Financial Institutions Regulation

Recent Articles

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  14/04/2025

  Luxembourg

  New provisions for payment and e-money institutions to protect user funds and access designated payment systems

  On 7 April 2025, the law of 4 April 2025 on instant payments (the “Law”) was published in the Official Journal of Luxembourg to (i) introduce into Luxembourg law some provisions of Regulation (EU) 2024/886, which amends i.a. Regulation (EU) 260/2012 (SEPA), Directive (UE) 2015/2366 (PSD 2) and Directive 98/26/CE (SFD) and (ii) amend the law of 10 November 2009 on payment services.To protect the funds received from users or other payment service providers for the execution of payments, payment institutions (“PIs”) must deposit them in a separate account with a credit institution....

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  25/03/2025

  United Kingdom

  Recovery Powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 - con­sid­er­a­tions for pension trustees and providers

  Towards the end of last year, the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) recovered £295,000 from two pension funds of a convicted fraudster.  Virendra Rastogi was convicted in 2008 of masterminding a worldwide metals trading scam that defrauded financial institutions out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Following the conclusion of the criminal trial, the SFO has pursued confiscating cash and other assets from Mr Rastogi and his criminal associates.  A confiscation order of £20 million had been awarded against him.  Having received an original sentence of 9½...

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  23/01/2025

  United Kingdom

  OTSI guidance unpacked: What UK exporters need to know about Russian sanctions evasion

  On 7 January 2025, the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), part of the UK’s Department for Business and Trade, published Countering Russian sanctions evasion - guidance for exporters to help UK exporters understand how Russian sanctions circumvention occurs and minimize the risk of inadvertently facilitating Russian sanctions evasion.Below we provide an overview of the new guidance and the steps UK businesses can take to ensure compliance.Russian sanctions evasionSince February 2022, the UK has deployed a wide-ranging set of sanctions and export controls aimed at preventing the...

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  11/12/2024

  England and Wales

  Less is more: PRA and FCA propose reform to ease bank remuneration rules

  On 26 November 2024, the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) and Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) (together the “Regulators”) published a joint Consultation Paper (PRA CP 16/24, FCA CP 24/23) on reforming the remuneration regime applicable to banks, building societies, and PRA-designated investment firms.  Background and rationaleThe current remuneration framework in the UK for banking sector firms was introduced in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis through EU legislation. The regime pre-financial crisis was thought to have overly incentivised...

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  01/11/2024

  United Kingdom

  UK government proposes significant changes to data law through new Data (Use and Access) Bill

  On 23 October 2024, the UK government set out its proposed reforms of UK law relating to the use of and access to data, with the introduction to Parliament of the Data (Use and Access) Bill (the “DUA Bill”).  The DUA Bill is intended by the UK government to enhance the UK’s digital strategy and unlock the use of data, harnessing its capabilities to boost public services and contribute to the UK economy.Many of the changes proposed in the DUA Bill can be traced back to the previous government’s attempts at reform in this area under the Data Protection and Digital Information...

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  28/10/2024

  United Kingdom

  New sanctions enforcer on the block: OTSI opens a new chapter for the UK

  On 10 October 2024, the UK government implemented major reforms to its sanctions enforcement regime through the Trade, Aircraft and Shipping Sanctions (Civil Enforcement) Regulations 2024 (“TASS”). These regulations grant the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (“OTSI”), a division of the Department for Business and Trade, significant new powers to enforce UK trade sanctions. OTSI can now investigate most trade sanctions breaches, demand compliance information, impose fines of up to £1 million or 50% of the breach's value (whichever is greater), and publicly disclose...

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