Iona Wright (UK)

Photo of Iona Wright (UK)
Firm/Organization: Norton Rose Fulbright
Blogs: Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

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On 14 January 2019, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published the following: report on the amended text of the proposed Omnibus Directive; and report on the amended text of the proposed Regulation amending the Regulation that established the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). ECON voted to adopt these reports on 10 January 2019; the reports have been tabled for plenary.…
On 10 January 2019, the European Commission released a report on the operation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). The report confirms that current rules in the AIFMD have significantly contributed to creating a single market for alternative investment funds by establishing a harmonised regulatory and supervisory framework. Most of the AIFMD provisions are assessed as having achieved their objectives, but the report also identifies areas that require further analysis, such as diverging…
Under the draft Credit Rating Agencies (Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (the draft SI), the UK regulation of CRAs is transferred from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to the FCA. To support a smooth transition to the new regime for CRAs in the UK, and minimise disruption to the users of credit ratings, the draft SI includes two registration regimes for firms: a conversion regime. This will allow CRAs established in the UK…
On 12 December 2018, the FCA published Discussion Paper 18/10: Patient Capital and Authorised Funds (DP18/10). The FCA has published DP18/10 alongside a consultation paper on changes to permitted links rules to facilitate investment in patient capital. In DP18/10 the FCA explores the impact of the regulatory regime on investment in patient capital assets through authorised funds. ‘Patient capital’ refers to a broad range of alternative investment assets intended to deliver long-term returns; for example,…
On 12 December 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its final report following its investigation into investment consultancy and fiduciary management services. The CMA carried out this investigation following a reference from the FCA in September 2017 at the conclusion of its Asset Management Market Study (our blog on the study is here). The CMA’s investigation covered investment consultancy and fiduciary management as defined in the terms of reference: investment consultancy services –…
On 7 December 2018, HM Treasury published an updated draft of the  Collective Investment Scheme (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 together with explanatory information. The Regulations appear to have no changes from draft published on 8 October 2018 (our blog on which can be found here). The Regulations are yet to be laid before Parliament.…
On 5 November 2018, the European Parliament published a press release announcing that its Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) had voted on provisions for the proposed Regulation and Directive of cross-border distribution of collective investment funds. The new provisions concern cross border distribution of the EU-regulated alternative investment funds (AIFs) and undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS).  ECON published draft versions of its report on the regulations in September 2018. The press…
On 28 November 2018, the European Commission published a draft Delegated Regulation supplementing the Prospectus Regulation. The Annexes to the Delegated Regulation have been published separately, containing information on registration documents: securities notes; additional information to the registration documents and securities notes; EU Growth prospectus; and other categories of information. The draft text notes that the final adopted text will apply from 21 July 2019.…
We have just updated two guides on the AIFMD, which has now been in force for approximately five years.  Both guides, which are now in their fourth iteration, cover 15 EU jurisdictions – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK – with input provided by Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers in Europe, as well as correspondent counsel with whom we have close working relationships. The first…