On 22 July 2024, the Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) announced interim changes to the reporting requirements for existing signatories to the UK Stewardship Code. These updates precede any updates arising from a wider wholesale consultation on a new UK Stewardship Code set to be launched in 2024, with implementation of any updates arising…

On 15 July 2024, the UK’s Payments Systems Regulator (“PSR”) and the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) launched a joint call for information concerning the role and impact of big tech digital wallets (the “Inquiry”). Digital wallets are now used by over half of UK adults, marking a significant shift…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), has announced a proposed rule to expand CFIUS’s jurisdiction over real estate transactions by foreign persons. The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA) granted CFIUS authority to review certain real estate transactions in close proximity to United States military installations or certain or facilities or properties of the U.S. Government.

Background

On 11 July 2024, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published its final rules (PS24/6) for a new, simplified and more competitive UK listing regime (the “Rules”).The FCA’s overall aim is to create a more streamlined, disclosure-based listing regime, to help boost the UK’s growth and competitiveness by encouraging…

On July 8, 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) released additional FAQs[1] with respect to the beneficial ownership reporting requirements of dissolved entities.  The Corporate Transparency Act requires reporting companies to report to FinCEN information about their beneficial owners and company applicants (a “BOI Report”) and is intended to help prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, tax fraud and other illicit activity. The Beneficial Ownership Reporting Rule (the “BOI Rule”), promulgated by FinCEN in September 2022, establishes the types of entities that are reporting companies and how beneficial owners and company applicants are determined, as well as what information is required to be reported about these entities and individuals.

Welcome to the UK Regulation Round Up, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK and EU financial services regulation.

Key developments in June 2024:

28 June

PRIIPs Regulation: The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (“ESAs”) published an updated version of its Q&As (JC 2023 22) on the Key Information…

Background

On 26 June 2024, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published the findings of its multi-firm review of how insurance firms are implementing the Consumer Duty. In particular, the FCA was seeking to determine how firms monitor, assess, and test the outcomes customers are receiving, along with actions firms had taken…

On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling overturning “Chevron deference,” a tool for interpreting ambiguous statutes administered by administrative agencies.  The 40-year-old Chevron doctrine held that, where a court finds a statute to be silent or ambiguous on a particular matter, the court must defer to the relevant agency’s construction of the statute if that construction is “permissible.”  The Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo now rejects any such deference to the agency and requires courts to apply their own construction of the silent or ambiguous law, even if the agency’s contrary view is reasonable and “permissible.”

On June 14, 2024, the SEC announced an enforcement action settlement with a Pennsylvania-based hedge fund manager for violating the Marketing Rule under the Investment Advisers Act. The SEC found that the adviser had misled investors by advertising a hedge fund’s investment performance based on the investment performance of a single investor in the fund. …

On 18 June 2024, the European Supervisory Authorities (the “ESAs”) published a joint opinion (the “Opinion”) on their recommendations for the next iteration of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”). 

As we reported here, the SFDR has undergone wholesale consultation with the European Commission having sought feedback on…