Our Thinking

ASIC enforcement priorities: greenwashing, fund product design and distribution

by Victoria Smith|19 February 2023|Our Thinking

summary The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”) outlined its enforcement priorities on 3 November 2021 and has increased its surveillance and enforcement focus on fund managers, superannuation trustees and responsible entities more recently, amongst its other priorities, on greenwashing and product design, and distribution obligations… next steps for firms Financial firms should review and […]

US SEC takes action over Gemini Earn crypto asset lending program

by Victoria Smith|16 February 2023|Our Thinking

summary On 12 January 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that it has charged Genesis Global Capital, LLC (“Genesis”) and Gemini Trust Company, LLC (“Gemini”) over unregistered offer and sale of securities to retail investors through Gemini Earn crypto asset lending program. The SEC’s investigation into the program revealed that… next steps […]

FCA proposals to improve access to financial advice on investing into mainstream products

by Victoria Smith|15 February 2023|Our Thinking

background On 30 November 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a Consultation Paper (the “Consultation Paper”) CP22/24 on proposals to broaden access to financial advice for mainstream products. These proposals are part of the FCA’s wider effort to make it easier for consumers to access financial advice and to ensure that the advice they […]

UK: FCA’s SDR: Firms and products in scope of the proposals

by Victoria Smith|9 February 2023|Our Thinking

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA“) recently published a Consultation Paper on the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR”) and investment labels, aims to tackle greenwashing as part of the growing need for sustainability-related investments. The aim of SDR is to mitigate against firms making exaggerated and/or misleading claims about the level of sustainability of their products/services… […]

UK: FCA’s Consumer Duty: Deadline approaching

by Victoria Smith|2 February 2023|Our Thinking

On 31 July 2023, the FCA’s new Consumer Duty comes into force. The Consumer Duty sets higher standards of consumer protection across retail financial services and represents what the FCA terms a “paradigm” shift in its expectations of firms. The Consumer Duty comprises three tiers; a new FCA Principle 12, three overarching cross-cutting obligations, and […]

UK: FCA’s SDR: Guide to the proposed requirements

by Victoria Smith|1 February 2023|Our Thinking

Following on from our previous article on the FCA’s Consultation Paper on the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and investment labels, please subscribe below to access our handy print and keep guide for all the key information you need to know about the proposed changes, including an ‘at a glance’ timeline of when the proposed requirements are […]

Standard Contractual Clauses and Data Transfer Agreements

by Victoria Smith|19 January 2023|Our Thinking

Recent changes to the EU’s standard contractual clauses (“New SCCs“) plus the UK addendum to the New SCCs means firms must review their current arrangements and determine whether replacement agreements are necessary before the 21 March 2024 deadline. We’ve set out below the key points firms need to know about the changes and how we […]

Replacing the UK GDPR

by Victoria Smith|17 January 2023|Our Thinking

summary On 3 October, at the Conservative Party conference (the “Conference”), the UK government outlined a revised plan for its reform of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Organisations can expect the UK government to propose amendments to the Data Protection and Information Bill (the “Bill”) or to restart the process of reform altogether… […]

FCA proposes UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and investment labels

by Victoria Smith|12 January 2023|Our Thinking

background On 25 October 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published its Consultation Paper CP22/10 (“Consultation Paper”) on the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR”) and investment labels. The FCA’s proposals aim to build transparency and trust by introducing: labels to help the consumer navigate the market for sustainable investment products; sustainable related terms, ensuring the naming […]

EU-US data privacy framework

by Victoria Smith|10 January 2023|Our Thinking

summary In March 2022, the European Union (“EU”) Commission and the United States (“US”) announced that they had agreed, in principle, on a new EU-US Data Privacy Framework (the “Framework”) to facilitate the transatlantic flow of EU personal data to the US. In October 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order setting out the steps […]