Following on from the final report of its Asset Management Market Study in June 2017, which highlighted potential competition issues in the investment platforms sector, the Financial Conduct Authority has published the terms of reference for its investment platform market study. The market study will involve a number of different areas in order that the FCA can ascertain whether competition between platforms is working in the interests of consumers. The FCA intends to look into competition in the sector by exploring the following areas: barriers to entry and expansion; business models; platform profitability; the impact of financial advisers; and consumer preferences and behaviour. Noting the increasing vertical integration in the sector, the FCA will also consider commercial relationships between platforms, asset managers, discretionary investment managers and financial advisers given the potential of these relationships to distort competition. The market study will include all firms offering retail investment products through online portals. It will also include product and wrapper providers that use platforms to distribute their products, fund rating and data providers and the technology providers to whom platforms outsource services.

Comments on the terms of reference are invited by September 8, 2017. The FCA expects to publish an interim report in Summer 2018.

View the Terms of Reference.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a document formalizing a common standard and procedure for national regulators to follow when reporting to ESMA the details of the circuit breakers and trading halts used by the trading venues in their jurisdiction. This will assist national regulators with their MiFID II obligations to report to ESMA the details provided to them by trading venues operating in their territory. The common standard and procedure is designed to ensure consistency and comparability of reported parameters.

View the Procedure and Template.

The European Banking Authority has published its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards setting out a comprehensive list of the information that must be provided to national regulators by firms applying for authorization as a credit institution under the Capital Requirements Directive. The final draft RTS are accompanied by final draft Implementing Technical Standards which set out the various procedures and requirements for making applications, along with a template to be used and guidance on how national regulators should deal with incomplete applications. The next step is for the European Commission to consider the draft RTS and ITS with a view to making a decision whether to endorse them via delegated legislation. In an accompanying press release, the EBA urges the Commission to consider adopting the RTS and ITS at the earliest opportunity to enable processing of applications from entities seeking to relocate to continental Europe in the context of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

View the EBA Final Report.

View the Press Release.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority has published a consultation setting out its proposals on a cashflow mismatch risk (CFMR) framework and other methodologies it will use to assess firms' liquidity risk under the Pillar 2 liquidity framework.  CFMR is the risk that a firm has insufficient liquidity from liquid assets and other liquidity inflows to cover liquidity outflows on a daily basis.

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. The PRA has previously set out, in a consultation in May 2016, a non-exhaustive list of Pillar 2 risks. This consultation builds on the proposals in, and feedback received on, the May 2016 consultation and proposes updates to the Supervisory Statements "The PRA's approach to supervising liquidity and funding risks" and "Guidelines for completing regulatory returns".

Read more.

The draft legislation for the exit of the UK from the European Union has been introduced to the House of Commons. The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill 2017-2019, which has previously been referred to as the Great Repeal Bill and also as the Repeal Bill, is a legislative measure which performs four main functions. It will: (i) end the supremacy of EU law in UK law by repealing the European Communities Act 1972; (ii) convert EU law as it stands at the moment of exit into domestic law before the UK leaves the EU; (iii) create powers to make secondary legislation, including temporary powers to enable corrections to be made to the laws that would otherwise no longer operate appropriately once the UK has left the EU and to implement the withdrawal agreement under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union; and (iv) maintain the current scope of devolved decision making powers in areas currently governed by EU law. The Bill must pass through both Houses of Parliament before it can receive Royal Assent.

View the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill 2017-2019.

View the Explanatory Notes to the Bill.

View webpage for the Bill.

View the Shearman & Sterling Client Briefing.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published three Opinions setting out sector-specific principles for Brexit-related relocations in the sectors of investment management, investment firms and for secondary markets. These sector-specific Opinions build on a cross-sector Opinion published in May 2017. The principles do not set out any new legal requirements, but they are intended to serve as practical tools to support supervisory convergence among national regulators in EU27 countries when approached by UK market participants seeking to relocate in the content of the UK's exit from the EU. The Opinions have been published in the wake of reports that some member state regulators have been marketing their jurisdictions as locations for business and it has been thought that some regulators may have been offering a lighter-touch form of regulatory and especially "presence" standards than others.

The Opinions, which assume (without prejudice to ongoing negotiations) that the UK will become a third country on exit from the EU, highlight particular issues national regulators in EU27 should consider when considering applications from relocating market participants. Factors for close consideration include governance structure and internal control, the impact and influence of group membership, the nature and extent of proposed outsourcing arrangements and the need to mitigate the risk of letter-box entities. ESMA also recommends that national regulators consider co-operation arrangements with third country regulators where appropriate.

View Opinion on Investment Firms.

View Opinion on Investment Management.

View Opinion on Secondary Markets.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published for consultation draft Guidelines to enhance clarity and foster convergence in the implementation of certain aspects of the MiFID II suitability requirements. Whilst the requirements for firms offering financial advice or portfolio management to assess the suitability of products for their clients are not new, MiFID II's provisions enhance and strengthen the MiFID I requirements. ESMA has therefore built on the suitability Guidelines it issued in 2012, with clarifications, refinements and updates where necessary to reflect the MiFID II provisions. Annex IV to the consultation paper contains a correlation table between the proposed draft Guidelines and the corresponding 2012 Guidelines. The proposed draft Guidelines also take into account the results of supervisory activities conducted by national regulators on the application of suitability requirements as well as the technological evolution of the advisory markets (for example automated advice) and recent studies on behavioural finance.

ESMA invites comments on the draft Guidelines by October 13, 2017. It expects to publish a final report and final Guidelines in Q1/Q2 2018.

View the consultation paper.

The Prudential Regulation Authority is consulting on proposals to change its Supervisory Statement "The Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) and the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP)" and its Statement of Policy "The PRA's methodologies for setting Pillar 2 capital". The PRA's proposals are intended to bring greater clarity, consistency and transparency to the PRA's capital-setting approach and to promote a greater level of transparency and disclosure.

Read more.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (Division) announced the launch of an in-depth review of the swap data reporting regulations found in Parts 43, 45, and 49 of the CFTC’s regulations. In addition, the Division has opened a 40-day comment period to receive input on this effort from all entities involved in reporting swaps, which must be received by August 21, 2017.

Read more.

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo appointed Daniel Gorfine to serve as Director of LabCFTC and Chief Innovation Officer, effective immediately. Gorfine will be responsible for coordinating with international regulatory bodies, other US regulators, and Congress to determine best practices in implementing digital and agile regulatory frameworks for the CFTC.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published proposed amendments to its Regulatory Technical Standards under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation, following a public consultation between December 2016 and February 2017. ESMA provided final draft RTS to the European Commission in 2012 specifying the frequency and the details of the information to be made available by Trade Repositories to the relevant authorities and the information to be published by TRs. The RTS also specified the operational standards required to aggregate and compare data across TRs and for the relevant authorities to have access to information as necessary.

Read more.

The European Securities Markets Authority has published a consultation on proposed guidelines to ensure common, uniform and consistent application of the provisions of the Central Securities Depositaries Regulation that apply to internalized settlement reporting and to the exchange of information between ESMA and national regulators.

Read more.

The G20 Leaders met in Hamburg, Germany on July 7-8, 2017 and have published a Leaders' Declaration and an Action Plan setting out the G20's strategy for achieving strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. The Action Plan includes ongoing and planned work on financial sector regulation and development.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a consultation paper seeking views on aspects of its January 2017 mandate from the European Commission. The Commission mandate requests ESMA's technical advice on elements of the Short Selling Regulation that relate to market making, short-term bans on short selling and the transparency, reporting and disclosure requirements around net short positions.

Read more.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an Order of Registration to LedgerX LLC (LedgerX) granting their request to register as a Swap Execution Facility (SEF). As a result, LedgerX becomes the 25^th SEF registered with the CFTC.  The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 authorized the creation of SEFs, which are under the CFTC’s jurisdiction and function as platforms for the trading of swaps.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched three consultations, setting out its draft technical advice to supplement the provisions of the Prospectus Regulation with delegated legislation to facilitate and reduce the costs of capital raising and to make prospectuses more accessible for investors. The Prospectus Regulation enters into force on July 20, 2017 and will take effect directly across the EU partly on July 20, 2017, partly on July 21, 2018 and the remainder of its provisions take effect on July 21, 2019. The Prospectus Regulation will repeal and replace the existing Prospectus Directive and its supplemental Regulation on the form and content of a prospectus. ESMA is consulting under its mandate from the European Commission, which requested technical advice on possible delegated acts on the format and content of the prospectus, the content, format and sequence of the EU Growth Prospectus and scrutiny and approval of the prospectus.

Read more.

Implementing Technical Standards on the procedures and forms for national regulators exchanging information with the European Securities and Markets Authority under the Market Abuse Regulation have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. MAR, which entered into force on July 3, 2016, requires EU national regulators to submit information annually to ESMA on sanctions, investigations and other measures imposed by them. The ITS require national regulators to designate single points of contact for providing the information, provide the dates by which reports are due to ESMA and contain the forms for regulators to provide the information. The ITS will enter into force on July 20, 2017.

View the ITS.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published the final report of the Asset Management Market Study it launched in November 2015. The object of the AMMS was to investigate three core areas: (i) how asset managers compete to deliver value; (ii) whether asset managers are willing and able to control costs and quality along the value chain; and (iii) how investment consultants affect competition for institutional asset management. Furthermore, the FCA wanted to look at whether there are any barriers to innovation that prevent investors from obtaining better results. The FCA published an interim AMMS report in November 2016 which set out the FCA's provisional assessment of the way competition works for asset management services, the consequences for investors and the FCA's proposed remedies to tackle the issues.

The final AMMS report confirms the FCA's interim findings and proposes a package of remedies. The FCA has divided the remedies into three buckets: (i) remedies on which it has published a consultation alongside the final report; (ii) final remedies; and (iii) remedies on which it intends to consult later.

Read more.

The Prudential Regulation Authority has launched a consultation on compliance with the European Banking Authority's guidelines on disclosure of the composition of collateral for exposures to counterparty credit risk.

The EBA published final Guidelines on compliance with the regulatory disclosure requirements in the Capital Requirements Regulation on December 14, 2016. The EBA's Guidelines aim to ensure harmonized implementation of the Basel III Pillar 3 requirements that were released in January 2015. The Guidelines introduce specific guidance and formats for Pillar 3 disclosures, including tables and templates. The Guidelines apply to Globally and Other Systemically Important Institutions. However, national regulators are able to require other firms to apply the Guidelines when complying with their Pillar 3 disclosure obligations under CRR.

Read more.

The European Commission has published legislative proposals to amend the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and the Regulation establishing the European Securities and Markets Authority. The proposals are on the supervision of CCPs, both EU CCPs and third country CCPs, and include the controversial new proposals for a formal EU "location policy" for CCPs.

Read more.

A Commission Delegated Regulation exempting central banks in six countries - Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore and Switzerland - from complying with the European Market Infrastructure Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. EMIR imposes clearing, reporting and risk mitigation obligations for derivatives. EU central banks and EU public bodies managing public debt are exempt from EMIR. The European Commission may exempt central banks and public bodies managing public debt from other countries following analysis of the international treatment of the relevant entities in a particular country. Central banks and public bodies responsible for the management of debt in the United States and Japan were the first to be added to the list of exempted bodies through a Commission Delegated Regulation. These new exemptions will come into effect on June 30, 2017.

View the Delegated Regulation.

A Commission Implementing Regulation on the extension of the transitional periods related to own funds requirements for exposures to central counterparties set out in the Capital Requirements Regulation and European Markets Infrastructure Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a final Report and final draft Implementing Technical Standards on the procedures and forms for national regulators to use when exchanging information with each other under the Market Abuse Regulation. 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 the recovery of monetary sanctions. The final draft 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 European Commission has three months to consider whether to adopt the ITS.

View ESMA's Report.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has announced that its IT system for the collection of financial instrument reference data under the Market Abuse Regulation will become operational from July 17, 2017. The IT system is known as Financial Instrument Reference Data System - FIRDS. MAR requires market operators of exchanges and investment firms and market operators operating multilateral trading facilities and organised trading facilities to notify their national regulator of any financial instrument for which a request for admission to trading is made, which is admitted to trading or is traded for the first time. This notification will be made to national regulators or via FIRDS for those jurisdictions where the national regulator has delegated the task to ESMA. All notifications must be made in accordance with the relevant secondary EU legislation setting out the timing, format and templates. Notifications are required for admissions and trades from July 3, 2016 which is when MAR became applicable across the EU. ESMA is required to publish the information on its website.

View ESMA's announcement.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) issued a no-action letter extending the relief provided in CFTC Staff Letter No. 16-58, which was set to expire on June 15, 2017. CFTC Staff Letter No. 16-58 extended relief form several CFTC regulations to allow swap execution facilities (SEFs) and designated contract markets (DCMs) to fix clerical or operational errors that resulted in a swaps failing to clear, and thus becoming void, and smilar errors discovered after a swap has been cleared.

Read more.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved a series of amendments to the CFTC’s Whistleblower Rules with the goal of strengthening anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers and improving the review process for whistleblower claims.

Read more.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published the results of a review into the suitability of advice and quality of disclosure in the financial services sector.

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a follow-up report analyzing the actions taken by ten national regulators to address their inadequate application of ESMA's good practices on applying the rules on the provision of fair, clear and not misleading information by regulated firms to clients under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. ESMA's assessment forms part of its preparation for the implementation of the MiFID II rules which come into effect on January 3, 2018.

The assessment used the same criteria as the original peer review: (a) organisation; (b) supervisory approach; (c) monitoring; (d) thematic work; and (e) complaints. Of the ten regulators, those in Lithuania, Lativia, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania had addressed all the deficiencies previously identified. For the remaining four, Denmark, Estonia, Greece and Cyprus, deficiencies remain, although ESMA has welcomed the efforts made to address them.

View the Report.

The European Banking Authority has published for consultation draft Recommendations on outsourcings by financial institutions to cloud service providers.

The EBA has identified the need for specific guidance for outsourcing to cloud service providers to address uncertainty regarding supervisory expectations in this area. The draft Recommendations build on the existing outsourcing guidelines by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, published in 2006, which the EBA intends to update in due course.

The draft Recommendations address five key areas: the security of data and systems, location of data and data processing, access and audit rights, chain outsourcing, and contingency plans and exit strategies. The draft Recommendations would apply to banks and investment firms subject to the Capital Requirements Directive as well as and national regulators. The EBA will consider whether to extend the applicability of the draft Recommendations to other regulated firms.

The consultation closes on August 18, 2017.

View the Recommendations.

View the CEBS Guidelines.

The European Central Bank has published a final Guide on fitness and propriety assessments for the suitability of members of the management body and key function holders in significant banks. The final Guide differs from the consultation version published in January, with several clarifications being made, including a requirement that fit and proper assessments are confidential. The ECB Guide is based on six Principles, namely: the primary responsibility of banks in carrying out due diligence and assessments, the role of the ECB as a "gatekeeper", the harmonization of assessments across the euro area, proportionality and case-by-case assessment, due process and fairness, and interaction with ongoing supervision. The Guide sets out the five assessment criteria against which the fitness and propriety of members of the management body is assessed: experience, reputation, conflicts of interest and independence of mind, time commitment and collective suitability. The Guide provides information on the purpose, scope and type of interviews conducted by the ECB of appointees. The Guide highlights how a decision is taken by the ECB after every fit and proper assessment and the various types of decisions that may be taken. The Guide also notes that under the Single Supervisory Mechanism Regulation, the ECB has the power to remove, at any time, members from the management body of a significant supervised entity who do not fulfill the fit and proper requirements.

View the ECB Guidance.

The Prudential Regulation Authority has published a Policy Statement on strengthening individual accountability in banking. The Policy Statement provides the PRA's final policy on a number of issues. Among other things, the PRA has made modifications to the final rules, such as simplifying the draft definition of the new Chief Operations Senior Management Function and narrowing the new Prescribed Responsibility accompanying the Chief Operations SMF to focus on responsibility for the firm's performance of its obligations relating to outsourcing.

Read more.

On May 12, 2017, President Trump re-nominated Brian Quintenz to serve as CFTC Commissioner for the remainder of a five-year term expiring April 13, 2020. Mr. Quintenz was previously nominated by President Obama but his nomination was not confirmed by the Senate.

View press release.
 

The European Banking Authority has published final Guidelines on banks' credit risk management practices and accounting for expected credit losses. These final Guidelines are a result of a consultation that ended on October 26, 2016, and build on the related Guidance by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, published in December 2015. The Guidelines will apply at the start of the first accounting period beginning on or after January 1, 2018.

Many banks in the EU apply the International Financial Reporting Standards. IFRS 9, which will apply for accounting periods beginning January 1, 2018, will require the measurement of impairment loss allowances to be based on an expected credit loss accounting model rather than on an incurred loss accounting model. The use of an ECL accounting model involves some discretion in its application. The Guidelines set out supervisory expectations for credit institutions related to sound credit risk practices associated with implementing and applying an ECL accounting model.

These Guidelines should be read in conjunction with the provisions of the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive IV as well as the relevant technical standards.

View the final Guidelines.

View the Consultation Paper.

View the Basel Committee Guidance.

President Trump signed a Cybersecurity Executive Order, focused on (i) improving the government’s cybersecurity, including through measures such as requiring government agencies to follow the NIST Cybersecurity Framework; (ii) engaging the federal government to help better protect critical US infrastructure owners, including the financial services industry; and (iii) working with other countries to enhance cybersecurity defenses, and requiring US agencies (such as the State Department, Treasury Department, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security) to develop strategic policy options to deter adversaries.

View text of the executive order.

The European Banking Authority has published final Guidelines on the assessment of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) risk in the context of the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP). These final Guidelines are a result of a consultation that ended on January 6, 2017. The Guidelines will apply to national EU regulators and aim to promote common procedures and methodologies for their assessment of ICT risk. The Guidelines will apply from January 1, 2018.

Read more.

President Trump nominated David Kautter to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy.  Mr. Kautter currently serves as Partner-in-Charge of the Washington National Tax practice for RSM, an audit, tax and consulting services firm.

View press release.

Acting Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Christopher Giancarlo, gave a speech at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association 32nd Annual Meeting in Lisbon calling for regulators in both the U.S. and abroad to “recalibrate bank capital requirements to better balance systemic risk concerns with healthy economic growth."  In the speech, Acting Chairman Giancarlo stated that global swap market reforms have failed to adequately address whether the amount of bank capital that has been taken out of trading markets because of bank capital requirements has been calibrated to the amount of capital needed in the global markets to "support overall market health and durability”. In addition, Acting Chairman Giancarlo spoke in support of moving the CFTC to a more flexible, outcomes-based approach for cross-border equivalence and substituted compliance.

View text of the speech.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced the appointment of William H. Hinman as director of the Division of Corporation Finance.

View press release.
 

The Joint Money Laundering Steering Group has published and opened up for consultation its proposed revisions to Parts II and III of its Guidance on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism for the UK financial services industry. This follows on from the recent consultation on Part I, which closed on April 28, 2017. The proposed revisions will align the JMLSG Guidance with the proposed Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, on which the Government recently consulted. The draft Regulations are intended to implement into UK laws the EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive and are due to take effect by June 26, 2017 at the same time as 4MLD.

Read more.

On May 8, 2017, the US Financial Stability Oversight Council issued a readout of its meeting in which FSOC discussed efforts to assess the efficacy of the Volcker Rule. Reportedly, at the closed-door meeting, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin directed the various agencies with oversight over the Volcker Rule to re-examine the scope of permissible activities under the rule.

View text of the FSOC readout.

The European Banking Authority has launched a public consultation on draft Regulatory Technical Standards, further specifying the eligibility criteria to determine whether firms should be subject to simplified obligations when drafting their recovery and resolution plans. The Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive permits national regulators to apply simplified recovery obligations, including simpler requirements as to the contents and details of resolution plans, and less frequency in their updates. Simplified obligations may be applied by authorities based on their assessment of a firm based on the size of the firm, interconnectedness, scope and complexity of its activities, risk profile, legal status, nature of business and shareholding structure.

The draft RTS set out the quantitative and qualitative factors to be considered depending on the type of firm (credit institution, investment firm, firms that are part of a group, promotional banks and credit institutions subject to an orderly winding up process). According to the draft RTS, the authorities should approach the criteria in two stages: (i) they should select firms which could potentially benefit from simplified obligations based on quantitative criteria; and (ii) if the first stage is satisfied, they should verify whether firms meet the qualitative criteria. The consultation will close on August 8, 2017.

View the Consultation Paper.

The European Banking Authority has launched a consultation on draft Guidelines on security measures for operational and security risks under the revised Payment Services Directive (known as PSD2). PSD2, which will apply from January 13, 2018, requires Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to establish a framework with appropriate mitigation measures and control mechanisms to manage operational and security risks, relating to the payment services they provide. The framework must include effective incident management procedures, including for the detection and classification of major operational and security incidents. A PSP is required to report to its national regulator annually, providing an updated and comprehensive assessment of the operational and security risks relating to the payment services they provide and on the adequacy of the mitigation measures implemented in response to those risks. The draft Guidelines aim to define those requirements and will apply to PSPs and national regulators responsible for monitoring the implementation of the requirements by PSPs.

Read more.

The European Commission has published a legislative proposal to amend the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. This proposal is the result of an extensive assessment of EMIR between 2015 and 2016. The proposal covers a wide-range of areas within EMIR, including reporting requirements, non-financial counterparties, exemptions and trade repositories.

Read more.

The Payment System Operator Delivery Group, an independently chaired body set up by the Payment Systems Regulator and the Bank of England, has published a recommended Delivery Plan for the consolidation of the operators of three payment system operators: Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd, Cheque and Credit Clearing Company and the Faster Payments Scheme Ltd. The proposed consolidation was one of the recommendations made in the Payments Strategy Forum's November 2016 report, which sets out a wide-ranging strategy for reforming the UK retail payments industry. The Delivery Plan includes a Strategic Framework (including company purpose and strategic objectives) for the new PSO, the proposed design of the PSO (including setting the company up as a company limited by guarantee), a funding model for setting up the consolidated PSO and for its ongoing operation and a target implementation timeline which also sets out a transitional scheme to ensure continuity of services.

The Delivery Plan now needs to be reviewed and agreed by the boards of the three operators as well as their members. If agreed, the aim is for the consolidation to be mostly completed by the end of 2017.

View the delivery plan.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement introducing final rules on whistleblowing requirements for UK branches of overseas (EEA and third country) banks. The Policy Statement follows a consultation in September 2016 on a proposed approach for extending aspects of the Prudential Regulation Authority and FCA regime to require banks and insurers to introduce whistleblowing procedures internally. The proposals are broadly being implemented as consulted upon, with one minor change being the introduction of guidance reminding branches they may continue to have concurrent reporting obligations to their home state regulators. The rules will come into force on September 7, 2017.

View the Policy Statement.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement on applying conduct rules in the Code of Conduct sourcebook to non-executive directors in the banking and insurance sectors. In-scope NEDs are those who do not hold Senior Management Functions and therefore are not subject to regulatory pre-approval under the Senior Managers & Certification Regime, the Prudential Regulation Authority's Senior Insurance Managers Regime, or the FCA's revised Approved Persons Regime.

The Policy Statement follows a Consultation in September 2016, which proposed that NEDs would be subject to the five FCA Individual Conduct rules on acting with integrity, acting with due skill, care and diligence, cooperating with the FCA and other regulators, having regard for customer interests and observing proper standards of market conduct. In addition, NEDs would be subject to the Senior Conduct rule requiring individuals to disclose any information of which the FCA or PRA would reasonably expect notice. The remaining Senior Conduct rules will not apply to a NED unless they are also a senior conduct rules staff member. The new rules will come into force on July 3, 2017.

View the Policy Statement.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement containing final Handbook text and guidance on the requirements for remuneration policies that apply to firms subject to the Capital Requirements Directive IV. Such firms are required to comply with the FCA's Remuneration Code. The FCA consulted on these from September to November 2016. The final rules are broadly as consulted upon, with minor changes to clarify the status of "retention awards" as being different from "guaranteed variable remuneration".

The FCA has aligned its Handbook provisions to comply with the European Banking Authority Guidelines on Sound Remuneration Policies, which came into force on January 1, 2017. The FCA has also published new non-Handbook guidance to address frequently asked questions on remuneration. The Prudential Regulation Authority further published a Policy Statement and final consolidated Supervisory Statement on its expectations on remuneration on April 12, 2017, which aims to bring its approach in line with the EBA Guidelines.

View the Policy Statement.

View the FCA Guidance.

View the EBA Guidance.

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement and final Guidance on how it will enforce the "duty of responsibility". The "duty of responsibility" came into force to replace the much-criticised so-called "presumption of guilt" for UK senior managers on May 10, 2016. The new duty applies to persons performing senior management functions at UK banks, building societies, credit unions, investment firms designated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and incoming branches of overseas firms. Under this duty, the FCA and the PRA can take enforcement action against Senior Managers if they are responsible for the management of any activities in their firm in relation to which their firm contravenes a regulatory requirement and they do not take such steps as a person in their position could reasonably be expected to take to avoid the contravention occurring or continuing. The burden of proof lies with the regulators to prove a contravention. The Guidance applied from May 3, 2017.

View the Policy Statement.

The European Commission has adopted a Recommendation for a Council Decision authorizing the Commission to open Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom. This Recommendation includes a draft negotiation directive in the Annex, which covers the first phase of the negotiations and prioritizes matters which have been identified as important to ensure an orderly withdrawal.

View the Recommendation.

View the draft negotiation directive.

The European Council has published Guidelines outlining the proposed framework and stances for its negotiations with the UK under Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union and setting out the overall positions and principles that the EU will seek. The UK gave notification of its intention to leave the EU on March 29, 2017.

View the Guidelines.

View the related European Commission press release.