Banking and finance

Recent Articles

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    18/03/2024

    Financial Services Webinars On Demand

    Click here to view recordings of CMS financial services webinars available on demand. Webinars are a convenient way to stay informed and hear from our legal experts. 
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    11/03/2024

    UK Cryptoasset Regulation – 2023 developments and what’s to come in 2024 (Part 1)

    2023 will be remembered as the year the cogs of the UK legislative and regulatory machine finally began to crank meaningfully into gear in relation to cryptoassets, with a raft of legislation, consultations and discussion papers published. Through these initiatives, the UK is paving the way for a comprehensive regulatory regime to rival those in other jurisdictions with early-mover advantage, such as the European Union, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.With a range of critical frameworks and rules set to be enacted in 2024, the pace of this legislative and regulatory development shows no sign of...
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    07/03/2024

    The new UK Private Intermittent Securities and Exchange System or “PISCES” – 10 things you need to know

    On 6 March 2024, the UK Government published a consultation relating to a new type of share trading platform, referred to as a “Private Intermittent Securities and Exchange System” or “PISCES”.  This was first discussed in 2022 as part of the so-called Edinburgh Reforms and is a significant development in the UK capital markets.  This article outlines 10 key points in the consultation.1.      What is PISCES?A PISCES is a platform for secondary trading in freely transferable shares issued by UK or non-UK companies that are not admitted to...
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    06/03/2024

    FCA sends Dear CEO letter to firms in warning over money laundering failings

    The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has sent a Dear CEO letter (the “Letter”) to Annex 1 Firms warning them about common failings found in their ability to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing (hereafter “Financial Crime”). This forms part of the FCA’s enhanced monitoring of Annex 1 Firms in relation to their Financial Crime controls and its increasingly proactive approach in enforcing its regulatory expectations.The FCA is asking Annex 1 Firms to carry out a gap analysis against the failings it has identified in...
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    29/02/2024

    UK FCA proposals to publicly announce investigations could be detrimental to firms placed into enforcement

    With every new director of enforcement and market oversight at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there is a step change in the way the regulator approaches enforcement cases.Under the FCA's former incumbent in the role, the threshold for opening enforcement cases was lowered, leading to an increase in its enforcement caseload and an increase in the length of time for an investigation to be concluded.Improving 'efficiency and pace'Under the purview of the joint directors of enforcement and market oversight, the FCA, in acknowledging the importance of deterrence, said it needs to speed up its...
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    27/02/2024

    Law Commission’s draft Digital Assets Bill – welcome news for the UK

    Following an extensive consultation and publication of its final report in June 2023, the Law Commission has now published its draft Digital Assets Bill (the “Bill”). The Bill is designed “to ensure that the law remains dynamic, highly competitive, and flexible, so that it can support transactions and other arrangements involving digital asset technology” and aims “to help to achieve the UK Government’s stated goal of the jurisdiction of England and Wales becoming a global hub for digital assets, and in particular, for crypto-tokens and crypto-token systems”.The...
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