News & Insights

FCA publishes Consultation Paper on the prohibition of sale to Retail Clients of certain investment products that reference Cryptoassets

by Caroline Sheldon|26 July 2019|Industry News

Earlier this month the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a consultation paper on prohibiting the sale to retail clients of investment products that reference crytpoassets (“Consultation Paper”). The Consultation Paper proposes a ban on marketing, distribution and sales of all derivatives and exchange traded notes (“ETNs”) that reference unregulated transferable cryptoassets by firms acting in, […]

ESMA launches consultation on cost of market data and consolidated tape

by Caroline Sheldon|26 July 2019|Industry News

THE CONSULTATION The European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”), launches a public consultation on the development in prices for pre and post trade data and post-trade consolidated tape (“CT”) for equity instruments. Whilst MiFID II sets out the legal framework for operating a CT, to date no CT has been established, meaning MiFID II has […]

FCA Review of Principal firms and their Appointed Representatives

by Leela|8 July 2019|Industry News

In May 2019, the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) published their findings of a review they carried out with respect to principal firms (“Principals”) and their appointed representatives (“ARs”) within the investment management sector (the “Review”). The Review included a survey of 338 Principals each with between 1 and 80 ARs. Of the 338 Principals, […]

FCA grants first licence to Crypto Hedge Fund

by Caroline Sheldon|3 July 2019|Industry News

A UK based crypto currency hedge fund is the first investment firm in the UK to receive full-scope authorisation from the financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). THE LICENCE In a Bloomberg report published on 2 July 2019, it has been confirmed that the licence will enable the cryptocurrency focussed firm to operate as […]

Brexit update: No deal preparations – Belgium, Gibraltar, Portugal, Romania & Sweden

by Caroline Sheldon|28 June 2019|Our Thinking

With a no deal Brexit remaining a possibility, the UK, the EU and individual EU members continue to review their regimes and the measure that will be put in place in the event of a no deal scenario. This article forms part of the Cleveland & Co Brexit series and covers the no deal preparations […]

The Court of Appeal rules that there is no obligation to pay negative interest under 1995 CSA

by Leela|26 June 2019|Industry News

In the recent case of, The State of the Netherlands (the “State of the Netherlands“) and Deutsche Bank AG (“DB“)[2019], the Court of Appeal (the “Court”) has confirmed that negative interest is not payable by the party transferring cash collateral (the “Transferor”) under the standard form of the ISDA 1995 Credit Support Annex (the “CSA”). This […]

REGULATORY REFORM: SONIA to replace LIBOR – ARE YOU READY?

by Caroline Sheldon|7 June 2019|Industry News

BACKGROUND As a consequence of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) scandal in which several bankers at many major financial institutions manipulated LIBOR by reporting artificially low or high interest rates to benefit their derivative traders, undermining a major benchmark for interest rates and financial products, a Bank of England working group (the “BoE Working […]

FCA wins court case against unauthorised Forex firm

by Leela|5 June 2019|Industry News

The High Court (the “Court”) recently found in favour of the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) resolving that an unauthorised investment scheme must pay almost £1 million to the FCA to be re-distributed to investors as a result of several breaches by both the firm and its director. THE FACTS Following an application by the FCA, […]

The limits of economic duress: Times Travel v Pakistan International Airlines

by Leela|29 May 2019|Industry News

On 14 May 2019, the Court of Appeals ruled the case Times Travel (UK) Ltd. (“Times Travel”) v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (“PIAC”) and decided that the economic pressure exerted by PIAC against Times Travel in that context was lawful and not considered as economic duress. BACKGROUND From 2008 to 2012 Times Travel and PIAC […]

The EU discusses changes to EMIR

by Leela|17 May 2019|Our Thinking

The final text to amend technical aspects of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (the “EMIR Refit”) could enter into force in May/June and will be directly applicable to the UK and to all its financial and non-financial counterparties. Changes to the definition of “financial counterparty” (“FC“) will apply immediately upon the entry into force of […]