The CFRF’s practical Guide encourages UK regulated financial services firms to take active steps to manage climate-related financial risks. By Paul Davies, Nicola Higgs, Sherryn Buehlmann and Anna Lewis-Martinez Background On 29 June 2020, the Climate Financial Risk Forum (CFRF) launched its guide to climate-related financial risk management (Guide) that will be useful for financial services firms to understand the risks and opportunities that arise from climate change. The Guide provides a voluntary…

Regulators seek to expand market connectivity for wealth management products and enhance financial institutions’ environmental risk management. By Farhana Sharmeen, Simon Hawkins, Kenneth Hui, and Marc Tan This blog post summarises key regulatory developments in Hong Kong and Singapore during June 2020, including: The announcement of a new “Wealth Management Connect” mutual market access project to link Hong Kong, Macao, and mainland China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA) Amendments to the Hong Kong…

In anticipation of LIBOR discontinuation, the SEC will begin examining transition progress. By Vicki E. Marmorstein, Jane Summers, Yvette D. Valdez, Stephen P. Wink, Douglas K. Yatter, and Deric Behar Nearly a year after the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) release of a Staff Statement on LIBOR Transition, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) appears ready to shift from passively monitoring LIBOR-transition risks to actively…

The FCA publicly censured the IT service provider for publishing false information about its net debt and holdings of cash and cash equivalents. By Chris Horton, James Inness, David Berman and Katy Sanders On 26 June 2020, the FCA issued a final notice to Redcentric PLC (Redcentric), publicly censuring Redcentric for committing market abuse, between 9 November 2015 and 7 November 2016, by publishing false information about its net debt and holdings of…

The proposals enhance the FCA’s powers to ensure an orderly wind-down of critical benchmarks and to deal with “tough legacy” contracts that cannot transition from LIBOR. By Nicola Higgs and Ella McGinn On 23 June 2020, the FCA published a statement welcoming HM Treasury’s announcement that the Treasury intends to bring forward legislation to amend the onshored UK version of the EU Benchmarks Regulation (UK BMR). Under the proposed changes, the FCA would have enhanced…

The UK government clarifies its legislative plans for financial services regulatory reforms post-Brexit. By Rob Moulton and Anna Lewis-Martinez On 23 June 2020, the House of Commons published a written statement from Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the UK’s approach to implementing financial services regulatory reforms before the end of the Brexit transition period, to ensure relevant regulations remain appropriate for the UK financial sector. The statement outlines several areas, discussed below, in…

The measures grant relief for EU banks to enhance bank lending to companies and households. By Axel Schiemann and Dominik Schöneberger On 18 June 2020, the European Parliament approved the so-called CRR “quick fix” to Regulation (EU) 575/2013 (Capital Requirement Regulation (CRR)) and Regulation 2019/876 (Capital Requirement Regulation 2 (CRR2)) to mitigate the economic consequences of COVID-19. The temporary measures are, inter alia, intended to enhance credit flows to companies and households, thereby supporting the…