This weekly update from Clyde & Co's Financial Services Regulatory Team summarises new developments as reported by the FSA, the UKLA, the Upper Tribunal, the Financial Ombudsman Service and the London Stock Exchange over the past week, with links to the full documents where these are available.

We hope that you will find this update useful.

Consultation papers:

No new developments this week.

Discussion papers:

No new developments this week.

Policy statements:

No new developments this week.

Press releases:

No new developments this week.

Speeches:

No new developments this week.

Bulletins and newsletters:

No new developments this week.

Final notices:

No new developments this week.

Application refusals:

No new developments this week.

Approved person refusals:

No new developments this week.

Research publications:

No new developments this week.

Consumer research:

No new developments this week.

Other FSA publications:

12 April: Market Abuse – FSA letter on cleansing announcements. The Regulatory Law Committee of the City of London Law Society ("CLLS") has published a letter it received from the FSA in response to concerns it raised about cleansing announcements regarding David Einhorn's decision notice. In particular, the concern raised by the Committee was that the decision notice appeared to suggest that there should in all cases be a cleansing statement made, including whenever a transaction does not go ahead. The letter in response from the FSA agrees that there are circumstances in which a previously proposed capital raising is no longer going ahead would not necessarily constitute inside information, however each case will be determined on its own facts and parties in doubt should seek legal advice. The reference to cleansing in David Einhorn's decision notice should be taken in the context of the facts of that individual case.

http://www.citysolicitors.org.uk/FileServer.aspx?oID=1167&lID=0

11 April: FSA consults on changes to Payment Services Regulations approach document. The FSA has published a draft consultation version of its approach document to the Payment Services Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/209) ("PSRs"). The FSA has used track changes to make clear the alterations made to the approach document.

The deadline for responses to the draft consultation is 30 April 2012.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/static/pubs/other/draft-psd-apr12.pdf

10 April: Rates of return for FSA prescribed projections. The FSA has published a report, drafted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which reviews the FSA's 2007 projection rates. The report uses evolving market conditions and academic research, amongst other factors, to determine whether the assumptions used in December 2007 to produce the projected intermediate rates are still appropriate and should continue to be used. Changes made to the assumptions in light of the current economic climate include:

  • A reduction in anticipated inflation from 2.75 per cent to 2.5 per cent
  • Real government bond returns reduced from 1.75-2 per cent to 0.5- 1 per cent
  • Equity Market Risk Premium increased from 3-4 per cent to 3.5- 4.5 per cent

The implication of lower nominal projection rates and lower real wage growth is that the future benefits for purchasers of retail financial products could be less than was previously anticipated.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/static/pubs/other/projection-rates12.pdf

UKLA publications:

No new developments this week.

Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (formerly Financial Services and Markets Tribunal (FSMT)):

No new developments this week.

Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS):

No new developments this week.

London Stock Exchange (LSE):

No new developments this week.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.