Matthew Gregory (UK)

Firm/Organization: Norton Rose Fulbright

Blogs: Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

Latest Articles

FCA protocols for independent reviews of regulatory action concerning IRHP and Connaught

By Matthew Gregory (UK) on August 15, 2019

On 14 August 2019, the FCA published two protocols in relation to lessons learned reviews commissioned by the non-executive directors of the FCA following the appointments of John Swift QC and Raj Parker as independent reviewers for the Interest Rate Hedging Products (IRHPs) review and the Connaught Income Fund Series 1 review respectively in June 2019. The documents are as follows: Protocol for the review on the redress scheme for IRHPs; and Protocol for the…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

Pensions Regulator consults on trustee guidance

By Matthew Gregory (UK) & Joe Bamford (UK) on August 1, 2019

On 31 July 2019, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) published a consultation paper on draft guides to deliver the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recommendation for the TPR to produce guidance to trustees of occupational pension schemes on engaging with investment consultants and fiduciary managers. TPR’s guidance includes draft guides to: tendering for fiduciary management services; tendering for investment consultancy services; setting objectives for providers of investment consultancy services; and choosing an investment governance model. The…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA launches package of pension related proposals

By Joe Bamford (UK) & Matthew Gregory (UK) on July 31, 2019

On 30 July 2019, the FCA published a package of pension related proposals designed to improve the quality of pension transfer advice and to help consumers get better value from their pension. These proposals include: consultation paper (CP19/25) setting out a proposed ban on contingent charging for pension transfer advice designed to protect customers from the conflicts of interest which arise where a financial adviser only gets paid if a transfer goes ahead. The FCA…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA consults on guiding firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers

By Matthew Gregory (UK) & Joe Bamford (UK) on July 24, 2019

On 23 July 2019, the FCA launched a consultation on proposed guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers. The draft guidance sets out the FCA’s view of what the FCA Principles for Businesses (Principles) require of firms to ensure that vulnerable consumers are consistently treated fairly across financial services sectors. The FCA states that there are two stages of consulting on the draft guidance. The first stage involves publishing the draft guidance…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA report on alternatives to high-cost credit

By Simon Lovegrove (UK) & Matthew Gregory (UK) on July 23, 2019

On 22 July 2019, the FCA published a report that provides an update on the key issues it identified in Consultation Paper 18/35: Rent-to-own and alternatives to high-cost credit – feedback on CP18/12 and consultation on a price cap (our blog is here). In the report the FCA: examines the market for alternatives to high-cost credit by looking at consumer demand and the availability of credit and non-credit alternatives; sets out the actions it…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA Feedback Statement on fair pricing in financial services

By Matthew Gregory (UK) & Joe Bamford (UK) on July 19, 2019

On 18 July 2019, the FCA published a Feedback Statement 19/04 (FS19/04) summarising the main themes in the submissions received from an earlier Discussion Paper published in October 2018 (see previous blog post) on fair pricing in financial services. In the statement, the FCA provides further clarification on how it will apply its framework on assessing the fairness of a given pricing practice. The FCA explains that it will focus on operationalising its approach…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA multi-firm review – retail banking and business continuity planning

By Matthew Gregory (UK) on July 12, 2019

On 11 July 2019, the FCA published a new web page setting out its findings following a recent review of business continuity planning amongst a number of small and medium-sized retail banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions. The FCA reports that most firms demonstrated a good understanding of the importance of business continuity planning (BCP). However, it also found some important areas where improvements could be made. In particular, the FCA found examples where…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA TechSprint on global anti-money laundering and financial crime

By Matthew Gregory (UK) on July 11, 2019

On 10 July 2019, the FCA announced that from 29 July to 2 August 2019, it will be holding a follow-up to its 2018 AML & Financial Crime TechSprint. At this follow-up event international colleagues and participants from the US, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific will come together at the FCA’s offices to develop solutions to the following use cases: How can a network of market participants use privacy enhancing technologies and data analytics…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA new measure of market cleanliness – the Abnormal Trading Volume ratio

By Matthew Gregory (UK) on July 11, 2019

On 9 July 2019, the FCA published a new webpage on measuring market cleanliness following the introduction of an additional metric, the Abnormal Trading Volume ratio (ATV). The ATV ratio expands on the traditional market cleanliness metric of measuring solely large movements in share prices before a public announcement by encompassing over 1,000 events. The FCA defines an ‘event’ as an unexpected, potentially price sensitive announcement. The new metric provides a broader scope for measuring…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

ESAs publish recommendations on the supervision of retail financial services provided across borders

By Matthew Gregory (UK) & Joe Bamford (UK) on July 10, 2019

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…

Matthew Gregory (UK)

FCA protocols for independent reviews of regulatory action concerning IRHP and Connaught

Pensions Regulator consults on trustee guidance

FCA launches package of pension related proposals

FCA consults on guiding firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers

FCA report on alternatives to high-cost credit

FCA Feedback Statement on fair pricing in financial services

FCA multi-firm review – retail banking and business continuity planning

FCA TechSprint on global anti-money laundering and financial crime

FCA new measure of market cleanliness – the Abnormal Trading Volume ratio

ESAs publish recommendations on the supervision of retail financial services provided across borders

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