate in the EU's international activities or conclude its own international agreements.

The position paper also contains a draft clause giving jurisdiction to the European Court of Justice to rule on disputes during the transition period. A footnote to the draft clause calls for a mechanism to be put in place within the Withdrawal Agreement whereby the EU would be allowed to "suspend certain benefits deriving for the United Kingdom from participating in the internal market" in circumstances where the EU considers that the ECJ would not provide remedies within an appropriate timeframe.

The negotiations between the UK and EU will resume in March 2018. 

View the position paper.
 

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

View the working group information.

View the working group terms of reference.