Recent Articles

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  07.12.2023

  FCA’s Consultation Paper on Implementing the Overseas Funds Regime (“OFR”)

  On 4 December, the FCA launched a consultation to implement the framework to enable non-UK domiciled funds to be marketed to UK retail investors under the OFR (“OFR recognised schemes”). We briefly summarise the FCA's proposals.Who does this impact?Operators of non-UK domiciled funds that either are within the Temporary Marketing Permissions Regime (“TMPR”), or who wish to market non-UK funds to UK retail investorsLux and Irish UCITS funds are commonly invested in by UK retail investors and so this will also be of real relevance to operators of those fundsUK Distributors...

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  06.12.2023

  EU publishes Directive on distance financial services contracts in Official Journal

  In November 2023, the EU legislator adopted the new Directive regarding financial services contracts concluded at distance.This Directive essentially aims to modernise the existing legal framework governing distance contracts for financial services concluded between a professional and a consumer. For the record, a "financial service" is defined as any service relating to banking, credit, insurance, personal pensions, investments and payments.The European legislator has focused on the following subjects: (i) pre-contractual information, (ii) the right of withdrawal, (iii) the obligation to provide...

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  29.11.2023

  Financial Services Webinars On Demand

  Use the below link to view recordings of CMS financial services webinars available on demand. Webinars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal experts.     

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  28.11.2023

  FCA’s Policy Statement 23/16: Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels

  Further to the FCA’s CP22/20 the FCA has published, on 28 November, its final rules and guidance to help consumers navigate the market for sustainable investment products (“PS23/16”).There is a huge amount of detail within PS23/16, and we will be providing more extensive commentary in the days to come. For now, we have highlighted the main changes from CP22/20, included the amended implementation timeline and a summary of the final package. What is changing in response to CP22/20?Most of the CP22/20 proposals have been amended – some more significantly than others –...

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  07.11.2023

  Financial services outsourcings and AI

  With the AI summit last week in Bletchley Park where a world-first agreement has been made between the UK, EU, US and China on the opportunities and risks posed by AI, we thought it was a good time to provide our initial thoughts on AI and the potential impact on regulated outsourcing arrangements. As outlined in the Bletchley Declaration, AI presents a significant opportunity for regulated firms to enhance and automate processes and tasks, both internally and externally via third party service providers, alongside some complex challenges and risks.Ultimately, our view is that the challenges are...

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  07.11.2023

  FCA provides warning on market sounding regime

  On 31 October 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Market Watch No. 75, sharing some observations about the market soundings procedure under the UK Market Abuse Regulation (UK MAR), and a reminder to market sounding recipients (MSRs) to independently assess whether they have inside information, even if the disclosing market participant (DMP) has not disclosed any inside information.  The market soundings regime is a well-established procedure, allowing issuers to disclose inside information to selected investors to determine interest in a transaction before it is announced....

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