Recent Articles

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  27/06/2024

  FCA publishes Consumer Duty outcomes review – what do I need to know?

  The FCA has published the results of its multi-firm review into Consumer Duty outcomes monitoring. Although the review concentrated on 20 of the larger insurance firms, the FCA’s observations are relevant to all retail financial services firms and all firms should consider the review’s findings.What are the key takeaways for firms?Firms tend to concentrate too much on processes being completed rather than on outcomes being delivered. For example, reporting on whether there are overdue value assessments or product reviews, without providing any insight into the key findings, lessons...

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  24/06/2024

  ESAs propose improvements to the SFDR and suggests introducing categories and/or sustainability indicators

  BackgroundOn 18 June 2024, the three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA, collectively known as the ESAs) published an opinion (the Opinion) on the evaluation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). This Opinion was initiated by the ESAs themselves and was addressed to the European Commission.Through two consumer testing exercises, the ESAs observed that the SFDR could be perceived as “complex and difficult to comprehend”. Furthermore, its practical use as a classification tool for financial products could potentially lead to greenwashing and mis-selling...

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  20/06/2024

  Publication of CRD6/CRR3: countdown to implementation of third country branch requirements

  On 19 June 2024, the final texts of the EU banking package known as CRD6 and CRR3 were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. As covered in our earlier update, CRD6 introduces a new, EU-wide requirement for certain “core banking services” to be provided in the EU through a third country branch or local subsidiary. The package also introduces significant new prudential supervision requirements for third country branches in the EU.In addition to implementing the final parts of the global Basel III standards for banks in the EU, the package includes a range of EU-specific...

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  19/06/2024

  DFSA boosts cryptoasset regime with a number of key amendments

  The Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”), the financial services regulator for the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”), has announced further developments to its agile cryptoasset regime following its January 2024 Consultation Paper (the “CP”). The amendments relate to a number of changes to the DFSA rules on funds, custody, financial crime and the recognition of cryptoasset tokens. There are also a number of changes implemented in the new rules which differ to the proposed rules originally set out in the CP, and which we have highlighted below.The...

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  10/06/2024

  Financial Services Webinars On Demand

  View recordings of CMS financial services webinars available on demand.Webinars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal experts. Webinars On Demand

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  07/06/2024

  ESMA issues first formal guidance on use of AI in retail financial services

  The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) recently released a public statement on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the provision of retail investment services. The statement provides initial guidance to investment firms and credit institutions using, or planning to use, AI so they can ensure compliance with their obligations under MiFID II. It also outlines live use cases and ESMA’s understanding of the “known challenges” currently facing firms in adopting AI.Emerging ESMA approach?While this is by no means ESMA’s first publication or statement on AI,...

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