On 18 February 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a press release announcing that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, three central counterparties (CCPs) established in the UK (LCH Limited, ICE Clear Europe Limited and LME Clear Limited), will be recognised (under Article 25 of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation) to provide their services in the EU. ESMA has adopted these recognition decisions in order to limit the risk of disruption…

On 19 February 2019, the Act implementing the revised Payment Services Directive (EU/2015/2366) (PSD2) (Implementatiewet herziene richtlijn betaaldiensten) and the Decree implementing PSD2 (Implementatiebesluit herziene richtlijn betaaldiensten) entered into force in the Netherlands. PSD2 is a directive regulating the payments of consumers and businesses. PSD2 has five primary objectives: promoting competition in the European payments market; improving consumer protection; facilitating innovations in the payments system; strengthening the security of payments; and contributing to a single…

On 15 February 2019, the FCA announced that it will be hosting two briefings for regulated firms in preparation for the UK leaving the EU. The briefings will take place on: 11 March 2019 – Central London with live webcast 14 March – Edinburgh with live webcast. At both events, Nausicaa Delfas, Executive Director of International, will explain how the FCA has been preparing for Brexit and the regulator’s expectations of firms. The session will…

On 15 January 2019, the FCA published a web page which provides data showing how long it takes UK firms to open a current account for new customers, and how long it takes them to replace customers’ debit cards. Firms are also publishing information on major operational and security incidents that they have reported to the FCA. Under a voluntary agreement, they also continue to publish information on the services that they provide to vulnerable…

On 14 February 2019, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a report on FinTech and market structure in financial services. The FSB defines FinTech as technology-enabled innovation in financial services that could result in new business models, applications, processes or products with an associated material effect on the provision of financial services. The report considers changes in market structure in financial services due to technological innovation, and explores the potential impacts of these developments…

On January 28, 2019, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) added Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., Venezuela’s state-owned oil company and a primary source of the country’s income and foreign currency, to its list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (the “SDN List”). Norton Rose Fulbright has prepared a Legal Update on this development and its implications for US and non-US entities. A 2017 Norton Rose Fulbright briefing on previously…

On February 8, 2019, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce delivered a speech at the symposium ”Protecting the Public While Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship: First Principles for Optimal Regulation.” Her remarks, entitled “Regulation: A View from Inside the Machine,” provide insight into how SEC regulators currently view certain technological innovations and how they interpret and apply the Howey test as to when something is an “investment contract,” and therefore a security, for purposes of the…