Monitoring the progress of the Financial Services and Markets Bill and regulatory divergence between the UK and the EU will continue as a key theme in 2023.  The Financial Services and Markets Bill leaves a significant amount of the essential regulatory detail to be developed later by HM Treasury (through regulations), followed by development of the specific rules by the regulators. Therefore, firms operating in the financial services sector will face legal and regulatory uncertainty as to the UK’s regime for the next few years. In addition, the regulators have been adjusting their approa ..read more

This annual publication outlines some of the primary focus areas in 2022 for UK-regulated financial services firms. There has been a marked shift away from dealing with immediate post-Brexit priorities to more fundamental consideration of the direction of travel of UK financial services regulation, and this is borne out across many of the topics covered in this year’s publication. While monitoring regulatory divergence between the UK and the EU will be a key theme for 2022, other familiar topics will play an important part in the regulators’ agendas, such as diversity and inclusion, financial ..read more

By Rob Moulton, Nicola Higgs, Anne Mainwaring, and Charlotte Collins The latest edition of our Private Bank Briefing provides a roundup of legal and compliance issues impacting private banks and their clients from Q3 2021. In this edition, we include a summary of the latest sustainable finance developments, and pinpoint areas of post-Brexit regulatory divergence in relation to MiFID, PRIIPs, and the AML regime. We cover the FCA’s new ethos as set out in its Business Plan, and the regulators’ latest thinking on diversity and inclusion, as well as other key updates for private banks f ..read more

The CFTC and the DOJ both now pursue enforcement actions against trading in commodities based on misappropriation of confidential information. By Douglas K. Yatter, Sohom Datta, and Cameron J. Sinsheimer Among the many changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act, one that has been slow to develop, but broad in its significance, is the assertion of authority by the CFTC to police insider trading in commodities markets. Starting in 2015, the agency began bringing enforcement actions against individuals and companies for trading based on misappropriation of confidential information. Since then, the ..read more

Amidst its continued regulatory focus on money laundering and terrorist financing risks, the SFC seeks to clarify and consolidate guidance for licensed firms. By Simon Hawkins and Kenneth Y.F. Hui On 18 September 2020, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a consultation paper proposing a number of amendments to its Guideline on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) for SFC-licensed firms (the Guideline). The consultation paper was issued following a wave of high-profile disciplinary actions taken by Hong Kong regulators for breaches of A ..read more

In a leading case, the Court examined the extent of the duty of care that a bank owes to its customers when executing their orders. By Andrea Monks and Nell Perks On 30 October 2019, the UK Supreme Court dismissed Daiwa’s appeal in the case of Singularis Holdings Ltd (In Official Liquidation) v Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Limited [2019] UKSC 50. The decision marks the first successful claim for breach of the Quincecare duty that banks owe to their customers. Latham & Watkins expects to see further examination of the duty as instances of fraud continue to rise and the courts consider the d ..read more

10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 By David Berman, Carl Fernandes  Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, and Charlotte Collins The fourth post in this 10-blog series considers the latest developments in relation to the Market Abuse regime. This is taken from our wider publication: 10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 – Progress Report. Read the full publication here. FCA’s focus areas The FCA’s latest speech on market abuse emphasised the importance of having appropriate market abuse co ..read more

FATF has published its highly anticipated report on the effectiveness of the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures. By Jon Holland, Rob Moulton, and Jonathan Ritson-Candler On 7 December 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published its highly anticipated mutual evaluation report of the UK. The report sets out the UK’s global standing in combatting money laundering and terrorist financing. The report is generally positive, ranking the UK as either highly or substantially effective in its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in the majori ..read more

Examples of good and poor practices provide helpful guidance, and a reminder of supervisory expectations. By Frida Montenius, Jonathan Ritson-Candler, and Charlotte Collins The FCA has published TR18/3, setting out the findings from its thematic review of the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) systems and controls in 13 Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs). Although the review only focused on EMIs, the findings have wider read-across and therefore are of interest to all firms within scope of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLRs 2017). Indeed, given th ..read more