On 23 June 2016, the UK shocked the world, and perhaps itself, when it voted in favour of a "Brexit" from the European Union. While the referendum result has brought significant uncertainty to the financial services sector, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has made it clear that, from a regulatory perspective, it is "business as usual". Indeed, it is clear that firms cannot afford to stand still in the wake of the referendum result, since financial regulation has, as always, continued to evolve.
In this publication, we focus on 10 key issues that we believe clients should be aware of going into 2017:
- Brexit – key challenges ahead for financial services firms
- FCA Mission Statement – a new mission for the FCA?
- MiFID II – a whistle-stop tour for investment managers
- Extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime
- Market Abuse Regulation – market sounding guidance for buy-side firms
- Mandatory clearing obligations under EMIR
- AIFMD – ESMA advice on non-EU AIFM passports and proposed changes to Annex IV reporting requirements
- Increased regulatory scrutiny of the asset management industry
- Regulation of distributed ledger technology-enabled financial services
- Key takeaways from enforcement matters involving the FCA in 2016.
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