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On October 28, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a policy statement on the extension of implementation deadlines for solo-regulated firms under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) regarding the certification regime and conduct rules (the Policy Statement).

The deadlines extended in the Policy Statement from December 9, 2020 to March 31, 2021 by the FCA include:…
Continue Reading FCA Extends SM&CR Deadlines and Confirms Publication Dates for SM&CR Directory Person Data

On October 22, the European Commission (Commission) launched its formal public consultation (Consultation) on its review of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).

The Consultation follows the Commission’s June 10 report on the application and scope of the AIFMD (see the June 12, 2020 edition of Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest) and aims to achieve a more efficient, effective and competitive European market for alternative investment funds (AIFs) as a part of a stable financial system. The Consultation also notes that it may result in adjustments the existing European mutual fund rules (UCITS).…
Continue Reading AIFMD II – European Commission Consultation on AIFM Directive Review

On October 26, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a statement on the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU on December 31, relating to the requirement for EU investment firms only to trade shares on an EU trading venue, with an EU systemic internalizer or on an equivalent third-country exchange (known as the share trading obligation or STO) under Article 23 of the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) (the Statement).…
Continue Reading ESMA Publishes Statement on Trading Obligation for Shares Under MiFIR After Brexit

On October 27, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a press release announcing it had added UK venues to the list of third-country venues in respect of the opinions on post-trade transparency and position limits under Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) (the Press Release).…
Continue Reading ESMA Adds UK Venues to Third-Country Trading Venues Under MiFIR and MiFID II

On October 16, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a global transition roadmap, including a timetable of actions to be taken by financial and non-financial institutions exposed to the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) benchmarks, to ensure a seamless transaction away from LIBOR by the end of 2021 (the Roadmap).…
Continue Reading FSB Publishes Global Transition Roadmap on LIBOR

On October 21, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published new and updated webpages relating to whistleblowing (the Webpages).

The Webpages discuss:

  1. when to report wrongdoing to the FCA, how the FCA protects the identities of whistleblowers and what the FCA will do with the information reported;
  2. the legal and FCA protection available to whistleblowers

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On October 19, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a consultation paper on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) concerning central counterparties (CCPs) under Regulation (EU) 2019/2099 (EMIR 2.2) (the Consultation Paper).…
Continue Reading ESMA Publishes Consultation Paper on Draft RTS Relating to CCPs

On October 9, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) jointly published a Dear CEO letter to regulated firms regarding final preparations for the end of the Brexit transition period (the Letter).

The key areas addressed by the FCA and PRA in the Letter include:…
Continue Reading FCA and PRA Publishes Dear CEO Letter on Final Preparations for the End of Brexit Transition Period

On October 12, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its webpage on its directory of certified and assessed persons (the Directory) to clarify data submission requirements for solo-regulated firms under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) (the Webpage).…
Continue Reading FCA Updates Webpage on Its Directory of Certified and Assessed Persons

On October 8, the European Parliament published a press release announcing that it had adopted a resolution regarding the creation of a robust EU framework for crypto-assets, cyber resilience, data sharing and customer safety (the Press Release).

The basis of the resolution originates from a previous report that the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) had voted to adopt in September 2020.…
Continue Reading European Parliament Adopts Resolution on Digital Finance and Data Sharing