Financial

January 23, 2020

On December 17, 2019, three different divisions of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued no-action letters intended to facilitate the swaps market’s transition away from interbank offered rates (each, an “IBOR”) and toward alternative benchmarks. The letters responded to requests for relief made by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (the “ARRC”), the group convened by the Federal Reserve to facilitate the transition away from USD LIBOR, the IBOR generally used for United States dollars, to…

FinReg

CFIUS Issues Final FIRRMA Regulations

By William H. Aaronson, George R. Bason, Jr., Louis Goldberg, Jacques Naquet-Radiguet, John B. Reynolds, Miranda So, Will Schisa, Joseph Kniaz & Kendall Howell

January 23, 2020

On January 13, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department promulgated its final regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA) to reform the authority and jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The final regulations were released in two parts: one addressing investments in U.S. businesses by foreign persons and the second addressing transactions by foreign persons involving U.S. real estate. These regulations build on non-binding proposed…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

United States imposes additional Iranian sanctions

By Kathleen Scott (US)

January 23, 2020

On January 10, 2020, the United States (US) imposed economic sanctions on: Iranian sectors that previously had not been specifically targeted, namely the construction, mining, manufacturing and textile sectors; Certain Iranian regime officials; Iran’s largest companies operating in the steel, iron, aluminum, and copper sectors ; and Non-Iranian entities for trade in Iranian metals. Norton Rose Fulbright has prepared a legal update that discusses the implications for both US and non-US persons engaging in any…

Crunched Credit

It’s Time to Originate a SOFR Loan! Really!

By Rick Jones & Jonathan Gaynor

January 23, 2020

It is time to start originating Single Asset Single Borrower (SASB) large loans priced on SOFR. There, I said it. Not just LIBOR indexed loans containing a SOFR fall back when LIBOR inevitably goes away, but new loans indexed to Compounded SOFR, implementing all the necessary tweaks to documents, systems and processes to make that work now!…

Consumer Finance Monitor

More amicus briefs filed in Seila Law

By Alan S. Kaplinsky

January 23, 2020

Amicus briefs have been filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Paul Clement, who was appointed amicus curiae by the Court to defend the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Seila Law that the CFPB’s structure is constitutional. (Amicus briefs were filed last month in support of Seila Law and the CFPB.) In his brief filed last week, Mr. Clement argued as an initial matter that the Court should conclude that the dispute over the…

Consumer Finance Monitor

This week’s podcast: Redlining claims: what is the current risk?

By Barbara S. Mishkin

January 23, 2020

In this podcast, after reviewing what redlining is, we look at which regulators have made it a focus, factors they consider when looking for redlining, whether those factors apply to nonbanks and how nonbanks can assess and reduce risk. We also discuss emerging theories of digital redlining. Click here to listen to the podcast.…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA Dear CEO letter on Alternatives Supervision Strategy

By Simon Lovegrove (UK)

January 23, 2020

On 22 January 2020, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter that outlines its view of the key risks of harm that alternative investment firms pose to their customers or the markets in which they operate. Key messages in the Dear CEO letter include: overall standards of governance, particularly at the level of the regulated entity, generally fall below the FCA’s expectations. Often the appropriateness of investment products for investors is not adequately considered. It…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

FCA Dear CEO letter to financial advisers on asset management supervision strategy

By Iona Wright (UK) & Imogen Garner (UK)

January 23, 2020

On 20 January 2020, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter to asset managers setting out the key areas of harm asset managers pose to their customers and markets in which they operate. Overall, the FCA has observed that standards of governance, particularly at the level of the regulated entity, generally fall below its expectations. The FCA’s supervision strategy addressing those key areas are set out below: liquidity management. Where the FCA identifies potential liquidity…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

EBA updates guidelines on fraud reporting under PSD2

By Albert Weatherill (UK) & Matthew Gregory (UK)

January 23, 2020

On 22 January 2020, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published amendments to its 2018 guidelines on fraud reporting under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). Article 96(6) of PSD2 requires all payment service providers to report statistical data on fraud relating to different means of payment to their national competent authorities and that such competent authorities provide the EBA and the European Central Bank with such data in an aggregated form. The amending guidelines introduce…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

EBA discussion paper on future changes to EU-wide banking sector stress test

By Jochen Vester (UK)

January 23, 2020

On 22 January 2020, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a discussion paper on future changes to the EU-wide stress test. The proposed new framework comprises of two components owned by supervisors and banks respectively: the supervisory leg and the bank leg. The supervisory leg serves as the starting point for supervisory decisions and would be directly linked to the setting of Pillar 2 guidance. The bank leg allows banks to communicate their own assessment…

Financial

CFTC Issues No-Action Letters to Smooth the Road Away from the IBORs

CFIUS Issues Final FIRRMA Regulations

United States imposes additional Iranian sanctions

It’s Time to Originate a SOFR Loan! Really!

More amicus briefs filed in Seila Law

This week’s podcast: Redlining claims: what is the current risk?

FCA Dear CEO letter on Alternatives Supervision Strategy

FCA Dear CEO letter to financial advisers on asset management supervision strategy

EBA updates guidelines on fraud reporting under PSD2

EBA discussion paper on future changes to EU-wide banking sector stress test

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