The UK Competition and Markets Authority published its final report on its market investigation into the supply of retail banking services to personal current account customers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. The report outlines its findings and a proposed package of remedies. The CMA aims to implement all elements of the package by the end of September 2018.  

Read more.

The CFTC approved an exemption for Federal Reserve Banks that maintain customer accounts for certain derivatives clearing organizations from liability under the Commodity Exchange Act. The exemption allows the Federal Reserve Banks to hold customer funds of DCOs designated by the FSOC as systemically important without being subject to liability under the CEA and also exempts the Federal Reserve Banks from private rights of action that could otherwise be brought under the CEA.

View CFTC Press Release which includes Links to Exemption.

The CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk issued an interpretative letter where CFTC staff stated that it would be inconsistent with CFTC regulations for a DCO to accept or hold initial margin in the form of, or to invest funds belonging to the DCO, its clearing members or clearing members’ customers in, certain prime and government money market funds that have authority to suspend redemptions. However, government MMFs that do not adopt such redemption restrictions would remain acceptable for margin collateral and investments.

The CFTC’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued a related no-action letter. Although an FCM will generally not be permitted to invest segregated customer funds (including an FCM’s own funds held in a segregated account) in such prime and government MMFs, the letter allows such investments if they are limited to the amount of funds the FCM holds in excess of the firm’s targeted residual interest. The letter also addresses the treatment of permitted MMF investments by an FCM under Rule 1.25.

View CFTC Press Release including links to interpretative and no-action letters.

The OCC released a second notice soliciting comments on the expansion of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Risk Assessment System to all OCC-supervised institutions. As noted in the original OCC proposal, published on January 4, 2016, the current information collection system applies only to community banks. Pursuant to the notice, the OCC continues to seek comments on, among other items, the accuracy of the OCC’s estimate of the burden of the collection of information, and ways to enhance the quality and utility of the information to be collected, and ways to minimize the burden of the collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection technologies. Comments on the MLR System were due by September 7, 2016.

View text of the OCC notice.

The Financial Stability Board launched its thematic peer review regarding the implementation of the G20/Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Principles of Corporate Governance. These Principles have been designated as one of the FSB’s key standards for sound financial systems. The Principles cover governance frameworks, disclosure and transparency, rights and equitable treatment of shareholders, key ownership functions and responsibilities. The objective of the peer review, as outlined in the terms of reference, is to understand and assess how FSB member jurisdictions have applied the principles to publicly listed regulated financial institutions (banks, insurers, asset managers and financial holding companies). The FSB is seeking feedback on, for example, the design of corporate governance frameworks and whether they promote transparent and fair markets, the protection of shareholders rights and how corporate governance structures can facilitate equitable treatment for all shareholders. The review is limited to those Principles which apply to listed regulated financial institutions, but it is hoped that it may allow for a more in-depth analysis of particular topics which are relevant for the FSB's broader remit.

The feedback is due by September 9, 2016 with a final report expected to be published in early 2017.

View the FSB terms of reference.

View the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance.

The CFTC issued a Final Response to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Remand Order in Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, et al. v. United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which was a challenge by industry groups to the CFTC’s guidance as to the application of certain requirements to cross-border swaps transactions. In a decision issued on September 16, 2014, the District Court denied the plaintiffs’ demand that the CFTC be enjoined from enforcing extraterritorially Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations, and upheld the CFTC’s 2013 cross-border guidance. The District Court did direct the CFTC to further explain and consider the costs and benefits of certain rules.

Read more.
 

The European Banking Authority published an amended version of its implementing technical standards on benchmarking of internal approaches under the Capital Requirements Directive IV. The ITS have been amended to assist regulators in their 2017 benchmarking assessment of internal approaches for credit risk and market risk. The 2016 exercise covered credit risk for so-called high-default portfolios (small and medium enterprises and retail) and market risk portfolios. The 2017 exercise will focus on low-default portfolios. The EBA noted that it intends to update the ITS annually to ensure the quality of future benchmarking exercises. The amended ITS have been published as a package of documents with consolidated instructions, templates and annexes. The amended ITS have been submitted to the European Commission but as of yet have not been adopted.

View the amended ITS. 

View the amended draft benchmarking package.

The Prudential Regulation Authority published a statement inviting firms to apply for a temporary modification of the application of the Leverage Ratio, Public Disclosure and Reporting Leverage Ratio parts of the PRA Rulebook to them. The modification is available to firms that are currently subject to the UK leverage ratio framework.  The statement follows a recommendation in July from the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England on the composition of the total exposure measure for the purposes of the leverage ratio, which stated that when applying its rules on the leverage ratio, the PRA should consider allowing firms to exclude from the calculation of the total exposure measure those assets constituting claims on central banks where they are matched by deposits accepted by the firm that are denominated in the same currency and of identical or longer maturity. 

Read more.

The OCC announced the selection of Peggy Sherry to be the agency’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer. In this role, Sherry will oversee the planning and execution of the agency’s annual operating budget and will be responsible for the oversight of the OCC’s financial systems, internal and financial controls program, travel policy and operations and agency records management functions as well as the OCC’s Office of Management’s compliance and strategic planning functions. She assumes these duties in September, succeeding Gary Crane, who is retiring.

View OCC press release.

The US Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC announced that for 38 firms, the deadlines to submit resolution plans will be extended from December 31, 2016 to December 31, 2017. The firms include 36 domestic bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations, as well as two nonbank financial companies designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The agencies expect to provide feedback on the firms’ December 2015 plans for use in their December 2017 submissions. This extension will allow the firms additional time to incorporate feedback and guidance into their next plan submissions.

View the list of firms subject to the extension.

The US Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC and the OCC issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the process for how financial institutions they regulate may begin to submit self-assessments of their diversity policies and practices starting with year-end 2015. Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the federal financial regulatory agencies to develop standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of its regulated institutions, which became effective on June 10, 2015. The standards provide a framework for regulated institutions to assess and establish or strengthen their diversity policies and practices. Financial institutions are strongly encouraged to disclose on their websites their diversity policies and practices, as well as information related to their self-assessments, to maximize transparency, and to provide their policies, practices and self-assessment information to their primary federal financial regulator.

View FAQs.

The Financial Conduct Authority published a policy statement on changes to the FCA Handbook to implement the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015 (PAR). The policy statement summarizes feedback from its consultation on the implementation of the PAR in March of this year and contains the subsequent final changes to the FCA Handbook and the finalized non-Handbook guidance. 

Changes to the Handbook and Guidance touch on various issues. Minor amendments have been made to the Guidance to provide clarity on the definition of a “payment account” in the Handbook and the scope of the PAR provisions on packaged accounts has been clarified. Amendments have also been made in relation to the regulatory reporting requirements. For example, the total number of refusals of switching and basic bank account applications would now need to be reported (rather than the proportion of total applications refused). The reporting deadline has also been extended to two months (instead of one month) after the end of the reporting period.

Changes to the Handbook and Guidance will come into effect on September 18, 2016, which is the same day as the date on which the Payment Account Regulations provisions on packaged accounts, switching and basic bank accounts enter into force.

View the policy statement.

Te US Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, OCC, Federal Housing Finance Agency and Farm Credit Administration announced a final rule exempting from the agencies’ margin requirements certain non-cleared swaps with commercial end users, small banks, savings associations, Farm Credit System institutions and credit unions with $10 billion or less in total assets. Certain non-cleared swaps with certain treasury affiliates, certain financial cooperatives and captive finance companies also are exempted. In all cases, the non-cleared swaps must hedge or mitigate commercial risk of these counterparties and satisfy the applicable requirements for an exemption from mandatory clearing.

The exemptions were first adopted by interim final rule published in the Federal Register in November 2015. The final rule adopts the earlier interim final rule as final without change. The agencies established initial and variation margin requirements for non-cleared swaps, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act, in a separate rulemaking published in November 2015.

View Final Rule.

The US Federal Reserve Board invited comment on an interim final rule adjusting the Federal Reserve Board’s maximum civil money penalties, as required by law.

In November 2015, a law was passed that requires all federal agencies to adjust their maximum civil money penalty limits annually, rather than every four years, as previously required. Additionally, the law sets forth the adjustment formula for federal agencies. The Federal Register notice details the civil money penalty adjustments made by the Federal Reserve Board.

The interim final rule became effective on August 1, 2016, and will apply to those penalties assessed after this date. The Federal Reserve Board was accepting comments until August 30, 2016.

View interim final rule.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that Denise Scott, executive vice president for programs at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), has been appointed a Class C director of the New York Fed by the Federal Reserve Board. Starting August 1st, Scott will be filling the remainder of Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s term, which expires on December 31, 2016. Scott will be eligible for reappointment at that time.

View The New York Fed press release.

The US FDIC requested comments on updates to its guidelines for institutions to appeal certain material supervisory determinations, as well as comments on draft guidance regarding third-party lending. The two items are part of a package issued by the FDIC to improve the transparency and clarity of the FDIC’s supervisory policies and practices, and to ensure that institutions have clear and fair avenues to pursue when there are differences of opinion regarding supervisory matters.

Read more.
 

The US Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC and the OCC released the results of the Shared National Credit (SNC) review. The review showed that the level of adversely rated assets remained higher than in previous periods of economic expansion, raising the concern that future losses and problem loans could rise considerably in the next credit cycle. The elevated level of risk observed during the recent SNC examination stems from the high inherent risk in the leveraged loan portfolio and growing credit risk in the oil and gas portfolio.

Read more.

The Prudential Regulation Authority published a consultation paper on its proposed approach to the implementation of the systemic risk buffer. The consultation paper is relevant to ring-fenced bodies under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and large building societies that hold more than £25 billion in deposits (where one or more of the accountholders is a small business) and shares (excluding deferred shares). These are jointly referred to as “SRB institutions”. The UK Independent Commission on Banking recommended that UK systematically important SRB institutions be held to a higher capital standard. In addition to these recommendations, the UK legislation implementing the systematic risk buffer requires that the PRA apply the Financial Policy Committee framework as of January 1, 2019. The PRA’s proposals outline the scope of the framework, the capital implications of the SRB and the PRA’s approach to applying the SRB. 

The PRA has proposed that: (i) it will, in the exercise of sound supervisory judgement, only deviate from the SRB rates derived from the FPC framework in exceptional cases; (ii) for building societies in scope of the framework, the applicable basis of the framework will be the group consolidated basis for building societies that are the parents of consolidation groups and the individual basis for all others; (iii) the initial SRB rates will be set and announced by the PRA in early 2019 and will apply three months after being set; and (iv) following the application of the initial SRB rates, rates will be set and announced annually and will apply in the second year following the calendar year in which they were set.

Responses to the proposals are due by October 28, 2016.

View the PRA update. 

View the consultation paper.

View the FPC framework and associated consultation paper.

The Financial Conduct Authority published final rules on financial crime reporting, which will introduce obligations for banks, large investment firms, building societies, mortgage lenders, large electronic money institutions, certain large consumer credit firms, life insurers and retail investment and mortgage intermediaries. Relevant firms will be required to provide details annually on, among other things, the jurisdictions and types of customers as well as the number of suspicious activity reports to the FCA. The reporting obligation will only apply to a firm's business that is subject to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. The FCA is introducing the new requirement so that it can adopt a more risk-sensitive supervisory approach. Due to the feedback it received to its consultation on the implementation timeline, the FCA has extended the remittance deadline by 60 days so that firms with an accounting year end of December 31 will need to submit the data by late March the following year. The FCA is also allowing firms to complete the first Financial Crime Report on a best endeavors basis. 

View the FCA's Policy Statement and final Rules.

The Financial Conduct Authority published a second consultation paper on implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II and the associated proposed changes to the FCA Handbook. The first consultation paper, published on December 15, 2015, related to issues associated with the FCA’s regulation of the secondary trading of financial instruments. The proposals in the second consultation paper are relevant to many different firms, including investment banks, inter-dealer brokers, stockbrokers, investment advisers, corporate finance firms, trading venues, investment managers and prospective Data Reporting Services Providers. The Consultation Paper includes full implementation of relevant parts of MiFID II, consistent with FCA pronouncements that roll-out of MiFID II will not be affected by the Brexit vote.

Read more.

The European Banking Authority published the results of the EU-wide stress test. The stress test covered 51 EEA banks and assessed the resilience of the EEA banking sector to adverse financial conditions. Unlike the stress tests conducted in 2011 and 2014, the 2016 stress test did not aim to identify possible capital shortfalls, as the EBA considers that after five years of continuous capital raising in the EU banking sector, the crisis type of stress test appears to be less relevant. It is intended instead that supervisors will use the 2016 results to assess banks’ forward looking capital planning. The results of the stress test will be used by national regulators in their Supervisory Review Process to assess each bank's capital planning going forward.  

View the stress test documentation.

The Federal Reserve Board published a proposal to extend for three years, with revision, the Capital Assessments and Stress Testing information collection applicable to bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and US intermediate holding companies established by foreign banking organizations. The Federal Reserve Board proposed revising the FR Y-14A, Q and M schedules to expand the chief financial officer attestation reporting requirement applicable to US BHCs subject to the Large Institution Supervision Coordinating Committee (LISCC) framework to US IHC respondents on a phased-in basis beginning with reports as of December 31, 2017. The CFO-attestation requirement was finalized for US BHCs earlier this year and implementation is required on a phased-in basis for reports as of December 31, 2016.

The proposal also provides for revisions to the FR Y-14A that include data on the supplementary leverage ratio as well as to include information on material operational risks included in loss projections, operational risk scenarios and updated documentation requirements to align with SR Letter 15-18. Comments were due by September 26, 2016.

View Federal Reserve Board Proposal.

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlined proposals under consideration that would overhaul the debt collection market by capping collector contact attempts and by helping to ensure that companies collect the correct debt. Pursuant to the proposals being considered, debt collectors would be required to have more and better information about the debt before they collect. As they are collecting, debt collection companies would be required to limit communications, clearly disclose debt details and make it easier to dispute the debt. When responding to disputes, collectors would be prohibited from continuing to pursue debt without sufficient evidence. These requirements and restrictions would follow the debt if it were sold or transferred.

View outline of proposals under consideration.

The European Commission published regulatory technical standards on margin for uncleared swaps and a letter to the European Supervisory Authorities notifying them of the Commission's intention to endorse (with amendments) the draft RTS submitted by the ESAs in March 2016. 

The CFTC announced the signing of counterparts with certain Canadian authorities to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), originally executed on March 25, 2014, regarding cooperation and the exchange of information in the supervision and oversight of regulated entities that operate on a cross-border basis in the United States and in Canada. The scope of the MOU includes markets and organized trading platforms, central counterparties, trade repositories and intermediaries, dealers and other market participants.

View CFTC press release and counterparts to MOU.

The European Commission adopted a Commission Delegated Regulation in the form of Regulatory Technical Standards supplementing the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. MiFIR will, from January 3, 2018, require an investment firm to report complete and accurate details of transactions in financial instruments no later than the close of the following business day to its national regulator. One of the purposes of the reporting obligation is for national regulators to undertake market surveillance, including to monitor for market abuse.

Read more.

The Payment Systems Regulator published its final report on its market review into the ownership and payment infrastructure competitiveness in the UK. The final report follows the PSR’s interim report which was published in February 2016. The PSR has concluded that there is currently no effective competition in the provision of UK payments central infrastructure services for Bacs, FPS and LINK (notwithstanding general satisfaction by operators and PSPs in terms of value for money, quality of service and innovation received from providers). This is partly because the operators have not periodically run competitive procurement processes or sufficiently tested the market when reproducing core infrastructure services. This means that the incumbent provider, VocaLink, has faced limited competitive pressure and minimal incentives to provide more efficient and innovative services. 

the CFTC announced that it is seeking comment on proposed amendments to CFTC Regulation 3.10(c) to modify an exemption from registration for certain foreign persons in connection with commodity interest transactions solely on behalf of persons located outside the US, or on behalf of certain international financial institutions. The amendments would codify certain existing no-action relief. Comments were due by September 6, 2016.

View CFTC proposal.

The European Banking Authority published final draft Regulatory Technical Standards on the criteria for the application of preferential treatment in cross-border intragroup credit or liquidity lines, or within an institutional protection scheme. The Capital Requirements Regulation permits regulators to grant preferential treatment for transactions within a group or an institutional protection scheme by applying higher inflow rates (in the case of the liquidity receiver) or lower outflow rates (in the case of the liquidity provider) for calculating  the liquidity coverage requirement for intra-group liquidity flows. Where transactions within a group or an institutional protection scheme constitute cross-border positions, preferential treatment is conditional upon compliance with additional objective criteria specified in the Liquidity Coverage Ratio Delegated Act. The Capital Requirements Regulation mandates the EBA to develop draft RTS to specify additional objective criteria. 

Read more.

A Commission Implementing Regulation on Implementing Technical Standards on the standard procedures and forms for national regulators to submit information on penalties imposed under the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The UCITS Directive requires member states to implement laws imposing administrative sanctions and other administrative measures on individuals and companies that infringe the requirements of the Directive. 

The ITS set out the common procedures and forms for national regulators to report annually to the European Securities and Markets Authority those administrative penalties and measures that they have imposed in accordance with the UCITS Directive in the previous calendar year. The ITS applied from August 15, 2016.

View the ITS.

The European Banking Authority published draft Guidelines on bank’s credit risk management practices and accounting for expected losses. IFRS 9 Financial Instruments will replace IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement for the accounting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2018. IFRS 9 requires the measurement of impairment loss allowances to be based on an expected credit loss accounting model rather than on an incurred loss accounting model. Many EU banks use the IFRS standards and because the use of an ECL accounting model involves some discretion in it application, the EBA is proposing that bank’s use the Guidelines when implementing and applying IFRS 9. The proposed Guidelines should be read in conjunction with the relevant provisions of the CRR and CRD. The consultation closes on October 26, 2016. The EBA intends to finalize the Guidelines in Q4 2016 or Q1 2017. The finalized Guidelines will need to be implemented by January 1, 2018. 

View the consultation paper.

The European Banking Authority published its final report on guidelines for communication between regulators supervising credit institutions and statutory auditors and audit firms carrying out the statutory audit of credit institutions.  The Audit Regulation requires that effective dialogue must be established between regulators supervising credit institutions on the one hand and the statutory auditors and audit firms carrying out the audit of those firms on the other. The EBA’s guidelines include an underlying general framework that should underpin communication between regulators and auditors at all times.  The guidelines include seven principles and detailed guidance relating to the main elements of effective communication. The seven principles address: (i) the scope and relevance of information shared; (ii) requests by regulators for information from auditors; (iii) the sharing of information with auditors by regulators; (iv) methods of communication and communication channels; (v) the identity, competence and knowledge of participants in the communication between regulators and auditors collectively; (vi) the frequency of information-sharing between regulators and auditors; and (vii) communications between regulators and auditors collectively (such as a group of auditors, or a professional body representing auditors) .

The guidelines will be transposed into the official languages of the EU and will apply from March 31, 2017.

View the Final Report.

The OFR published a working paper that examines whether new rules imposed on bilateral trading incentivize central clearing of derivatives. By comparing the total capital and collateral costs when banks transact bilaterally to the capital and collateral costs when they clear through CCPs, the study finds that central clearing is sometimes more expensive. While “the cost comparison does not necessarily favor central clearing, . . . when it does, the incentive may be driven by questionable differences in CCPs’ default waterfall resources.” In the absence of a cost advantage for central clearing, market participants may be motivated to customize contracts in order to trade them bilaterally. The authors find that without a cost advantage, banks may also be less inclined to move legacy trades to CCPs.

View OFR working paper.

The European Securities and Markets Association published a final report on draft implementing technical standards concerning the procedures and forms for submitting information regarding administrative and criminal investigations, sanctions and other administrative measures under the Market Abuse Regulation. The technical standards relate to requirements under MAR for national member state regulators to submit two types of information to ESMA: (i) aggregated information on all administrative and criminal sanctions and other administrative measures imposed, and criminal investigations undertaken, under relevant provisions of MAR; and (ii) administrative and criminal sanctions and other administrative procedures that are disclosed to the public by regulators, which must  be simultaneously reported to ESMA.

ESMA submitted the draft technical standards to the European Commission for endorsement on July 26, 2016.

View the final report.

The European Banking Authority published a consultation paper proposing an updated version of the guidelines on the implementation of the large exposures regime that was issued by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors on December 11, 2009. The large exposures regime has since been amended by the Capital Requirements Regulation and complemented by European Commission and EBA guidelines. In light of the CRR amendments, the EBA has reviewed and updated the 2009 CEBS Guidelines and presented the results of the review in the consultation paper.

The Financial Conduct Authority published its final report outlining findings from its credit card market study. The FCA credit card market study was launched in November 2014. The purpose of the study was to analyze the credit card market and determine whether it is working in the interest of consumers and to develop remedies to improve the situation if needed. Interim findings were published in November 2015 with potential remedies mooted for certain issues such as the frequent withdrawal of firms’ promotional offers and the fees associated with a single month’s missed payment. The final report summarizes feedback received on the interim report and outlines the FCA’s package of remedies.

On July 25, 2016, the US Office of Financial Research issued its biannual update of the risks to US financial stability. The report finds that, overall, risks to US financial stability remain in the medium range but have been pushed higher by the UK vote to exit the EU. The OFR notes that, “[t]he result surprised financial markets and was a negative shock to investor confidence. It introduces months or years of uncertainty about the rules governing the UK’s investment, financing, and trade relations . . . . Because the UK economy and especially the UK financial system are highly connected with the rest of Europe and the United States, severe adverse outcomes in the UK could pose a risk to US financial stability.” The OFR report observes that the key vulnerabilities addressed in the OFR’s 2015 Financial Stability Report issued last December also persist, adding that: (i) credit risks in US nonfinancial businesses and in some major foreign markets are still elevated; (ii) long-term US interest rates have declined to ultra-low levels, which can motivate excessive risk-taking and borrowing, and many key foreign interest rates are now negative, with uncertain consequences for financial stability; and (iii) uneven resilience persists in the US financial system.

View The OFR Financial Stability Monitor.

The US Federal Reserve Board extended until September 16, 2016, the comment period for the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking detailing conceptual frameworks for capital standards that could apply to systemically important insurance companies and to insurance companies that own a bank or thrift. The Federal Reserve Board proposal presents one approach, known as the “consolidated approach,” that would apply to systemically important insurance companies and a second approach, referred to as the “building block approach,” for the supervised insurance companies that own a bank or thrift. The Federal Reserve Board extended the comment period, originally set for August 17, 2016, to allow interested persons more time to analyze the issues and prepare their comments.

View Proposed Rule.

The European Banking Authority launched a consultation on the appropriate reference point for setting the target level of resolution financing arrangements required by the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. The BRRD provides that when a bank fails, shareholders and creditors of the bank must be the first to bear losses. To ensure the effective implementation of the other resolution tools available, member states are required to have pre-funded resolution financing arrangements, contributions of which are made by the banks in each member state. The BRRD currently provides for contributions of at least 1% of the amount of covered deposits of all the banks in a given Member State by December 31, 2024. The BRRD requires the EBA to make recommendations to the Commission on whether the basis for those arrangements should be changed. The EBA is seeking feedback on its proposal to recommend to the Commission that the basis should be changed to one of: (i) total liabilities (excluding own funds) less covered deposits; (ii) total liabilities (excluding own funds); or (iii) total liabilities (including own funds).

Read more.

The CFTC’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued a staff advisory regarding chief compliance officer reporting line requirements for swap dealers, major swap participants and futures commission merchants under CFTC Regulation 3.3. The advisory clarifies the regulation’s required elements and addresses additional supervisory relationships that a chief compliance officer may have with senior management in addition to those with the board or the senior officer of the registrant.

View CFTC staff advisory.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority published a consultation paper on aspects of its policy to implement the ring-fencing requirements for banks. The consultation covers reporting, prudential and recovery and resolution requirements. The proposals are relevant to all firms that are required to ring-fence their core banking activities before the implementation date of January 1, 2019 (which are firms, broadly speaking, with at least £25 billion of core deposits) and to growing firms that expect to meet this threshold by 2019. UK banking groups that have more than £25 billion of core deposits will need to ring-fence the entity/ies that accept deposits - called ring-fenced bodies, by transferring other business lines to different legal vehicles or undertaking other business separations.

The PRA proposes to establish reporting requirements on a sub-consolidated basis when an RFB sub-group is formed, by extending all non-Capital Requirements Regulation reporting requirements that currently apply on a consolidated basis to banking groups affected by ring-fencing to an RFB sub-group and requiring RFBs to submit certain non-CRR reporting returns on a sub-consolidated basis, requiring RFBs to report on a sub-group’s intragroup exposures, related collateral and funding transactions. 

Read more.

The European Securities and Markets Authority published a list of US designated contract markets considered equivalent to a regulated market in the European Union. The list is based on a Commission Implementing Decision published in the Official Journal of the European Union on July 2, 2016, which considered that 15 DCMs located in the United States are equivalent. The DCMs have been deemed equivalent for purposes of the definition of over-the-counter derivatives in the European Markets and Infrastructure Regulation. This means that derivative contracts traded on these DCMs would not be deemed to be OTC derivatives and therefore not be subject an obligation to clear the transactions, report on them and undertake risk mitigation steps as if they were OTC, under EMIR. To be deemed equivalent, a third country market must comply with legally binding requirements in its home state equivalent to the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and must also be subject to effective supervision and enforcement in that third country on an on-going basis. 

View the Commission Implementing Decision.  

View ESMA’s library on post trading. 

The European Banking Authority published a report on the recent dynamics, cross-country dispersion and drivers of non-performing exposures in the EU banking sector. The report covers a review of 166 EU banks from September 2014 to March 2016. The EBA notes that there is a high disparity between jurisdictions, suggesting that the average non-performing loan (NPL) ratio is up to three times higher in the EU than in other jurisdictions. The report provides an overview of asset quality across jurisdictions and analyzes the riskiness of counterparties in different countries and the structural characteristics of local markets that can affect credit quality, provisioning policies and recovery of distressed assets. 

A Decision of the European Banking Authority on unsolicited credit assessments was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The EBA decided that unsolicited credit assessments of certain External Credit Assessment Institutions (ECAIs) did not differ from their solicited credit assessments. An ECAI is a credit rating agency that has been registered or certified under the EU CRA Regulation or a central bank issuing credit ratings which are exempt from the application of the CRA Regulation. 

Read more.

The Bank of England published a consultation paper on a proposed unified Enforcement Decision Making Committee. The EDMC would take decisions on the matters regarding: (i) firms and individuals regulated by Prudential Regulation Authority; (ii) financial market infrastructure; and (iii) the resolution of contested enforcement cases. The consultation follows a recommendation by HM Treasury to extend the proposed EDMC model across all the areas where the Bank has enforcement powers. The EDMC would be established by the Court of Directors of the Bank of England and its 15 members would be independent from the Bank’s executive management structure and would be appointed for a renewable 3 year term. The EDMC would undertake administrative processes, not judicial, and would be similar to the FCA's Regulatory Decisions Committee, with a right of appeal to a judicial body after its decisions was reached. The EDMCs remit would include all contested statutory notice decisions. The Bank seeks feedback on the creation of the EDMC including on its proposed composition, independence, jurisdiction, decision making powers and processes. 

Responses to the consultation are due by October 21, 2016. The Bank aims to publish guidance on the consultation as part of a comprehensive external policy statement on the Bank’s enforcement process during the course of 2017. 

View the consultation paper.

The Financial Conduct Authority published the findings of its thematic review of the UK equity marketplace, focusing on dark pools and broker crossing networks. The FCA examined promotional activity and the identification and management of conflicts of interest by dark pool operators, as well as issues of governance, oversight and controls. The report is based on the definition of “dark pool” as a trading venue with no pre-trade transparency, such that all orders, prices and volumes are anonymous. 

Read more.

The Payment Systems Regulator published its final report on its market review into the supply of indirect access to payment systems. Banks, building societies and other payment service providers rely on payment systems to transfer money between accounts. The PSR commented that provision of access to payment systems is essential in enabling effective supervision of and innovation in payments. Indirect access to payment systems occurs when one payment service provider relies on another payment service provider to provide access. The PSRs final conclusions remain largely unchanged from its interim report.    

The PSR concluded that generally, competition in the supply of indirect access appears to be producing some good outcomes. For example, large indirect payment service providers (IPSPs) have a number of options to access payments systems, there is a reasonable level of overall satisfaction with the quality of the indirect access offering that IPSPs receive. 

Read more.

The CFPB announced that Chris D’Angelo was appointed to serve as the CFPB’s Associate Director for Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending, Nellisha Ramdass was appointed to serve as the CFPB’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Richard Lepley was appointed to serve as the CFPB’s Principal Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel in the CFPB’s Legal Division.

View The CFPB press release.

The OCC, Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve Board and FDIC jointly published a notice proposing to extend, with revision, the Country Exposure Report (FFIEC 009) and the Country Exposure Information Report (FFIEC 009a). The revisions would (i) require that institutions provide their Legal Entity Identifier on both reporting forms, if applicable and (ii) add Intermediate Holding Companies to the Federal Reserve Board’s respondent panel. The agencies had previously requested comments on these changes. The proposed revisions have now been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The changes would take effect September 30, 2016.

View notice.

The Financial Conduct Authority published a Feedback Statement on its call for input on implementation of future RegTech in the UK. The FCA defines RegTech as a sub-set of FinTech with a focus on technologies that may facilitate the delivery of regulatory requirements more efficiently and effectively than existing capabilities. The Feedback Statement summarizes industry responses to the FCA’s call for input, outlines the FCA’s approach to RegTech for 2016/17 and the activities it will prioritize.  The FCA intends to increase engagement and collaboration with the RegTech community, noting that it has restricted potential to assist the industry in defining standards and guidelines to provide certainty for firms purchasing new technology capabilities. The FCA aims to improve compliance and reduce the overall costs of regulation by encouraging innovation development and the adoption of new technologies that help and improve the interface between the regulator and regulated firms. 

View the feedback statement.