Insights & News

Cabinet Office publishes report on the National Security and Investment Act 2021 regime

30 September 2024

On 10 September 2024 the Cabinet Office published the National Security and Investment Act 2021: Annual Report 2023-2024 (“Report”) on the operation of the regime laid down by the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (“NSIA”). This is the third annual report on the operation of the NSIA regime covering the year from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 (“reporting period”).

National Security and Investment Act: Government confirms updates in response to call for evidence

15 May 2024

In November 2023 the government published a Call for Evidence on the impact of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act). It has now provided a response which summarises the key issues flagged and sets out the next steps that the government proposes to take.

Pendulum swings back in favour of SMEs and the economy. Investors beware.

21 March 2024

The ups and downs of the thresholds for being a high-net-worth investor or self-certified sophisticated investor

How would you like your justice served?... ...well done (outcome following full due process), medium, or rare (trial by media)

19 March 2024

The FCA has recently committed to carrying out enforcement cases more quickly as it seeks to increase the deterrent impact of its enforcement actions.

The National Security and Investment Act 2021: will it lead to greater certainty and lower burdens for businesses?

07 December 2023

Since the National Security and Investment Act (the NSI Act) came into force on 4 January 2022, one of the criticisms levelled at the legislation has been its broad scope and ambiguity over whether a transaction might be captured by the mandatory notification regime or voluntary notification regime.

FCA publishes long-awaited rules and guidance on anti-greenwashing and sustainability

01 December 2023

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published long-awaited guidance on anti-greenwashing and sustainability due to come into effect in 2024.

Financial promotion exemptions for high net worth individuals and sophisticated investors: HM Treasury publishes its response

15 November 2023

HM Treasury has published its Response to the Consultation: Financial promotion exemptions for high net worth individuals and sophisticated investors (Consultation) which set out proposals to reform exemptions in the Financial Promotion Order 2005 (FPO) relating to high net worth individuals and sophisticated investors.

Financial Promotions Gateway goes live – are you impacted?

29 September 2023

The FCA has introduced a new regulatory gateway to provide greater oversight of the approval of financial promotions. Companies that approve financial promotions for third parties will need to consider whether they need to apply to be included in the gateway or whether their activities are exempt.

CBDC - the future of payments and money in the UK?

09 February 2023

Back in April 2022 I wrote an article about the future of cryptoassets, payments and money in the UK. At that time, the UK government announced that it intended to bring in a regulatory regime for stablecoins used as a means of payment.

Latest proposals from the FSB on regulating cryptoasset activities and stablecoins

21 November 2022

Cryptoassets are volatile by nature; while high risk may lead to high reward, there is also the very real prospect of such assets losing all value.

Failure to meet the required standards for FCA authorisation

03 November 2022

A recent case serves as a useful reminder to firms seeking FCA authorisation of the paramount importance of positive and timely engagement with the FCA.

FCA hopes its Consumer Duty will lead to major shift in financial services

02 August 2022

The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed its plans to introduce a new Consumer Duty. It says that this will fundamentally improve how firms serve consumers. It will set higher and clearer standards of consumer protection across financial services and require firms to put their customers’ needs first. The duty includes a new Consumer Principle that “a firm must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers”.

Metaverse 101: Cryptoassets (including NFTs)- Selling and Distribution

22 June 2022

In this next instalment of our Metaverse 101 series, we look at some of the regulatory issues to consider when selling and distributing cryptoassets (we covered regulatory issues concerning the advertising of cryptoassets in our earlier article). As this is a new and developing area of law, there are often more questions than there are answers. This post explores the relevant regulatory regimes applicable to cryptoassets for which the UK Financial Conduct Authority has responsibility.

Operation resilience: what is it and why does it matter?

21 June 2022

Operational resilience is the ability of firms and the financial sector as a whole to prevent, adapt, respond to, recover and learn from operational disruptions. That is, operational disruptions to important business services. This is separate from, but should be complementary to and work together with, firms’ business continuity planning and outsourcing arrangements.

ASA crypto crackdown: Geraint Lloyd-Taylor comments for City A.M.

17 June 2022

ASA crypto crackdown – is it regulation by the back door?

Managing conflicts of interest in asset management: key takeaways from recent FCA fines

15 June 2022

On 30 March 2022 the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) published final notices against GAM International Management Ltd (“GAM”) and Timothy Haywood, a former fund manager for GAM, in connection with failures to manage conflicts of interest arising from dealings with Greensill Capital (UK) Limited. The fines, equalling £9,103,523 and £230,037 respectively, should serve as a warning to asset managers on the importance of adequately dealing with conflicts of interest and emphasise the necessity in having a robust framework in place to identify and manage any such conflicts.

FCA issues warning to CEOs of almost 28,000 credit consumer firms in light of the cost of living crisis

24 May 2022

On 6 May 2022 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a letter to almost 28,000 firms providing credit broking services or high cost lending products. Noting the fact millions are facing the biggest cost of living crisis in more than a decade, the FCA unambiguously reminded consumer credit firms they have a responsibility to not exploit these circumstances.

The meaning of “knowingly concerned” for breaches of financial promotion restrictions – welcome clarification for directors

25 April 2022

On 25 March 2022 the Court of Appeal held that a director who had been found “knowingly concerned” in an investment communication made in breach of section 21 of FSMA was not liable because she believed that the communication had been sufficiently authorised. The clarification of what constitutes “knowledge” in these circumstances will be welcomed by directors and professional advisors.

Treading the payment tightrope: can you still rely on the ‘limited network exclusion’ or might you now need a licence to carry out regulated payment services?

13 April 2022

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has recently published final guidelines on the application of the limited network exclusion (LNE) under the revised Payment Services Directive ((EU) 2015/2366) (PSD2). The guidelines apply to national competent authorities (NCA), which post-Brexit does not include the UK FCA. The UK FCA published its updated guidance on the application of the LNE under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs) in November 2021, through PS21/19, PERG 15 of its Perimeter Guidance manual, and the latest version of its Payment Services and Electronic Money - Our Approach document.

A historic and pivotal moment for the future of cryptoassets, payments and money in the UK?

07 April 2022

What happened? And so 4 April 2022 may come to be seen as a pivotal turning point for the future of cryptoassets in the UK.