Half a million consumers paying less credit card interest following FCA intervention

01 August 2022

In its Annual Report published on 19 July, the organisation has set out how it has worked over the past 12 months to meet its objectives of protecting consumers, enhancing market integrity and promoting competition, as it becomes a more innovative, assertive and adaptive regulator. Over the period, the FCA changed insurance rules to stop firms overcharging loyal customers. Millions of customers are now being offered better deals, with the average cost of renewing motor insurance down £55. The FCA also carried out its first ever criminal prosecution under anti-money laundering legislation and worked on an updated listing regime to ensure that the UK remains a trusted and attractive place to list companies.  Continue reading…

CPMI and IOSCO publish final guidance on stablecoin arrangements confirming application of Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures

29 July 2022

The Bank for International Settlements’ Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has on 6 July published final guidance confirming that stablecoin arrangements should observe international standards for payment, clearing and settlement systems. Sir Jon Cunliffe, Chair of the CPMI and Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England stated: “Recent developments in the cryptoasset market have again brought urgency for authorities to address the potential risks posed by cryptoassets, including stablecoins more broadly. The recent market disruptions, while costly for many, were not systemic events. But they underline the speed with which confidence can be eroded and how volatile cryptoassets can be. Such events could become systemic in the future, especially given the strong growth in these markets and the increasing linkages between cryptoassets and with traditional finance.”   Continue reading…

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26 July 2022

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Kuroda Haruhiko: The Bank’s Semiannual Report on Currency and Monetary Control

25 July 2022

Kuroda Haruhiko, Governor of the Bank of Japan, recently made a statement at the Committee meeting on Financial Affairs, House of Councillors, Sangiin. The Bank of Japan submits to the Diet its Semiannual Report on Currency and Monetary Control every June and December. He first explained recent economic and financial developments. Japan’s economy has picked up as a trend, although some weakness has been seen in part, mainly due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and a rise in commodity prices. Overseas economies have recovered on the whole, albeit with variation across countries and regions. In this situation, exports and industrial production have continued to increase as a trend, despite the remaining effects of supply-side constraints. Continue reading…

FSB proposes KPIs for measuring progress toward the G20 cross-border payments targets

21 July 2022

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recently published for public feedback an interim report on the approach for monitoring progress toward meeting the targets for the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments. The report provides preliminary recommendations about key performance indicators (KPIs) that could be used to monitor progress over time and identifies existing and potential sources of data for calculating those KPIs. In October 2021, the FSB set quantitative global targets for addressing the four challenges faced by cross-border payments (cost, speed, access, transparency) as a key foundational step in the G20 Roadmap. These targets were set for each of the three main segments of the market (wholesale, retail and remittances). Continue reading…

Lieve Lowet

Lieve Lowet

EU Affairs consultant and lobbyist

The Solvency II review – Cooperation platforms and low risk undertakings and groups (Part 2)

20 July 2022
Knowledge Base

Following changes in 2019 in the Solvency II directive, EIOPA has the power to set up and coordinate collaboration platforms to enhance collaboration between the relevant supervisory authorities where a (re)insurance undertaking carries out, or intends to carry out, cross-border activities based on the freedom to provide services or the freedom of establishment. For these platforms, the criterium is not significant cross-border activity from the point of view of the home supervisor, but relevance to the host Member State market. Around ten of these platforms have been set up since then. However, in several cases, according to the European Commission, supervisors have failed to reach a common view on how to address issues related to such cross-border business. Hence, the European Commission proposes to further enhance EIOPA’s role: the home supervisor must inform EIOPA and the relevant host supervisors if it identifies deteriorating financial conditions or other emerging risks which may have a cross-border effect. The host supervisor may notify EIOPA and the home supervisor if it has serious consumer protection concerns. The idea is to find a bilateral solution between home and host supervisors while EIOPA stands ready on the side Will that work? This is part two of Lieve Lowet’s latest blog on Solvency II (see related items for part 1). Continue reading…

Ashley Alder appointed FCA Chair

19 July 2022

HM Treasury has recently announced the appointment of Ashley Alder as the new Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Ashley is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong, a role he has held since 2011. Ashley also chairs the Board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and sits on the Financial Stability Board’s Plenary and its Steering Committee. Ashley began his career as a lawyer in London in 1984 and practised in Hong Kong for more than 20 years. He was Executive Director of the SFC’s Corporate Finance Division from 2001 to 2004, before returning to private practice at Herbert Smith LLP, a law firm, as Head of Asia. Continue reading…

Lieve Lowet

Lieve Lowet

EU Affairs consultant and lobbyist

The Solvency II review – How to safeguard the internal market in insurance? (Part 1)

18 July 2022
Knowledge Base

Since the introduction of Solvency II, there have been very few failures in the insurance sector. Because some failures had cross-border consequences, there has been pressure to change the present regulatory regime in order to give more powers to host supervisors and to EIOPA. Although the functioning of the internal market in insurance can certainly be improved, care must be taken not to overload the barge and to respect the approach that was agreed in the nineties for all financial service operators, i.e. a single market with a single license (European passport) and home country control. Failures are in a way a proof that market mechanisms are working. But in the financial services area, failures are more undesirable than in the rest of the services sector, especially in a cross-border context exercised via the freedom of establishment or the freedom to provide services (FPS). Despite the fact that Solvency II was not conceived as a zero-failure regime and that few failures have occurred in practice, the European Commission, pushed by EIOPA, is proposing important amendments to the present regime for insurers that operate cross-border, justified by supervisory shortcomings and a varying degree of policyholder protection across the EU following these failures. This is part one of Lieve Lowet’s latest blog posts on Solvency II. Part 2 will be published this Wednesday. Continue reading…

FCA fines Ghana International Bank Plc £5.8m for failings in its anti-money laundering controls

14 July 2022

The FCA has fined Ghana International Bank Plc (GIB) £5,829,900 for poor anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls over its correspondent banking activities. GIB provided correspondent banking services to overseas banks. This allowed them to provide products and services they would not otherwise be able to, including making payments in different currencies and across borders. The FCA requires banks to do extra checks on their correspondent banking customers to reduce the higher risk of money laundering and terrorist financing associated with the service.  Continue reading…