The usually predictable world of portfolio transfers received a jolt on 16 August when Mr Justice Snowden declined to exercise his discretion to sanction the proposed insurance business transfer of a £12.9 billion book of in-payment annuities from The Prudential Assurance Company Limited (“Prudential”) to Rothesay Life Limited (“Rothesay”).  This is believed to be the first time ever that the court has refused to sanction a Part VII scheme that has been passed by both…

In our latest consumer credit video, Matthew Gregory, John Coley and Simon Lovegrove take a look at the FCA’s motor finance review and consider what it means for the consumer credit industry generally. Among other things the motor finance review discussed training, which is a key part of the Senior Managers and Certification regime. We have created an SMCR toolkit which gives firms access to a range of key documents that are needed in…

In our latest ESG insight video, Beth Duff and Simon Lovegrove discuss the European Commission’s  EU taxonomy proposal for sustainable activities. For more videos and insights on ESG and sustainable finance, please visit our dedicated knowledge hub, ESG Insight.…

On 20 August 2019, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter on the requirements for strong customer authentication (SCA) in card-not-present e-commerce transactions. The Dear CEO letter follows the earlier FCA announcement regarding an 18 month plan to implement SCA rules under the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) for the e-commerce industry of card issuers, payments firms and online retailers (our blog is here). In the Dear CEO letter the FCA welcomes the plan…

On 20 August 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Banking Authority (together the European Supervisory Authorities) published a letter in response to an earlier letter from Valdis Dombrovskis (Vice-President European Commission, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) concerning crypto-assets, including so-called ‘stablecoins’. The letter outlines some of the European Supervisory Authorities’ work streams on crypto-assets including: engagement with international regulatory authorities on matters such as the prudential treatment of…