RegTech Intelligence
A key focus of our RegTech Capital Markets conference this year was ‘the future of rule books and policy controls’. To discuss this topic, we assembled a panel of experts including Paul North, Head of Product Management EMEA at BNY Mellon, Alan Blanchard, Senior Associate and Handbook Publisher at the FCA, Mark Sweeting, Head of Strategic Change, Basel Measurement…
At this year’s RegTech Capital Markets Conference a debate took place on the benefits of using RegTech for trade surveillance in the context of the evolving technical landscape, led by expert industry professionals on compliance and surveillance. Taking into consideration the volume and quality of data firms are expected to monitor, whether the current system…
When 350 senior individuals from more than 65 financial institutions, as well as the vendor and regulatory community, met at this year’s JWG RegTech Capital Market Conference ‘innovation’ was at the top of everyone’s agenda. Perhaps this is not surprising - given the new disruptive technologies being controlled in a fast-changing, and fiercely competitive market.…
We are pleased to publish this whitepaper from the RegTech Council (RTC) which was discussed at our recent event – RegTech Capital Markets Conference on 7 March 2018. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how regulations can be processed using open-standards-based semantic technologies and regulatory compliance made more efficient and effective. Specifically, it sets out to define…
One of the hot topics at our Capital Markets Conference this year was how RegTech could help institutions with their Know Your Client (KYC) obligations. With an expert panel from a range of backgrounds presenting fascinating perspectives on this current issue, a issues were given fresh attention ranging from artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, data architecture…
I was pleased to chair our third RegTech Capital Markets conference last week in London. Team JWG worked hard to get a global audience of over 350 senior individuals from more than 65 financial institutions as well as the vendor and regulatory community to frame a holistic perspective on where the industry is on its journey up…
Several interconnected global trends have heightened the risk banks face when combating financial crime. First, regulators are continually revising rules as they expand their focus from organised crime to global terrorist networks, many of which have grown more sophisticated in recent years. Second, integrated networks and an increase in cross-border transactions have left gaps in…
In financial services there is a chasm stretching out between key players when it comes to regulation. This chasm comes with a huge risk of plummeting, and what lies at the bottom? Hefty fines for non-compliance? Unmet policy goals? Unintended Consequences? All of the above, and what is causing this rift? Semantics. The language used…
Following a successful seventh reporting and reference data special interest group (RRDS 7) at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 13 February 2018, participants met for the usual post-RRDS drinks and networking session. At one point during the evening, we found ourselves mediating a friendly debate between two senior compliance officers on the post-trade reporting…
For years the industry has been at work on the construction site of MiFID II. This has produced a building of basic structural integrity, but one that remains incomplete, and one that has required such a singular focus that surrounding constructions have been neglected. MiFID II is one of the biggest regulatory changes since the…
Both MiFID II and MAR have completely changed the regulatory landscape in terms of voice communication surveillance. Both pieces of regulation place a greater emphasis on firms to monitor the surveillance controls that they implement, and also introduce new holistic trade surveillance requirements that, in turn, have driven the development of new, innovative, RegTech solutions.…
The past year has been illuminating for the RegTech market, the past twelve months has seen an increase in discussion on the application of technology to regulatory compliance. We have seen action from the regulators, including the FCA’s recent TechSprint in which we at JWG were involved, and major regulatory initiatives, most notably MiFID II,…
Everywhere we turn these days, we find new opportunities to explore what RegTech is all about. New training courses, associations and of course conferences abound. With so much momentum now behind the RegTech agenda, the market needs to be on the same page about standards, collaboration and technological capabilities. This is why we are so…
2017 saw significant developments in financial and regulatory technological innovation – and many regulators have been moving in parallel. What is going on? In a nutshell, the global collaborative fabric is coming together. Of course, the landscape for global collaboration is by its very nature a patchwork that reflects differing policy objectives across the globe.…
JWG are delighted to be hosting the 3rd annual instalment of the RegTech Capital Markets Conference on 7 March 2018 in London. Over 300 people have already confirmed their attendance to hear thought leaders from both the regulatory and private sector. Overall, there will be 5 speakers from the regulatory community, over 25 from top…
2017 was a year of profound upheaval for firms and regulators. As we move in 2018 we publish our latest RegBeacon, we are looking ahead and reviewing the trends shaping the global financial landscape in 2018 and beyond. Our message to the industry is that, even though we have seen off numerous deadlines and challenges…
In July 2017 we drew on RegDelta’s database of regulatory documents to estimate that MiFID and MiFID II accounted for 1.4m paragraphs of rules, guidance and policy. That figure drew gasps from the industry press but we were clear it was inevitably going to rise further. We have now calculated that just under 300,000 paragraphs have been added in the second half of 2017 – a slight pickup in pace since…
Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence originally published this article on 21/12/2017. Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence speaks to important figures in the compliance and financial arena to hear their thoughts and discuss wider issues related to their fields. Today we talk to PJ Di Giammarino founder and CEO of regulatory think-tank JWG-IT, trusted by the global financial…
Two years after its Call for Evidence determining whether EU regulation is fit for purpose, the European Commission (EC) has found that automation and standardisation should ultimately pave the way towards reducing the regulatory burden for the industry – improving law making in the EU. This means that reporting experts and RegTech providers of all…
London, UK – 06 December 2017 – Over the last two weeks JWG, the trusted industry expert in regulatory intelligence, has been participating in a reporting TechSprint organised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Bank of England (BoE). The successful Sprint was set up to explore the potential for model-driven, machine executable regulation with…
With the implementation date of GDPR just seven months away, firms will need to start getting to grips with the requirements soon to be ushered in under the EU’s flagship regulation for data protection. As things stand, GDPR will kick in before the UK formally leaves the European Union, meaning that its implications will still…
With only two months left until implementation, MiFID II research rules have been one of the most discussed issues within the industry. Under the new rules, investment firms will no longer be able to accept research as a non-monetary benefit, unless a firm can prove that the research passes the quality enhancement test and that…
JWG, the trusted industry expert in regulatory intelligence, today announced that it will be joining this Autumn’s reporting TechSprint convened by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Bank of England (BoE) which will explore the potential for model-driven, machine executable regulation. This TechSprint will see if a regulatory requirement, written and released by the FCA,…
Challenges are on the horizon for firms subject to the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation enforced through the European Commission. The Securities Financing Transactions Regulation, or SFTR, was announced back in 2014 and entered into force on 12 January 2016. It is geared to be fully implemented by 2019 with the last phase in occurring during…
Technology collaboration reduces financial institutions regulatory gap analysis by 85% - linking regulatory obligations to internal policies in a cost effective, automated and auditable fashion. London, UK – 1 November 2017 – JWG, the trusted industry experts in regulatory change management, and ClauseMatch, a leading global provider of document collaboration for financial institutions, legal firms and…
Let’s face it, getting data right is never easy and, with MiFID II's drive for transparency kicking into high gear, the risks of getting reporting wrong are greater than ever. With additional reporting regime change coming next year, why not make your life easier and join in the industry RegTech collaborations in this space? Recognise the risks Trade and transaction reporting fines come with…
As we head into the final MiFID II implementation straight we publish our latest RegBeacon, but our message to the industry is that the ‘end’ is far from sight. We are becoming firm believers that there will be more work done to deliver this set of changes after the due date, than in the run…
Since President Trump’s signing of Executive Order 13772 back in February 2017, the Financial CHOICE Act has passed through the House of Representatives with a 233 to 186 vote. The substantial bill that was approved by the House, referred to as FCA 2.0, included new additions that have built upon and contradicted some actions from…
With MiFID II’s implementation date of 3 January 2018 fast approaching, investment firms need to prepare for the changes that will be brought about by the EU’s flagship regulatory policy. All-encompassing in its scope, MiFID II will implement regulatory changes that will impact the trading of all financial instruments. In an attempt to fulfil the…
On 13 September 2017, JWG held their third Client Management Special Interest Group (CMS), with attendees from over a dozen buy-side, sell-side and technology firms meeting to discuss existing issues on cost and charges disclosure under MiFID II and PRIIPs obligations. The meeting was a productive one, whereby participants expressed concerns on the following areas:…
With only 3 months left before the implementation of MiFID II, on 28 August 2017 the European Commission published a delegated regulation which added to the definition of a systematic internaliser. Under MiFID I, the SI regime was limited to equities transactions but, under MiFID II, it has an increased scope. A systematic internaliser is an…
A granular understanding of the several types of costs and charges is important for all market participants. These can have a substantial effect on investors’ returns (see graph below) and, if disclosed effectively, should facilitate market efficiency. With this in mind, regulators have gone to considerable lengths to implement all the necessary requirements related to the disclosure of all costs and charges…
New rules on algorithmic trading, such as those quickly approaching from MiFID II, are cause for preparation across the industry, with various regulations in this sphere also impacting the buy-side. So, in this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the ways that regulation is currently, or will soon be, impacting algorithmic…
It has been nearly four years since the implementation of CRR/CRD IV which cover prudential rules for banks, building societies and investment firms with the main aim of reducing the likelihood that these financial institutions will become insolvent. To an extent, this reflects the Basel III rules on capital measurement and capital standards which is…
Following one of the Trump administration’s financial executive orders, the US Treasury Department issued a report which calls for regulators to streamline reporting obligations and review their coordination efforts, incorporating greater accountability and clarity into examination procedures and data collection requirements. The request mirrors commentary from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who, during his…
Now seems to be the time for vital standards discussions on financial services technology. But perhaps the overarching questions for a global industry like FinTech are: who sets the standards and how? Of late, bodies like the EC have begun asking such questions, for example in their Q2 FinTech consultation. Our view is that we…
The implementation of trade and transaction reporting was intended to improve transparency and mitigate systematic risk in the derivatives markets. To achieve this, global leaders have committed to implement standards globally and consistently in a way that ensures a level playing field - reducing market fragmentation and regulatory arbitrage. Whilst progress has been made on…
Introduction With less than 5 months left before the deadline for MiFID II on 3 January 2018, firms are still grappling with the implementation of MiFID II. One key area is the new product governance framework which has been enacted with the objective of ensuring that firms act in the best interests of their clients…
Regulation is constantly changing and evolving, reflecting the turbulent and innovative nature of financial services, with hundreds of regulators in different regions and financial spheres formulating regimes and detailing the obligations firms must prove compliance with. The implication for any firm is that keeping track can be a drain on resources - and risky if…
As the EU-28 evolves into the EU-27, the European Commission (EC) has ensured their members that this will only be a bump in the road towards financial integration. The flagship initiative of the European Commission, the “Capital Markets Union Action Plan”, recently underwent a mid-term review of progress so far, highlighting both the achievements and…
The clock is ticking and the EU market has less than half a year left to implement the regulatory changes required from it. The revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) sets new legislation effective 3 January 2018, containing a range of complex provisions intended to enhance transparency and investor protection within the financial…
The FCA has released its final report on the Asset Management Market Study, which was launched in order to understand how asset managers compete to deliver value to clients, highlighting the weak price competition in several areas, issues with lack of clarity over charges and objectives. The study was launched in November 2015, with an…
On 12 June 2017, the US Treasury released the first in what will be a series of financial regulatory reports in accordance with Executive Order 13772 signed by President Trump. The publishing of “A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities - Banks and Credit Unions” now gives us a better understanding of what the future…
Commodity derivative trading is just one of the many topic areas under MiFID II that firms need to ensure they are prepared for before 3 January 2018. One set of measurements in this area is that firms will be required to report commodities positions to National Competent Authorities (NCAs) on a daily basis. Another is…
JWG would like to thank over 300 attendees for being part of our MiFID II implementation webinar on Wednesday 12 July. We received some excellent feedback from attendees and we hope you took away valuable insight about how to gear-up your programmes. As mentioned, the webinar video recording and our report ‘Who is ready for…
Over the past quarter, we have made considerable progress towards the creation of a RegTech Council. In this members-only issue we cover our latest activity in the RegTech arena including: The progress of our new RegTech SIGs – The restructured membership groups are broadening and improving our coverage MIG update - With 6 months to go, firms are moving from…
In the eight years since the G20’s Pittsburgh summit, regulatory forces have reshaped the complexity of market infrastructure. Unfortunately, there has not been a corresponding increase in the maturity level of industry engagement between the public and private sector. The current landscape for regulatory reporting is riddled with complexity - made evident by waves of…
The end is in sight. In under six months, the deadline for MiFID II implementation will have passed. Since its legislative inception, JWG has iterated the importance of forward planning and anticipating the major changes under MiFID II. In concrete terms, our MiFID Implementation Group (MIG) meetings have provided the platform for senior managers from…
In Megan Butler’s speech on creating a more effective approach to combatting financial crime, she posed the question “can technology help make your compliance processes slicker, more efficient and more effective?”. For combatting anti-money laundering and developing an effective KYC framework, the answer is a resounding yes. Firms that operate on a global basis will…
In our previous article we announced some of the key findings from our recent buy-side focused MiFID survey. Now we are pleased to announce a webinar on 12 July to review and analyse the results in more depth with a panel of experts. The webinar will aim to present new survey findings to help inform…
90% of buy-side firms believe they are at either high or medium risk of not being compliant by the January 2018 deadline, despite this date having already been delayed by a year. Significantly, with just over six months to go, a large amount of the industry appears to be overstretched and under-prepared. It is imperative…
The topic of research under MiFID II has been a popular discussion lately amongst top firms at JWG’s MIG meetings. MiFID II demands that firms be transparent to investors about how they plan to pay for research and the value which they place on it, which has led managers to think about how much they…
One of the many weaknesses that the financial crisis exposed was the feeble transparency framework in financial markets. In response, MiFID II and MiFIR built on the regulatory agenda of the G20 by aiming to strengthen the transparency framework of markets in financial instruments, including OTC trading. Building on MiFID I, the second incarnation extends…
Not long now - in less than 6 months’ time - both MiFID II and PRIIPs will become effective across EU Member States. ESMA recently published a Q&A on MiFID II and MiFIR investor protection topics in which 14 new questions were added. These include new Q&As on costs and charges in relation to the…
16 May 2017 signalled the end of the European Commission’s public consultation period on the operations of the European Supervisory Authorities. The purpose of the outreach was to gather market evidence on the progress of the ESAs towards their objectives for short, medium and long-term stability and the effectiveness of the financial system. JWG brought…
Before the climb, you must have a vision of what success will feel like. You may not know the precise route, but a general direction, who you need beside you and a sense of the milestones along the way are key to getting in the right frame of mind. After 8 years of compliance efforts,…
In exactly one year, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will apply across the European Union, yet firms are struggling to prepare for new data security obligations due to the sheer quantity of regulations due to be enforced in 2018. With the current date of MiFID II being 3 January 2018 and PSD2 due 10…
After the financial crisis in 2008, there was an effort to put in place regulation to support the markets and prevent such a crisis in the future by, in the words of Mark Carney, moving the global financial system “from fragility to resilience”. In his recap of what a difference a decade makes, however, we…
With the industry facing a 60,000 regulatory document mountain, JWG is finding new ways to deploy technology and crowd sourcing to help. In this members-only issue we cover our RegTech outlook and initiatives including: Launch of JWG’s new RegTech SIGs – The restructured membership groups are broadening and improving our coverage MIG update - With…
What image is conjured up when you hear the term “cybercriminal”? A Guy Fawkes mask partially concealed underneath a black hoodie to the accompaniment of sinister music? Whilst this image provides an excellent trope for Saturday night TV, it does not reflect the reality of cybercrime. At our second RegTech Capital Markets Conference, we held…
JWG are pleased to announce the launch of an independent benchmark survey {link} investigating the approach asset managers are taking to transform their operating models to be MiFID II compliant. MiFID II will be the biggest regulatory change since the 2008 financial crisis. It is a complex and interconnected beast that will affect your business…
The terms FinTech and RegTech are both used increasingly frequently in the financial services industry. However, they are not by any means used consistently, or indeed necessarily separately. What they most definitely describe is the increasing use of technology in the provision of financial services and the solving of regulatory problems, but beyond that it…
The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is the European Commission’s (EC) plan to mobilise capital in Europe through growth, reduce the EU economy’s reliance on banks for loans and create jobs, including youth employment. Heavy reliance on the banking sector for funding needs remains, which is why one of the main actions in the CMU plan…
7 March 2017 marked the first anniversary of the implementation of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR). The rules set out by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority seek to instil a culture of conduct and responsibility across the UK banking sector by focusing on individual accountability and placing explicit standards on…
On 3 April 2017, ClauseMatch and JWG were pleased to announce the development of a unique solution to simplify and better structure how regulatory changes are driven through internal banking policies. The prototype, linking internal banking policies with constantly changing regulations, was created by senior developers from JWG and ClauseMatch during the autumnal session of…
IMeta, a leading global provider of client data management software and services, today announced it has selected JWG’s RegDelta platform, the leading regulatory change management platform, to provide a full regulatory rule set for the iMeta Client Lifecycle Management platform. JWG’s RegDelta platform allows thousands of pages of detailed operational obligations to be organised, interpreted…
Blockchain is not something new to the financial sector. In fact, it’s been around for years. It will be, however, a slow process to integrate it into systems already in place and, as with any disruptive technology, for regulators to assess and mitigate its risks by regulating appropriately. Although the technology isn’t novel, regulators now…
The UK’s departure from the European Union will be a seismic event for the financial sector, requiring extensive planning and transitioning from all corners of the industry. To implement all of the necessary changes in time, many assumptions will need to be made. In order to make this more efficient and lower the substantial costs…
As the public cloud services market continues to mature and grow – up from $178bn in 2015 to $209bn in 2016, according to research company Gartner[1] - the concentration of computing resources into cloud data centres is increasingly attracting the attention of NPEs as a target for patent litigation. At a time when data security…
The financial services industry is nearing a regulatory crisis point; detailed rules are being written in huge volumes, by regulatory bodies struggling to keep up with their mandates. The result: requirements that are habitually not well contextualised or articulated and often look unlikely to achieve the desired outcomes, but at the same time coming with…
As we’ve covered frequently on this site, incumbents are spending billions complying with the thousands of new, granular obligations demanded by FS regulators. So why, after eight years of regulatory reform, is the industry still struggling to fund companies that can revolutionise the way we establish policies and ensure compliance? In 2016 we told UK…
Over 40 senior professionals at JWG’s RegTech Capital Markets Conference unanimously stated that we are missing a governing body to assume responsibility for regulatory implementation. It was a powerful discussion which agreed that a key piece of the jigsaw is missing; a strategic dialogue to focus practical regulatory reform implementation. There is a need to:…
On 28 February 2017, I was pleased to chair our second RegTech Capital Markets Conference in London. As many have been asking how it measured up to our expectations, here’s a recap and an overview of what we think comes next. With a very senior audience of over 260 attendees from top-tier banks, buy-side firms…
The regulators that oversee the economy are drowning in oceans of data, but need better standards to make sense of it all. The struggle stemming from the lack of standardised data was clearly visible in 2012 when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needed to trace the so-called ‘London whale’, a trader who accumulated Credit…
JWG’s RegTech Capital Markets Conference has made it into Business Insider’s list of the world’s best RegTech conferences to attend in 2017. The 300-person event in Central London on 28 February will bring together the world’s largest financial institutions, public bodies and systems-providers. Business Insider research finds that RegTech’s biggest advantages don’t just lie “automating…
In fewer than 230 days – 7.5 working months from now, the biggest regulatory change since the 2008 financial crisis is set to come into force. The legislation, Markets in Financial Instruments Directive/Regulation (MiFID II/R), is one of Europe’s most ambitious and far-reaching financial reforms and is estimated to cost the financial industry billions to…
Looking at the FinTech and RegTech conversations in 2017 we find that there is considerable confusion about some basic terms, definitions and relationships amongst policy makers, academics and practitioners alike. The now much more popular term is being used to describe many things. When you say RegTech, do you mean it to be a subset…
The common image of a cybercriminal is that of a slovenly, yet highly-skilled, individual sitting alone in a basement having not seen daylight in weeks. The modern cybercriminal, however, is far removed from this. Cybercriminals are organised in large networks, often well-funded and highly talented which allows them to unleash devastating attacks. According to online…
On 31 January 2017, ESMA published a consultation paper seeking feedback by the end of Q1 on its draft guidelines regarding the transfer of data between trade repositories (TRs) and it is expected to publish the final report on these guidelines by the end of Q2/beginning of Q3 of 2017. The three main reasons for…
Improving the culture and codes of conduct within financial services firms has been a longstanding issue of contention since the financial crisis. Combatting negative behaviours and inefficient controls has proven difficult to regulate and tackle head on. In 2013, the FSB officially acknowledged business conduct as a new category of business risk and now, in…
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is currently a hot topic for financial services, and with good reason, as banks are looking for efficient solutions to costly and cumbersome regulatory burdens and this is exactly what DLT promises to deliver. One of the key areas where there is clear application for this is in meeting Know Your…
One of the costliest and most troublesome activities that financial institutions face is complying with regulations. With information technology having already revolutionised consumer financial products, business models, applications, processes and services otherwise known as “FinTech,” it is less well known that information technology could also be used to help financial institutions meet the growing regulatory…
On 3 February 2017, President Trump announced in a press briefing that “we expect to be cutting a lot of Dodd-Frank” because “so many people, friends of mine, with nice businesses” had been stifled by regulations and therefore faced difficulties acquiring loans. Later that day, Trump signed Executive Order 13772, which established the agenda for…
The sheer number of overlapping regulatory reporting regimes makes compliance difficult. MiFID II, which comes into effect in January 2018, significantly expands the scope of transaction reporting. EMIR, which is a reporting regime for derivative transactions under the EU regulation on OTC derivatives, CCPs and trade repositories, came into effect on 10 April 2014. Reporting…
The rise of [insert-abbreviation-here]Tech companies signifies a pragmatic shift of business consciousness toward solutions that make use of advances in modern technology. In the banking sector, the magnitude and complexity of firms has immobilised the possibility for innovation. FinTech solutions attempt to combat this issue by producing new and intuitive services for banks and the…
Since the financial crisis, we have been gifted over two Eiffel Towers high worth of complex and costly financial regulation, ever increasing in quantity and intricacy. Boards struggle to formulate their strategies to deal with regulatory-driven change to their operating models. There are answers, and now is the time to flush them out - before…
The current buzzwords circulating around the media, “digital revolution”, succinctly capture what is occurring in the futures markets. With automated trading now constituting up to 70% of trades in regulated futures markets in the US, a modern-day Gordon Gekko would be using a cutting-edge code to create an automated trading system rather than relying on…
JWG are proud to announce that registrations for our second RegTech Conference on 28 February 2017 have topped 300 from over 50 firms, regulators, standards bodies and leading technology companies. After five years and hundreds of articles from our analysts on www.regtechfs.com and 47 special interest group meetings on regulatory implementation in 2016 alone, we…
On 21 January 2017, the European Commission (EC) published a delegated regulation and an implementing regulation in the Official Journal amending the RTS and ITS on the minimum details of the data to be reported to trade repositories under EMIR. One of the key changes made by the EC includes defining how to identify and classify…
On 19 January 2017, MEPs rejected the European Commission’s blacklist of countries at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing as being ‘too limited’. The rejection suggests that the list should be broader, by including countries that facilitate tax crime, for example. The list from the Commission contained the names of 11 countries, including Afghanistan,…
Following on from last month’s Q&A on commodity derivatives within MiFID II/MiFIR, on 17 January ESMA published its guidelines for the disclosure of inside information on commodity derivatives and spot markets under the Market Abuse Regulation framework. This publication is a response in accordance with Article 7(5) of MAR, that expresses ESMA to be the…
Big data and financial regulation share two striking resemblances: both are overwhelming and largely impenetrable to the uninitiated. Although combining the two is pursued with noble intentions by regulators, the result is a concoction of stress, confusion and frustration for most firms. This combination, however, is of paramount importance for firms’ and clients’ concerns about…
On 17 January, ESMA published advice received from the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) in relation to the consultation on MiFID II product governance. This CP was released on 5 October 2016 and it set out to create guidelines relating to the target market assessment. The SMSG established a working group with the specific…
Never mind a busy December, all in all, it was a busy year for financial regulation as shown in one of our previous articles, as 384 regulatory documents were captured and uploaded in our trade and transaction RegDelta library. MiFID II Before Christmas, we saw ESMA publish many documents much like in January 2016 with…
On 11 January 2017, ESMA released its follow-up to the peer review on best execution which came out in February 2015. With significant improvement by many NCAs since the 2015 review, the follow-up reads as a far more positive report, with optimism for further development in the future. Although certainly not perfect, it reveals that…
Transparency is the cornerstone of MiFID II. Whether it’s pricing, product or process transparency, participants will need to pull back the curtains to make more information public regarding the nature of their operations, products and services. Consequently, investment firms will need to know more about their clients than ever before, with very little margin for…
The European Commission proposed on 21 December 2016 to strengthen Europe’s criminal law framework to combat money laundering by drawing on international standards to establish minimum rules for defining criminal offences, imposing sanctions in relation to money laundering and improving cross-border cooperation between Member States. In the press release, Commissioner Avramopoulos stated that this proposal…
In April 2016, European Supervisory Authorities (ESA) submitted a draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation, focusing on the requirements of key information documents (KID). Despite the KID RTS being endorsed by the EU Commission, the European Parliament - in a surprising move - rejected the draft. It…
On 19 December 2016, ESMA published its Q&A paper on the topic of commodity derivatives within MiFID II and MiFIR. The document focuses on the promotion of supervisory approaches and practices for the application of position limits, position reporting and ancillary activity provisions. It also provides clarity on the technicalities of the policy and the…
Just before the Christmas break, as part of its quick-fire release of numerous important updates, ESMA published a new Questions and Answers document that covers MiFIR data reporting. Broken down into two separate sections, the document looks specifically at (i) LEI of the issuer and (ii) date and time of the request of admission and…