Banking

Recent Articles

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  25/04/2025

  Hungary

  Hungary to introduce con­sti­tu­tion-based obligation to accept cash payments

  On 14 April 2025, the Hungarian parliament accepted a constitutional amendment that establishes cash payment as a fundamental right. On 23 April 2025, the Hungarian government submitted amendments to related consumer protection and e-commerce draft legislation and issued a government decree. The following article explores what this development means for businesses selling products or providing services in Hungary.Cash payment as a fundamental rightThe Fifteenth Amendment to Hungary’s Fundamental Law, accepted on 14 April 2025, elevates the right to pay in cash to the level of a fundamental...

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  15/04/2025

  Europe

  ESMA’s Final Reports on Order Execution Policies, New SI ITS and RTS Amendments

  On 10 April 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published two final reports on firm’s order execution policies under MiFID II and rules on systematic internalisers, volume cap and circuit breakers.The initial consultations were launched in July 2024 (see Consultation Paper on Order Execution Policies and Third Consultation Package of MiFIR Review) following the MiFID and MiFIR reviews.Key HighlightsKey highlights of the final reports are set out below:Criteria for Establishing and Assessing the Effectiveness of Investment...

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  14/04/2025

  England and Wales

  Securities litigation: Court refuses to strike out "common reliance" and "dishonest delay" claims

  In a significant development for securities litigation, the High Court has refused to strike out claims based on "common reliance" (or "price/market reliance") and "dishonest delay" in Various Claimants v Standard Chartered plc [2025] EWHC 698 (Ch). This decision marks a notable departure from last year's ruling in another securities litigation decision (you can find our analysis of that decision here). Background and applicationThe case involves claims brought by 217 claimants (representing approximately 1,391 funds) claiming around £1.5 billion from Standard Chartered PLC. The claimants...

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  11/04/2025

  Europe

  Agentic AI and the EU AI Act

  Agentic AI systems are designed to act autonomously, sense their environment, make decisions, and take actions without constant human oversight. However, their autonomy and potential to operate with minimal human intervention raise unique challenges in terms of regulation, particularly under the EU AI Act.What Is Agentic AI?The functioning of agentic AI is rooted in Large Language Models (“LLMs”) and other advanced machine learning algorithms. These models are trained on vast datasets to understand human language and respond intelligently to various inputs. What sets agentic AI...

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  07/04/2025

  United Kingdom

  The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme will go live from 1st July 2025

  The government has announced that the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme will go live from 1st July this year.The Scheme requires the registration of:Arrangements to undertake political influence activities in the UK that are directed by a foreign power (the “Political Influence Tier”); andArrangements with foreign entities for such activities as may be specified (the “Enhanced Tier”).Arrangements registered under the Political Influence Tier will, subject to some exceptions, be published on a publicly available register.A key intent behind the Scheme is to increase transparency...

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  07/04/2025

  Europe

  The Cyber Resilience Act: Consultation on the Technical Description Opens

  On 13 March, the EU Commission published a consultation, inviting stakeholders to provide feedback on the implementing regulation that defines the technical descriptions of important and critical products with digital elements under the Cyber Resilience Act (EU 2024/2847) (‘CRA’). The CRA aims to address the increasing concerns surrounding cyberattacks, which the EU Commission estimates have resulted in global cybercrime costs amounting to 5.5 trillion euros by 2021.The consultation seeks to define products that may face enhanced conformity assessment procedures under the CRA. Stakeholders...

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