SEC Lifts Moratorium on Registration of UK-Based Managers
Recent communications from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicate that the SEC is again considering registration of advisers located in the UK. The SEC had delayed approving UK and European Union (EU) investment managers’ applications for registration since the adoption of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), due to concerns that the GDPR would impede the SEC’s ability to collect data from, and supervise, these UK and EU investment managers.
“Cryptoassets are here to stay”: EU Authorities to Provide Guidance on Cryptocurrencies and ICOs
On September 4, the Innovation Group of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs met to discuss a proposal presented by the rapporteur Ashley Fox,1 member of the European Parliament, to include a framework for initial coin offerings (ICOs) within the proposed European Union (EU) financial services regulatory regime for crowdfunding2 (see European Commission (Commission) proposal COM(2018) 113 final).3
As part of the public discussion, the Commission, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) were present to provide their thoughts. (more…)
Money Laundering Regulations 2017: Preparing for the UK’s New Customer Due Diligence Regime
The UK is expected to introduce its updated customer due diligence regime with effect from June 26 or shortly thereafter. The changes are wide-ranging and will affect virtually all financial services firms doing business in the UK.
The Government has published a near-final draft of the new legislation. To the extent they’ve not already started, affected firms should be planning for the changes that will be required to their existing policies, procedures and systems.
In this post, we highlight the key issues for financial services firms, and propose a series of action points that they may wish to consider over the next month as they move to implement the new requirements. (more…)