News Centre

The European Central Bank And The South African Reserve Bank Sign A Memorandum Of Understanding On Cooperation

Date 19/03/2018

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Monday in Buenos Aires signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of central banking. The Memorandum of Understanding provides a framework for a regular exchange of information, policy dialogue and technical cooperation between the two institutions. Technical cooperation may inter alia take the form of joint seminars and workshops in areas of mutual interest in the field of central banking.

SMSG Advice - Response To ESMA’s Consultation Paper On Draft Regulatory Technical Standards Under The New Prospectus Regulation

Date 19/03/2018

Executive summary

The SMSG welcomes the proposed RTS under the new Prospectus Regulation. We strongly believe that a successful review of the Prospectus rules should result in an increased level of investor protection and a true reduction of costs for issuers, without additional burdens imposed.

We believe that issuers should be given flexibility with regard to the number and format of the KFI to be included in the summary, e.g. flexibility to decide to include KFI extracted from the cash flow statement or not. The limit on the number of pages will already prevent unnecessary information being included in the summary.

Lastly, we recommend finding a balance between the technological evolution and state of the art solutions that could ease disclosure of information for investors and potential related issues in terms of security and liability for issuers.

SEC: Broker Charged With Repeatedly Putting Customer Assets At Risk

Date 19/03/2018

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Electronic Transaction Clearing (ETC), a registered broker-dealer headquartered in Los Angeles, has agreed to settle charges that it illegally placed more than $25 million of customers’ securities at risk in order to fund its own operations.

EBA Published An Assessment Of The Current Credit Risk Mitigation Framework

Date 19/03/2018

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today a Report, which assesses the current Credit Risk Mitigation (CRM) framework, as part of its work on the review of the IRB approach. This Report is part of the 4th and last phase of the EBA's roadmap on the IRB approach, which also includes a review of supervisory practices, a harmonised definition of default and clarifications on modelling approaches to be used by institutions. 

Hong Kong And Brazil Sign MOU For Enhanced Co-operation And Direct Investment

Date 19/03/2018

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and Apex-Brazil signed an MOU in Sao Paulo on Friday aimed at enhancing mutual co-operation in generating more direct investment between the two regions. The MOU was signed by the InvestHK Director-General of Investment Promotion Mr Stephen Phillips, and the President of Apex-Brasil, Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Mr Roberto Jaguaribe.

Brexit Transition Agreed – TheCityUK Responds

Date 19/03/2018

The UK and the EU announced today that they have agreed the details of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Responding to the announcement, Miles Celic, Chief Executive Officer, TheCityUK, said,

This is a critical milestone in the Brexit negotiations and it meets the first of our industry’s three key Brexit priorities – a status quo transition arrangement to reduce uncertainty and ensure an orderly withdrawal. We have argued strongly that this needed to be in place early this year, and we are very pleased to see this achieved.

SEC Announces Its Largest-Ever Whistleblower Awards

Date 19/03/2018

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced its highest-ever Dodd-Frank whistleblower awards, with two whistleblowers sharing a nearly $50 million award and a third whistleblower receiving more than $33 million. The previous high was a $30 million award in 2014.

Deutsche Börse Places Corporate Bond Of 600 Million Euros - Current Market Environment Allows Favorable Refinancing

Date 19/03/2018

Deutsche Börse AG has successfully placed a corporate bond on the market in an amount of EUR 600 million. The bond is divided into units of EUR 1,000 and has a term of ten years and a coupon of 1.125 percent annually. It will be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's regulated market as well as on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Deutsche Börse AG also plans to list it in the Prime Standard for corporate bonds.

The WFE Names Richard Metcalfe As Head Of Regulatory Affairs

Date 19/03/2018

The World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, is pleased to confirm the appointment of Richard Metcalfe as the Head of Regulatory Affairs for the WFE.

Monetary Authority Of Singapore Imposes Penalties On Standard Chartered Bank And Standard Chartered Trust For AML/CFT Breaches

Date 19/03/2018

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today that it has imposed penalties of S$5.2 million on Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore Branch (SCBS) and S$1.2 million on Standard Chartered Trust (Singapore) Limited (SCTS). The penalties were for breaches of MAS’ anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements. These breaches occurred when trust accounts of SCBS’ customers were transferred from Standard Chartered Trust (Guernsey) to SCTS from December 2015 to January 2016.