On 9 July 2019, the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published a report on the cross-border supervision of retail financial services. The report provides an overview of the main rules that apply in the EU in respect of consumer protection, conduct of business, and the cooperation between Member State national competent authorities (NCAs) and assesses the extent to which these rules address the supervisory issues faced by NCAs. The report does not…

On 4 July 2019, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy published its first ever statutory report on the implementation of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (the Regulations). The Regulations implement the EU Consumer Rights Directive. The Regulations seek to do this in the UK by setting out: the information which a trader must give to a consumer before and after making a sale; how that information should be…

On 3 July 2019, the European Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation which lays down a transitional arrangement under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653 that is consistent with the extended transitional arrangement in Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014. It allows manufacturers of packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs) that offer investment funds as the only underlying investment options, or alongside other investment options, to continue using, for the purposes of drawing PRIIPs key information documents, key investor…

On 1 July 2019, the FCA published Policy Statement 19/18: Restricting contract for difference products sold to retail clients (PS19/18). In PS19/18 the FCA states that the new rules will require firms that offer contracts for difference (CFDs) and CFD-like options to retail consumers to: limit leverage to between 30:1 and 2:1 depending on the volatility of the underlying asset; close out a customer’s position when their funds fall to 50% of the margin needed…

On 27 June 2019, the FCA launched a market study to examine how the credit information market operates and the impact it has on consumers. The FCA will report on its preliminary conclusions on these themes in Spring 2020 including, if appropriate, a discussion of potential remedies. The FCA is not formally consulting on the terms of reference for the market study, but welcomes views on them by the end of July.…

On 27 June 2019, the Bank of England (BoE) published a Discussion Paper on its proposed approach to the risk management of collateral referencing London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for use in the Sterling Monetary Framework (SMF). The Discussion Paper: provides a brief background to both the LIBOR transition process and the BoE’s collateral framework; describes some of the potential implications for the BoE’s balance sheet from LIBOR transition; and outlines a number of possible…

On 19 June 2019, the FCA published the results of the data it has received from firms carrying out Defined Benefit (DB) transfers and sets out the next steps in its supervisory work related to transfers. The FCA is concerned that firms are recommending that large numbers of consumers transfer out of their DB pension schemes despite the FCA’s stance that transfers are likely to be unsuitable for most clients. The FCA has started visiting…