UK

Bank of England, dividends, PRA, UK

In July, the PRA announced that in the fourth quarter it would undertake an assessment of large UK banks’ distribution plans for 2020. This assessment would be based on: the…

UK PRA expects to publish CRD V policy in mid-December

November 30, 2020

CRD-V, PRA, Prudential Regulation Authority, UK

The UK approach to implementing CRD V will occur through The Financial Holding Companies (Approval etc.) and Capital Requirements (Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020Opens in…

UK makes its own go-live dates for Investment Firms Prudential Regime and Capital Requirements Regulation II

November 17, 2020

CRR II, UK

As the Financial Services Bill continues its progress through Parliament, HM Treasury, the FCA and the PRA consider it appropriate to update industry on planned timelines for introducing the UK’s…

UK issues equivalence pathway for EU CCPs

November 10, 2020

Brexit, CCPs, EU, UK

HM Treasury equivalence decisions for the EEA States – 9 November 2020 The European Market Infrastructure Regulation (Article 13) Equivalence Directions 2020 will grant equivalence to the EEA States for…

UK PRA publishes statement on bank Internal Market Models and treatment of excess collateral

October 14, 2020

collateral, Internal Market Models, Prudential Regulation Authority, UK

This Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) Policy Statement (PS) provides feedback to responses to Consultation Paper (CP) 17/19 ‘Counterparty credit risk: Treatment of model limitations in banks’ internal models’.1 It also…

Bank of England: hedge funds and mutual funds have an information advantage in UK gilt trading

September 15, 2020

Bank of England, hedge funds, mutual funds, UK

Informed trading in government bond markets Robert Czech, Shiyang Huang, Dong Lou and Tianyu Wang Government bond yields serve as a benchmark for virtually all other rates in financial markets.…

UK Prudential Regulation Authority terminates risks-not-in-VAR temporary measure

August 27, 2020

Bank of England, CRR, UK, VaR

The PRA published ‘Statement on VAR back-testing exceptions temporary approach’ on Monday 30 March 2020, advising that it would conduct a review of the temporary approach that allows firms to…

The UK’s CRD V proposal: does it stick to the EU plan? (Premium)

August 4, 2020

Europe, Regulatory, UK

Brexit, CRD-V, Regulatory, topstory, UK

Through the Brexit transition, there are open questions about whether UK bank regulation will be exact or close enough to EU rules to achieve equivalence, or whether the UK will…

Working through the practicalities of the UK decision to cancel CSDR’s settlement discipline regime (Premium)

June 25, 2020

Europe, Regulatory

CSDR, Europe, settlement discipline, topstory, UK

The UK took a major stand in its preparations for Brexit on Tuesday with the publication of a statement on financial regulations. Securities finance and repo market participants immediately saw…

FCA begins review on data in wholesale markets

March 10, 2020

FCA, UK

The FCA is using its Call for Input (CFI) to better understand how data and advanced analytics are being accessed and used, the value offered to market participants and whether…

Smart contracts and crypto assets get legal standing in UK

November 19, 2019

crypto assets, crypto regulation, smart contracts, UK

The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce of the Lawtech Delivery Panel has published a legal statement on the status of crypto assets and smart contracts under English and Welsh law. The landmark…

UK stats agency to use alt-data to measure inflation

May 10, 2019

alternative data, data analytics, ONS, UK

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is currently undergoing transformation across many areas of its statistics, including identifying new data sources and improving its methods. That means updating the way…

UK ethics centre launches investigation into algo bias

March 20, 2019

ethical AI, Regulations, UK

The potential for bias in the use of algorithms in a number of areas, including in financial services, will be investigated by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI).…

UK digital competition review calls for new watchdog with enforcement power

March 13, 2019

bigtech, competition, fountech.ai, UK

The UK’s Digital Competition Expert Panel was established in September 2018. The panel was asked to consider the potential opportunities and challenges the emerging digital economy may pose for competition…

UK’s Alan Turing Institute awarded £9.2mn for AI data science project

December 19, 2018

Alan Turing Institute, artificial intelligence, Big Data, data management, UK

The Alan Turing Institute and the British Library, together with researchers from a range of universities, have been awarded £9.2 million (USD$11.6mn) from a government fund for a five-year project…

Brexit white paper asks EU for coordinated approach to financial services

July 12, 2018

Alex Tonhazy

Brexit, EU, UK

As the UK leaves the EU and the Single Market, it recognises the need for a new and fair balance of rights and responsibilities. The UK can no longer operate under…

UK Financial Policy Committee says cryptocurrency not a material risk to UK financial stability

March 27, 2018

cryptocurrency, Financial Policy Committee, UK

In its “Record of the Financial Policy Committee Meeting on 12 March 2018,” the Committee “recognised the potential benefits of the technologies underlying crypto-assets and of their potential to create…

Barclays’ ServCo introduces a new type of player into the service provider market

September 25, 2017

Richard Stinchfield

Operations, Prime Brokerage, Regulatory, Risk Management, Securities Lending, Technology, UK

Barclays, enterprise operations, ring-fencing, UK

Barclays is setting its sights on returning to securities finance prominence. According to reports, Barclays’ current ability to try to recapture its one-time leading industry role in equity and fixed…

Thursday News Roundup: Brexit moves, Volcker revisions, picking spots in secured financing and more

August 3, 2017

Dodd-Frank, Europe, Total Return Swaps, UK, US

blockchain, Brexit, Europe, topstory, UK, US, Volcker

There was a lot of news this week for what should be a slow summer period. In this edition of News Roundup we look at regulatory changes, technology in trading,…

UK increases countercyclical capital buffer rate to 0.5% from 0%

June 27, 2017

Countercyclical Capital Buffer, UK

The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) prepares and publishes a Financial Stability Report (FSR) twice per calendar year. The FSR sets out the FPC’s assessment of the outlook for financial stability in…

UK FCA finds most firms following regulatory requirements in dividend arbitrage

June 7, 2017

Dividend Arbitrage, FCA, UK

Most rms executing transactions with, or on behalf of clients engaged in dividend arbitrage, appear to comply with our requirements. However, a small number of rms may not have undertaken…

UK Investment Association says that securities lending earnings should be fully disclosed

March 29, 2017

Investment Association, Securities Lending, UK

THE INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF CHARGES AND TRANSACTION COSTS TECHNICAL CONSULTATION March 2017 Treatment of Securities Lending Any earnings from securities-lending (more generally any efficient portfolio management technique) not…

Barclays operations restructuring addresses a little-recognized ring-fencing risk (Premium)

February 20, 2017

Richard Stinchfield

Europe, Market infrastructure, Operations, Regulatory, Technology, UK

Barclays, operations, ring-fencing, technology, topstory, UK

This month, global banking giant Barclays PLC announced that it will form a new, standalone operations entity divorced structurally and financially from its underlying banking units. This is a new…

UK FCA Proposes Clampdown on retail CFDs

December 7, 2016

Martin Walker

Derivatives, Investments, UK

CFDs, Contracts for Differences, FCA, topstory, UK

Retail providers of Contracts for Differences (CFDs) and Spread Betting products in the UK were in shock Tuesday as their industry faces new controls from the Financial Conduct Authority. This move…

What happens to the UK's Basel III rules after Brexit – a smart analysis shows some answers

September 20, 2016

Bank of England, Basel III, Europe, Risk Management

Basel III, Brexit, CRD IV, European Union, topstory, UK

Its time to start thinking about Brexit, Basel III, and the UK meeting EU equivalency rules for capital movement. One analysis, conducted by Eversheds International, focuses on what happens to CRD IV…

S&P, Fitch downgrade UK credit rating

June 28, 2016

Fitch, S&P, UK

From CNN Money: Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.K. by two notches to AA on Monday, the latest fallout from last week’s shocking U.K. referendum to leave the European Union.…

Reuters: UK banks show restrained appetite for central bank funds before EU vote

June 15, 2016

Brexit, Repo, UK

British banks showed only modest appetite for six-month sterling funds from the Bank of England at an extra long-term repo operation which the central bank held on Tuesday to meet…

Challengers boosted by new settlement model for UK Faster Payments

October 6, 2015

Introduction of ‘pre-funding’ levels the playing field for Payment Service Providers of all sizes by eliminating shared risk Change opens door to wider access and enhances integrity Three challenger banks already…

Court of Justice of the European Union rejects UK bid against FTT as premature

May 1, 2014

Court of Justice of the European Union, FTT, UK

MarketWatch: Europe’s top court Wednesday threw out a legal challenge by the U.K. that sought to stop plans by 11 euro-area countries to impose a broad tax on financial transactions.…

BBC: UK loses EU short selling appeal

January 23, 2014

ESMA, UK