ESRB has published a note of this meeting. Topics include: asset encumbrance and money market funds in Europe. It has also published a response to a consultation by the EC on a possible framework for the regulation of the production and use of indices serving as benchmarks in financial and other contracts and a response to a consultation by the EC on a possible recovery and resolution framework

EIOPA is to assess the impact of the Solvency II long term guarantees package as requested by the Trilogue parties (the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the EC). This is intended to assess the effects that the implementation of the various elements of the package may have on policyholders and beneficiaries, insurance and reinsurance undertakings, supervisory authorities and the financial system as a whole. The launch of the exercise is scheduled for 28 January 2013 and it will be conducted in cooperation with national supervisory authorities. It is envisaged that EIOPA will publish its report on this in June 2013.

PCBS has published a further volume of written evidence in respect of the banking standards inquiry together with corrected evidence from the hearings on 3 December 2012 (on banking standards in Scotland, attended by representatives from government and trade bodies) and 4 December 2012 (attended by Lord Stevenson).

This new set of Q&A readopts CESR positions as ESMA positions or amends them to reflect ESMA positions. It also includes a new Q&A on “type of underlying”.

The EC highlights that, from 21 December 2012, insurance companies in the EU will have to charge the same price to men and women for the same insurance products, without distinction on the grounds of sex. The change will apply to all new contracts for insurance products, including car insurance, life insurance and annuities.

EBA has published feedback documents and amended templates following the consultations on draft implementing technical standards on supervisory requirements for liquidity coverage and stable funding and leverage ratio. It is noted that, in the absence of a final text of the Capital Requirements Regulation, EBA cannot publish, at this juncture, a final proposal for these draft standards. These are all available to download via the following link.

The EC has concluded that the restructuring plans of the above-mentioned Spanish banks are in line with EU state aid rules. The banks will refocus their business model on retail and SME lending and will either withdraw from lending to real estate development or only maintain a marginal activity in this field – and they will limit their presence in wholesale business. Spain committed to sell Banco CEISS and to have BMN and Liberbank listed before the end of the restructuring period. Caja3 will cease to exist as a stand-alone entity. Caja3 will be fully integrated into Ibercaja. All of the banks committed to pest a number of industrial equity stakes and subsidiaries, limitations on remuneration for state-owned credit institutions; a ban on coupon payments until the burden sharing measures on hybrid instruments have been fully implemented; not advertising the state support nor using it for commercially aggressive practices. An acquisition ban will also apply for Liberbank, Banco CEISS and BMN. Further detail on the EC's assistance to the Spanish banking sector appears in the second link below.

The EC has published an updated table in respect of the above.

FSA has publicly censured the firm for misconduct, including using pressure-selling tactics with customers to invest in the shares of small companies, resulting in client losses of at least £2m. FSA would have fined it £1.5m had the firm not been in liquidation. The firm misrepresented, for instance, the financial performance of stocks both orally and in writing. Brokers ignored requests for further information and protests that clients had no funds to invest. In at least one case a broker claimed that the recommendation was based on inside information. Between 1 April 2008 and 4 November 2009, the firm advised approximately 340 clients to buy about £4m - clients would have lost 72% of the amount they had invested in eight of the top ten stocks (based on financial volume) sold by the firm if they had held those small-cap stocks until 12 October 2011. The firm also provided FSA with false dates for internal committee meetings and deliberately withheld a recording of a non-compliant advised sales call requested by FSA and the firm also knowingly employed someone in a senior position who was not FSA-approved and who was linked to pressure-selling tactics. FSA has published a Decision Notice dated 11 October 2012 with regard to Sam Kenny, its former CEO, which notes that it intends to fine him £450,000 and to issue him with a prohibition order – this matter has been referred to the Upper Tribunal. FSA states that, subject to the Tribunal’s decision, FSA has found that that he personally pressurised, or misrepresented material facts to clients and in his role as CEO trained and encouraged his staff to pressure clients. FSA has published a Final Notice which issues a prohibition order against the firm’s former compliance officer, Carl Davey, and would have fined him £175,000 if it were not for the serious financial hardship that such a fine would cause him. FSA reports that he was also involved in the deliberate withholding of the non-compliant advised sales call and that despite his efforts to improve the firm’s systems and controls, the monitoring of advised calls by the firm’s brokers was inadequate and brokers were regularly making misrepresentations about stocks to clients.

FSA has published the text of a letter from Andrew Bailey provides firms with more information on what they need to do to be ready for legal cutover on 1 April 2013, including a note of recent and forthcoming publications and a general FAQ. (NB: the letter is dated 17 December 2012 and had assumed that Royal Assent for the Financial Services Bill would take place next year).