The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published multi-firm review findings indicating the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive’s (MiFID II) research unbundling rules have improved asset managers’ accountability over costs, saving millions for investors. A key principle of the MiFID II unbundling reforms is to ensure that portfolio managers act as good agents in the best interests of their clients and that their investment decisions are not unduly influenced by third parties.

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Christopher Woodhead’s decade and a half on the run has ended, following an enforcement hearing at Leeds Magistrates’ Court. In 2004, Woodhead was sentenced to 6 years and 4 months in prison, following a joint prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office and West Yorkshire Police. Today he was handed down an additional 3 years default sentence in relation to the unpaid confiscation order of £428,000. With interest, the amount now owing is £900,000.

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The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have signed an Operational Agreement on the BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Hong Kong SAR. The Hub will identify and develop in-depth insights into critical trends in technology affecting central banking; develop public goods in the technology space geared towards improving the functioning of the global financial system; and serve as a focal point for a network of central bank experts on innovation. Hub Centres will be set up in Hong Kong, Singapore and Basel, Switzerland, in the initial phase.

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Objectway achieved recognition from Celent, the renowned research and advisory firm focused on financial services technology, as a key player in the report Client Reporting: the shift in delivery from low-value data to high-value information. Client reporting is evolving from delivering historical information on a periodic basis, to being a tool that encourages symbiotic communication, delivering personalised information in a proactive manner. Objectway’s client reporting features, part of the WealthTech Suite, are recognised in the report as enabling the delivery of high-value information.

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The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) engages on global insurance regulatory and supervisory issues chiefly through its participation in the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) alongside the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office, state insurance regulators, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The U.S. members of the IAIS are informally known as “Team USA.” The mission of the IAIS is to promote effective supervision of internationally active insurance companies. It is important to note that none of the standards set by the IAIS have binding effect on the United States. We believe that it is in our national interest to engage in the international insurance standards-development process so that it produces standards that protect the U.S. market and U.S. consumers when foreign insurers operate here and are appropriate for U.S. companies operating abroad.

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On the second day of the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin) the ministers discussed energy taxation and also EU fiscal rules. Hosted by Finance Minister Mika Lintilä at Finlandia Hall, the conference began with resilience to hybrid threats as the main theme. The ministers agreed that the financial sector must beef up its capacity to combat hybrid threats and infrastructure disruptions.

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ECB’s President Mario Draghi and Vice President Luis de Guindos announced that: “Based on our regular economic and monetary analyses we have conducted a thorough assessment of the economic and inflation outlook, also taking into account the latest staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area. As a result, the Governing Council took five decisions in pursuit of its price stability objective.”

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Brewin Dolphin, one of the UK’s leading wealth managers, has launched it’s ‘MyBrewin app’. This new app is an extension of the current MyBrewin online client portal. The client app has been made available both on the iPhone and Apple Watch and Android-based devices, and will provide Brewin Dolphin clients with instant access to current information about their portfolios, asset allocation and performance.

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