News Centre

Conversation With ASIC: AFIA Risk Summit - A Speech By ASIC Commissioner, Sean Hughes, To The Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA) Risk Summit, Tuesday 16 February 2021

Date 16/02/2021

Introduction

Thank you to Dianne for the introduction and to AFIA for the invitation to speak to you all today.

Let me begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the many lands upon which we gather today, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

ASIC: CBA Liable For Overcharged Interest – Royal Commission Case Study

Date 16/02/2021

The Federal Court has made declarations that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) made false or misleading representations and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct on 12,119 occasions when charging a rate of interest on business overdraft accounts substantially higher than what its customers were advised.

ESMA Calls For Fund Experts To Join Consultative Stakeholder Group

Date 15/02/2021

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued today a call for candidates in order to renew the composition of its Consultative Working Group (CWG) which advises ESMA’s Investment Management Standing Committee (IMSC).

Finansinspektionen Proposes Approach To Assess Pillar 2 Guidance For Swedish Banks

Date 15/02/2021

FI is presenting a proposal for a general approach to assess the size of the Pillar 2 guidance for Swedish banks. The proposal is based on a two-step approach that starts with a sensitivity-based stress test. Comments on the proposal may be submitted to FI no later than 12 March.

London’s Continued Future As A Global Financial Centre In Post-Brexit Era - “Amsterdam’s Emergence As The Primary Centre For European Share Trading Suggests That The European Union Will Never Develop A Global Financial Centre That Displaces London.” - John R. Bryson, Professor Of Enterprise And Economic Geography, University Of Birmingham

Date 15/02/2021

Newspaper headlines have declared that “Amsterdam ousts London as Europe’s top share trading hub”. This has been seen as another downside of the UK leaving the UK. Amsterdam has become Europe’s most important hub for trading shares with London pushed into second place. For Amsterdam, this was a dramatic shift for a city that in November 2020 was fifth behind Paris, Frankfurt, and Milan.

FESE: Position On Equity Market Structure & Data

Date 15/02/2021

Key issue & request:

• Fair Competition & Market Structure: MiFID II has permitted the growth of non-transparent venue trading. To the detriment of individual investors, it has unintendedly facilitated a proliferation of Systematic Internalisers (SIs) with reduced transparency obligations. Securing the right market structure for European public capital markets which protects price formation will better serve companies and investors. A well-functioning price formation process is key to the stability and resilience of public capital markets and has a positive impact on the cost of capital for the broader economy.
• Guaranteeing a transparent, high quality, reliable and consistent view of 100% of the market activity, including SI and OTC trades, is key to the functioning of European capital markets and for any consolidated tape (CT) to be considered meaningful. In this respect, a broader implementation of the Market Model Typology (MMT), which currently ensures consistency of exchange data, would contribute to addressing existing SI and OTC data quality issues.
• End investors need to be empowered by ensuring execution quality across all trading opportunities.

How to resolve this?

• It is crucial that the design of the equity market structure takes priority and is simplified. Restricting SI equity trading to large orders (above LIS) only would be an efficient way to incentivise lit trading, ensure the quality and robustness of price formation and removes the complexity currently embedded within the market.
• A pre-condition for a reliable CT is an improvement of SI and OTC data quality, and a coverage of 100% of the transactions.  The creation of a “Tape of Record” could represent a cost-effective solution to a CT, avoid latency issues and deliver clear value to the market and investors. Notably, a means to analyse execution quality.

The justification for legislative change:

•  MiFID II is core to the organisation of pan-European securities markets and issues within it underpin the current weaknesses in European public capital markets. These should be addressed in a holistic manner.

We respectfully urge the European Commission to ensure the EU is equipped with a comprehensive vision to strengthen EU public capital markets, both within the Union and on a global basis, and work with the industry to ensure that these markets play a full role in the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis as well as accompanying digital and sustainability transformations. We stand ready as European exchanges to participate in this process.

Download the full paper below:

Qatar Becomes First Middle East Country To Launch A Joint CISI And QFMA Professional Anti-Money Laundering/Combating The Financing Of Terrorism Digital Learning Solution, Supporting Market Training And Integrity

Date 15/02/2021

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has announced a ground-breaking project whereby it has developed an Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) assessment with the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA), the Qatari capital markets regulator.

PIMFA Launches Second Virtual Fest With Treasury’s John Glen Unveiled As A Keynote Speaker

Date 15/02/2021

Following  the huge success of its inaugural event, PIMFA, the trade association for wealth management, investment services and the investment and financial advice industry, is launching its second Virtual Fest on March 9 and 10.

FESE Position On Equity Market Structure & Data

Date 15/02/2021

Key issue & request:

• Fair Competition & Market Structure: MiFID II has permitted the growth of non-transparent venue trading. To the detriment of individual investors, it has unintendedly facilitated a proliferation of Systematic Internalisers (SIs) with reduced transparency obligations. Securing the right market structure for European public capital markets which protects price formation will better serve companies and investors. A well-functioning price formation process is key to the stability and resilience of public capital markets and has a positive impact on the cost of capital for the broader economy.
• Guaranteeing a transparent, high quality, reliable and consistent view of 100% of the market activity, including SI and OTC trades, is key to the functioning of European capital markets and for any consolidated tape (CT) to be considered meaningful. In this respect, a broader implementation of the Market Model Typology (MMT), which currently ensures consistency of exchange data, would contribute to addressing existing SI and OTC data quality issues.
• End investors need to be empowered by ensuring execution quality across all trading opportunities.

NovitasFTCL Adds Bruce McIntyre As A Senior Partner To Meet Growing Demands From Clients Across The FinTech Sector And Continue Building Its Pan-European FinTech Presence

Date 15/02/2021

NovitasFTCL, the FinTech-focussed M&A and capital raising corporate finance adviser, is pleased to announce that Bruce McIntyre has joined as a Senior Partner.  Based in London, Bruce further extends NovitasFTCL’s industry knowledge, longstanding industry contacts and ability to execute complex and cross-border transactions in the European FinTech industry. In particular, he has a wealth of knowledge and contacts in the payments, RegTech, lending technology, financial support services and InsurTech verticals.