UK firms far from fully compliant with 2016 Market Abuse Regulation, FCA visits continue

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Many UK firms are far from fully compliant with the Market Abuse Regulation ( MAR) applied in July 2016, requiring the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to continue its supervisory visits to check firms’ progress. More than four years into the regime, FCA supervisors still find basic flaws in firms’ systems and controls, including poorly calibrated

10 top RegTech Opportunities for 2021

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   Donna Bales, Co-Founder and Member of the Board of the Canadian RegTech Association and PJ Di Giammarino, Founder and CEO of JWG Group were honoured to participate in the Canadian Institute’s 26th Annual Flagship Conference on Regulatory Compliance for Financial Institutions. The trans-Atlantic debate, ‘Assessing 10 Opportunities in the RegTech, FinTech and the

ESMA’s proposed MAR guidance may force FCA to make divergence decisions

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The European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) extensive proposed guidance to the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) could force the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to make some early decisions to diverge from the regime. “One of the questions is what does the FCA really think about the MAR review? This is where the rubber begins

Sabre rattling: Trade surveillance, RegTech and COVID obligations

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By Sam Tyfield, Partner, Shoosmiths. On 12 October, a speech by Julia Hoggett, FCA’s Director of Market Oversight, was published here. She speaks of having “rattled [her] sabre” about market abuse and surveillance. She started with some good news; activity the FCA regards as abusive, manipulative or insider dealing has not changed, so far as

Breaking down the banks: why firms are putting themselves at risk unless they overhaul their operational structures

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In our previous article Trade Surveillance: restructuring the business landscape[1] we identified how holistic regulatory requirements are forcing banks to re-consider the makeup of their operational structures. Our follow-up research has revealed the severity of the situation and how the industry is reacting too slowly. Trade surveillance, if not executed correctly, can result in financial

Breaking down barriers: the new holistic surveillance paradigm

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At this year’s RegTech Capital Markets Conference a debate took place on the benefits of using RegTech for trade surveillance in the context of the evolving technical landscape, led by expert industry professionals on compliance and surveillance. Taking into consideration the volume and quality of data firms are expected to monitor, whether the current system

RegTech and trading: re-gaining control

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For years the industry has been at work on the construction site of MiFID II. This has produced a building of basic structural integrity, but one that remains incomplete, and one that has required such a singular focus that surrounding constructions have been neglected. MiFID II is one of the biggest regulatory changes since the

Trade Surveillance: restructuring the business landscape

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Both MiFID II and MAR have completely changed the regulatory landscape in terms of voice communication surveillance. Both pieces of regulation place a greater emphasis on firms to monitor the surveillance controls that they implement, and also introduce new holistic trade surveillance requirements that, in turn, have driven the development of new, innovative, RegTech solutions.

Data reporting under MiFIR

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Just before the Christmas break, as part of its quick-fire release of numerous important updates, ESMA published a new Questions and Answers document that covers MiFIR data reporting.  Broken down into two separate sections, the document looks specifically at (i) LEI of the issuer and (ii) date and time of the request of admission and

Key regulatory themes for 2016

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So far 2016 has been one of the most contentious years since the G20 agreed the regulatory reform agenda seven years ago. With ever-rising costs, increasingly more severe penalties, and continued issues with data quality, it would be easy to claim the plans conceived in the wake of the crisis are not going to get