By: Lucy Deane, Hazel Doyle, and Nicola McCaffrey
In a move that will be welcomed by asset managers conducting ETF business in Ireland, or those who are hoping to move into the Irish ETF space, the Central Bank of Ireland has moved to allow for the establishment of semi-transparent ETFs by amending its requirements for portfolio transparency.
Read MoreBy: Michael E. Ruck, and Laura Scott
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority had proposed a so-called “name and shame” approach that would have allowed it, subject to certain safeguards, to disclose its investigations into firms publicly at an early stage (see our earlier blog); however, following significant criticism from the financial industry and Parliament—largely highlighting risks that early disclosure could potentially cause irreversible damage to firms, including those later cleared of any wrongdoing—the FCA has abandoned the proposal.
Read MoreBy: Daniel Greenaway and Flavio Picaro
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has published the findings of its multi-firm review of valuation processes for private market assets. This review follows the highlighting of vulnerabilities in private markets stemming, in part, from opaque valuations, in both the Bank of England’s June 2024 Financial Stability Report and IOSCO’s September 2023 report on emerging risks in private finance markets.
Read MoreBy: Laura Price and Kai Zhang
Acknowledging “longstanding concerns from firms about the length and complexity of [its] rules and guidance”, the UK’s FCA published a call for input in July 2024. It invited firms to comment on whether some FCA rules may be unnecessary following introduction of the outcomes-based Consumer Duty. It has now outlined its proposed approach in a Feedback Statement, explaining that its aims are to achieve more flexibility, more predictability, and improved efficiency. The approach includes:
Read MoreBy: Michael E. Ruck, Rosie L. Naylor, Petr Bartos, Helen J. Phizackerley, and Laura Scott
On 13 February 2025, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published an assessment of suspected sanctions breaches involving UK financial services firms since February 2022. It highlights three areas of concern:
Read MoreBy: Philip Morgan, Andrew Massey, and Harriet Sherwin
Following an HM Treasury policy statement, the FCA has published a consultation paper proposing amendments to some of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) conduct of business and systems and controls rules inherited from the EU that continue to exist in the UK statute book in close to their original form.
Read MoreBy: Shane Geraghty, Dr. Ulrike Elteste, and Ruth Hennessy
EU national supervisory authorities will collect the Register of Information (ROI) pursuant to the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) from in scope financial entities in April 2025, with the reference date set as 31 March 2025. ROIs are reports by in-scope EU financial entities on all contractual arrangements on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) services provided by ICT third-party service providers. The financial entity must differentiate between providers who are not critical and providers who are considered critical and important.
Read MoreBy: Shane Geraghty, Hazel Doyle, and Gayle Bowen
On 14 February 2025, the EU’s securities and markets regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), launched a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) with EU Member State National Competent Authorities (NCAs), in relation to compliance and internal audit functions of UCITS management companies and Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) across the EU.
Read MoreBy: Michael Ruck, Rosie Naylor, and Helen Phizackerley
In November 2024, the UK FCA released a Consultation which seeks to clarify its proposed approach to publicising ongoing enforcement action—dubbed the “name and shame” plan—and to assure the wider market of the plan’s benefits. Responses are due by 17 February 2025.
Read MoreBy: Phillip Morgan, Andrew Massey, and Raghu Meena
In the United Kingdom, the FCA has proposed to give fund managers (including UCITS Mancos and full-scope UK AIFMs) an option to use fund assets to pay jointly for execution and research (so-called ‘bundled’ payments). The existing options of paying for research from manager funds or operating a customer-financed research payment account would remain. Final rules are expected in the first half of 2025. This follows the introduction on 1 August 2024 of a similar option for separate account managers as discussed here.
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