This fine was for making unsolicited telemarketing calls to people who registered not to receive this type of sales call, where the firm had no evidence they had consented to receive the call or where the firm was unable to confirm what consent had been obtained on customer data purchased from third party data providers. Continue reading…

The FCA has launched a consultation on a series of proposed reforms to improve the effectiveness of UK primary markets, alongside a discussion of how it might continue to develop the regime to ensure the UK remains a competitive and dynamic market. Recently, both the UK Listing Review, chaired by Lord Jonathan Hill, and the Kalifa Review of UK FinTech have made specific recommendations for improvements to the regime. The FCA’s suggested reforms seek to address, and build, on the proposals in these important reviews to ensure that the UK remains an attractive place to grow and list successful companies. Continue reading…

Members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) / G20 / Inclusive Framework worked on a global consensus-based solution to reform the international corporate tax framework. The discussion focused on two broad work streams: Pillar One, the partial re-allocation of taxing rights, and Pillar Two, the minimum effective taxation of profits of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Pillar One aims to adapt the international rules on how the taxation of corporate profits of the largest and most profitable MNEs is shared amongst countries, to reflect the changing nature of business models, including the ability of companies to do business without a physical presence. Pillar Two will set a floor to excessive tax competition. It aims to ensure that multinational businesses are subject to a minimum effective level of tax on all of their profits each year.
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FCA, PRA and Bank of England set out plan to improve diversity and inclusion in regulated firms. The FCA, Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Bank of England (the regulators) are seeking views on regulatory plans to improve diversity and inclusion in financial services. In a discussion paper, the regulators have set out policy options including, among others, the use of targets for representation, measures to make senior leaders directly accountable for diversity and inclusion in their firms, linking remuneration to diversity and inclusion metrics and the regulators’ approach to considering diversity and inclusion in non-financial misconduct. The discussion paper also focuses on the importance of data and disclosure in order to enable firms, regulators and other stakeholders to monitor progress.   Continue reading…

On June 2, 2021 the OFAC sanctioned three Bulgarian individuals for their extensive roles in corruption in Bulgaria, as well as their business networks encompassing 64 entities. This constituted the largest Global Magnitsky action taken on a single day in the history of the program. By applying their laws extraterritorially, the United States seeks to police and prevent serious human rights abuses and large-scale corruption. By imposing tangible and significant consequences on perpetrators’ property and interests, the US protects not only its interests, but also the global financial system. At the same time, designated sanctions raise many questions when it comes to legality, justice and compliance, especially when it comes to local markets and smaller businesses.
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Regulatory reforms implemented since the financial crisis significantly helped banks absorb the shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said on Tuesday in an interim report assessing the effectiveness of post-crisis reforms. The report, Early lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic on the Basel reforms, indicates that the banking system would have faced greater stress during this period had the Basel III reforms not been adopted, and in the absence of extraordinary support measures taken by public authorities to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Continue reading…

To enhance consumer protection in the funeral plans market, the FCA has confirmed the rules funeral plan providers will have to follow when they come under regulation from 29 July 2022. The new rules will introduce high standards in the funeral plans market and require firms to ensure that plans are sold fairly, perform as expected and provide value for money. These rules mean:

Funeral instalment plan products will always deliver a funeral (after a moratorium period) as we will be banning those that don’t guarantee this; Cold calling will be banned and new standards on advertising will be implemented to ensure plans are sold fairly;
Commission payments to intermediaries will be banned to ensure products represent fair value; Those selling funeral plans are subject to full checks on their fitness to operate to improve governance standards and oversight.

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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has recently published a consultation report with policy proposals to enhance money market fund (MMF) resilience. The proposals form part of the FSB’s work programme on non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI). The FSB’s Holistic review of the March 2020 market turmoil highlighted structural vulnerabilities in MMFs and related stress in short-term funding markets. MMFs are susceptible to sudden and disruptive redemptions, and they may face challenges in selling assets, particularly under stressed conditions. These features can make individual MMFs, or even the entire MMF sector, susceptible to runs, and may also give rise to system-wide vulnerabilities. Continue reading…

by Elena Pykhova

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to dealing with financial challenges such as a drop in assets or liquidity, organisations are faced with issues that go to the core of operational risk management – people, systems, processes and the external environment. The crisis acted as a real-life stress test of existing frameworks and processes, and lessons learnt from the pandemic will trigger changes to how firms view and manage their operational risks.  Continue reading…