On April 22, the House of Commons Treasury Committee (Committee) published a report on net zero and the future of green finance in the UK (the Report) along with a press release.

The key recommendations proposed by the Committee to achieve net-zero in the UK by 2050 include:
Continue Reading UK Treasury Committee Publishes Report on Net Zero and the Future of Green Finance

On April 23, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a new webpage on its strategic approach to climate change and sustainable finance.

The FCA explains it will continue to broaden and deepen its sustainable finance strategy, which is based on the themes of transparency, trust, and tools, as set out in its previous feedback statement (FS19/6).
Continue Reading FCA Webpage on Climate Change and Sustainable Finance

On April 28, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a consultation paper (CP21/9), alongside HM Treasury, on changes to the conduct and organizational rules in the UK Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II): research and best execution reporting.

The consultation proposes to:
Continue Reading FCA Consults on Changes to Conduct and Organizational Rules Under UK MiFID

On April 19, the Bank of England (BoE) and HM Treasury announced the joint creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Taskforce to explore a potential UK CBDC. A CBDC would be a new form of digital money issued by the BoE and would exist alongside cash and bank deposits to be used by households and businesses.
Continue Reading UK Announces New Central Bank Digital Currency Taskforce

On April 6, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that legal entity identifiers (LEIs) of non-EEA third country issuers will not need to be reported under the UK version of the European Union’s Regulation on reporting and transparency of securities financing transactions (UK SFTR), until at least April 13, 2022.
Continue Reading FCA Update on Reporting LEIs of Non-EEA Third Country Issuers Under UK SFTR

On March 24, HM Treasury revised its advisory notice on money laundering and terrorist financing controls in overseas jurisdictions (AML/CTF). This replaces all previous notices issued by HM Treasury on this subject. The updated notice follows two statements published by the Financial Action Task Force on February 25, identifying jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their AML/CTF regimes.
Continue Reading AML: HM Treasury Updates Advisory Notice on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Controls in Higher-Risk Jurisdictions

On March 25, the UK Government published the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (High-Risk Countries) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/392) on its website together with an explanatory memorandum (the Regulations).
Continue Reading AML: UK Government Publishes Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (High-Risk Countries) Regulations 2021

On March 26, HM Treasury published a press release announcing it had concluded technical discussions on the text of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for UK-EU regulatory cooperation in financial services (the Press Release).
Continue Reading UK Treasury Announces Technical Discussions on MoU on UK-EU Regulatory Cooperation in Financial Services