FCA publishes Decision Notice against hedge fund for conflicts of interest failings

01 February 2022

The Financial Conduct Authority has published a Decision Notice against BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP (BCMUK) setting out its decision to impose a financial penalty of £40,806,700 on the firm. BCMUK has elected to refer the case directly to the Upper Tribunal which will determine the appropriate action, if any, for the FCA to take. The FCA considers that, between 1 October 2011 and 31 December 2015, BCMUK failed to manage fairly a conflict of interest created by allocating portfolio managers working on an external fund, open to investors outside BlueCrest, to an internal fund, open only to its partners and employees.

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BIS Board elects François Villeroy de Galhau as new Chair

28 January 2022

The Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) yesterday elected as its new Chair, François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France. His term is for a period of three years, commencing on 12 January 2022. Mr. Villeroy de Galhau succeeds Jens Weidmann who served as Chair of the Board until the end of December 2021 when he concluded his tenure as President of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Members of the Board of Directors expressed their sincere gratitude to Mr Weidmann for his excellent services to the Bank during his chairmanship.

The Board is responsible for determining the strategic and policy direction of the BIS, supervising its Management, and fulfilling the specific tasks given to it by the Bank’s Statutes.

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FCA launches discussion on improving the financial services compensation framework

27 January 2022
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The FCA has recently published a Discussion Paper aimed at maintaining a compensation framework that provides appropriate protection for consumers, funded in a fair and sustainable way. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) provides compensation when certain authorised financial services firms are unable to meet claims against them. The FSCS plays a critical backstop role in protecting consumers and ensuring confidence in financial services markets. Continue reading…

BIS, SNB and SIX successfully test integration of wholesale CBDC settlement with commercial banks

25 January 2022
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Integrating a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) into existing core banking systems is complex and a key prerequisite for issuance. Phase II of Project Helvetia successfully demonstrates that such integration is operationally possible. Issuing a wholesale CBDC on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform operated and owned by a private sector company is feasible under Swiss law. The second phase of Project Helvetia is a joint experiment by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and SIX (Switzerland’s main provider of financial infrastructure services), which also included five commercial banks: Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg and UBS. Continue reading…

Lieve Lowet

Lieve Lowet

EU Affairs consultant and lobbyist

The curious case of EIOPA’s Supervisory Handbook

24 January 2022
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In October 2021, EIOPA finally published some elements of its 2018 Supervisory handbook first mentioned in 2012, a year after EIOPA’s foundation, now more than 10 years ago. Works started in 2013. The intent of the Supervisory Handbook, it said in 2016, is to establish common supervisory practices that promote convergence and optimal supervision outcomes while allowing for market specificities. EIOPA’s work on the Supervisory Handbook, it continued, is a means to fulfil Article 29 of its mandate to strive for a common supervisory culture.  It is my understanding that the inspiration for the Supervisory Handbook was birthed as a result of needs arising from the national supervisory authorities in the run up to the implementation of Solvency II. In 2013, EIOPA as a start brought together its Colleges Team to define the best supervisory practices to be included in the Supervisory Handbook. In 2020, the obligation to develop and maintain a ‘Union supervisory handbook’ became part of the different ESA Regulations (new Article 29,2) on which EIOPA was a precursor. Continue reading…

ECB moves towards harmonising statistical reporting to ease burden for banks and improve analysis

22 January 2022

The European Central Bank (ECB) has taken the next step in the project to develop the Integrated Reporting Framework (IReF). This harmonised statistical reporting system is intended to make it easier for banks to report statistical data to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and to reduce their reporting burden by leveraging digitalisation and state-of-the-art production organisation. At the same time, the system will facilitate policymakers’ analysis and comparison of such data. Continue reading…

FCA commences criminal proceeding in relation to Collateral (UK) Ltd

20 January 2022
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has commenced criminal proceedings against the two former directors of Collateral (UK) Ltd (Collateral), Peter Currie and Andrew Currie, who each face two charges under the Fraud Act 2006 and one charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000.  The FCA alleges that the Curries, who are brothers, dishonestly represented to investors that Collateral was authorised and regulated by the FCA to operate as a peer-to-peer lender knowing this was untrue. Continue reading…

Commission proposes to end the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes within the EU

19 January 2022
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The European Commission has recently presented a key initiative to fight against the misuse of shell entities for improper tax purposes. The proposal should ensure that entities in the European Union that have no or minimal economic activity are unable to benefit from any tax advantages and do not place any financial burden on taxpayers. This will also protect the level playing field for the vast majority of European businesses, who are key to the EU’s recovery, and will ensure that ordinary taxpayers do not suffer additional financial burden due to those that try to avoid paying their fair share. Continue reading…

EBA alerts on the detrimental impact of unwarranted de-risking and ineffective management of ML / TF risks

18 January 2022

The European Banking Authority (EBA) recently published its Opinion on the scale and impact of de-risking in the EU and the steps competent authorities should take to tackle unwarranted de-risking. Providing access to at least basic financial products and services is a prerequisite for the participation in modern economic and social life and de-risking, when unwarranted, can cause the financial exclusion of legitimate customers. It can also affect competition and financial stability. De-risking refers to decisions taken by financial institutions not to provide services to customers in certain risk categories. De-risking can be a legitimate risk management tool but it can also be a sign of ineffective money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) risk management, with at times severe consequences.

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There are no no-risk countries

13 January 2022
Knowledge Base

by Geert Vermeulen

Two former employees of Dutch social housing corporation Vestia have been convicted for corruption. One of them received a 2,5 year jail sentence and the other one was sentenced to 1 year in jail. Cleaning companies, window cleaners and contractors who worked for Vestia paid the two employees large money amounts and goods in kind to get assignments from the housing corporation. The father of one of the employees and two intermediaries were involved as well. The Vestia employees told the suppliers in advance what price they should offer. Vestia estimates that the total damage of the fraud for them has been around EUR 3 million.
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