Regulation Of The Financial Markets And Institutions Flashcards
When was the financial services action plan launched?
1999
What were the 3 objectives of the FSAP?
- Create a single eu wholesale market
- Open and secure retail markets
- Create the best rules and supervision structures (regulation)
What are eu directives?
They are instructions given by the article 58 of the European treaty and attempts to harmonise laws across member states.
How can eu directives be implemented?
Through primary legislation (creating new legislation) or delegated legislation (amending current law ).
What is the vertical direct effect?
When legislations are not implemented by the deadline, it will be given precedence over national law.
What are eu regulations?
They are the most direct form of eu law and are immediately binding in all eu member states.
What is the difference between eu directives and eu regulations?
Directives are advice but regulations are immediately binding rules to be followed.
Who creates all regulations (EU)? (3)
Eu council and European Parliament or the European Commission
What happened on 31st January 2020?
The UK left the eu but remained a part of the single market and customs union.
What is the European Union (withdrawal) act 2020?
- Eu legislation that was directly applicable to the UK was adopted as part of the ‘retained eu law’
What is onshoring?
The retained laws were adapted to suit the needs of the UK financial system.
Who can make amendments in the UK Law?
FCA, PRA and the BoE
What is the temporary permissions regime (TPR )?
Allows European economic area - based financial services firms who were using a ‘passport’ to continue to operate in the UK for a limited period of time until they could seek authorisation from UK regulators.
What were the three main supervisory failings of the global financial crisis?
- The accumulation of excessive risk not being detected
- The lack of surveillance and supervision being effective in time.
- The lack of coordination between national authorities
What were the three supervisory authorities that were created?
- European Securities and Markets Authority (esma)
- European banking authority (eba)
- European insurance and occupational pensions authority (eiopa)
What is the main goal of esma?
Ensure integrity, transparency, efficiency and orderly functioning of financial markets in Europe.
-What are the main powers of esma? (8)
- Draft technical things that are legally binding
- Launch fast-tracked procedures
- Resolve disagreements between diff authorities.
- Can protect consumers and ban financial products that threaten stability
- Emergency powers
- Onsite inspections
- Monitoring systematic risk of cross-border FI’s
- Enter administrative agreements with supervisions authorities.
What is the investment services directive (isd)?
It creates a passport that allows firms in EU member states to engage in investment services throughout the EEA without authorisation.
Can provide usual investment services out of state.
What is the UK version of ISD?
Markets in Financial instruments directive (Mifid) 2007 - more range of investment services that can be passported. it said investment advice could be passported. Multilateral Trading facility was covered.
It also allowed commodity derivatives, credit derivatives and financial contracts for differences.
What is MiFID II?
- The organised trading facility was introduced to capture unregulated trades
- making requirements before and after trading more transparent
- limiting sizes of positions held in commodity derivatives to avoid speculation
- rules to avoid risks of new technology creating disorderly markets
- protecting clients by providing more information on produce and services
MiF1D II distinguishes between…(2)
Investment services/actitives (core) and ancillary services (non-core)
What are the core services and activities of MiFID II?
Reception and and transmission of orders, execution of orders for clients, dealing ‘own account’, managing investments/portfolios , investment advice, underwriting, placing, operating an MTF or OTF
Basically main investment services activities?
What are the non-core ancillary services?
Safekeeping and administration of investments; granting credit; advice on capital structure and advice relating to m&a, fx services, investment research,
Basically anything not to do with investment but support an investment.
What are the MiFID II instruments? (7)
- Transferable securities
- Money-market instruments
- Units of collective investment undertakings
- Derivative contracts relating to: securities; currencies; interest rates/yields; emission allowances; financial indices and commodities (physical or cash settled).
- Derivatives instruments for the transfer of credit risk (CDs)
- Financial contracts for differences
- Derivatives contracts relating to: climate, freight or inflation; other economic statistics
What are money market instruments?
Products with life of less their 12 months
What is MiFID business?
When dealing with securities; currencies; interest rates/yields; emission allowances; financial indices and commodities (physical or cash settled), and are undertaking MiFID services and activities, this is MiFID business.
What is MiFIR?
Not bound into national law but are reporting requirements in relation to the disclosure of trade data into public authorities.
It basically increases the scope for MiFID to cover more asset classes and ensure more forms are reporting to make things more transparent
What are UCITS? (undertakings in collective investments in transferable securities status)
This creates a single market for collective investment schemes in the eu.
A CIS marketed by any eu member state can be mandated without further requests in any other member state.
Who is responsible for recognising schemes under UCITS?
Financial conduct authority.
What is a collective investment scheme?
A pooled investment. Investors can pool their money together, managed by a professional investment manager and invest in a diversified portfolio of assets.
They can be mutual funds, ETF’s, unit trusts and hedge funds.
What was added when UCITS II was created?
- More activities could be passported
- Terms and conditions became clearer
- range of financial instruments allowed increased.
What was added to UCITS IV?
- A passport for management companies
- more procedures for cross-border fund managers
- key investor information document
- master feeder funds were allowed to pool assets
What did UCITS V bring?
More regulation on the responsibilities of legal owners of assets.
What is an alternative investment fund manager’s directive (AIFMD)?
It lays out the management, administration and manuring of AIF’s.
What is an AIF?
An AIF is an alternative investment fund which is collective investment undertaking that is outside the scope of UCITS. it includes hedge funds, private equity funds, retail investment funds, investment companies and real estate funds.
Who does AIFMD focus on?
If managers not AIFs
What are the main requirement under AIFMD?
Must be authorised by their home state regulator if their AUM exceeds:
- €100m for AIF using leverage (borrows funds)
- €500m for AIF not using leverage
The brokers selected by AIFs should be regulated and proper to provide financial services
Minimum quarterly reporting to home-state regulators.
What use the main requirements under AIFMD to get approval from their regulator to manage assets in AIFs to be compliant?
- €100m for leveraged AIFs
- €500m for unleveraged AIFs
What are derivatives?
Financial instruments that get value from changes in prices or the rate of asset
What is the European market infrastructure regulation (EMIR)?
It requires OTC derivatives trades to be reported and risk managed
Under EMIR, what are the three main requirements for OTC trades?
- Standerdised trade reporting (to a trade depository)
- compulsory central counterparty (CCP) clearing
- risk management procedures
Under UK EMIR, who should me derivative transactions be reopened to (aka which trade repositories authorised and registered under UK EMIR)?
- Ice trade vault Europe Limited
- UnaVista limited
- DTCC derivatives repository Plc
- REGIS TR UK Limited
The FCA is responsible for me registration and supervision of these trade authorities
What is the eu benchmarks regulation (BMR) ?
Ensures (libor) benchmarks are reliable and minimise COI’s
What is the foreign account tax compliance act (FATCA)?
A us law to prevent tax evasion by us citizens using offshore banking facilities.it has a tax information reporting and withholding regime to get information about us people.
Under FATCA, what is the 30% withholding tax?
If non-us financial institutions don’t report information about us ownerships to the IRA they must pay a 30% tax.
They supply information to the HMRC who then share with the IRA
What are all foreign financial institutions (ffis) required to do? What if they don’t?
Provide information about their us customers. If they don’t they are considered non-participating FFIs’ and must pay the 30% witholding tax.
In me UK regulatory structure, what is the financial policy committee?
It is a committee of the bank of England that monitors the stability of the whole financial system.it has powers over the FCA and PRA.
What does the financial conduct authority do? (FCA)
It is overseen by the treasury and it conducts regulation of banks and other financial institutions.
What does the prudential regulatory authority (PRA) do?
It is a legal entity within the Bank of England and promotes the valley and soundness of firms it regulates.
It looks after the largest financial institutions that are deemed ‘too big to fail’
What is the financial services and markets act 2000 (FSMA) and the amended financial services act (2012)??
It created the FPC within the Bank of England to monitor risks
Transferred regulation of bonus and big investment firms to the PRA
Created a more focused regulator (FCA) to regulate retail and wholesale cancers
What does section 19 of FSMS 2000 state?
No person must carry out regulated activity in the UK unless they are either authorised or exempt
What are the FCA’s three operational objectives?
- Consumer protection
- Protect integrity of the UK financial system
- Promote competition and carry out regulation
In UK regulation, what does the Bank of England do?
Protect the financial system and work with others like the HM treasury, PRA and FCA.
What does the financial policy committee do?
Make recommendations and offer advice to the PRA and FCA and intervene to mane sure appropriate action is taken.
What, under FSMA 2000, classifies one as an authorised person’?
FSMA part 4a permission
Person authorised in another EEA member state (under MiFID)
What are criminal offences under FSMA 2000?
Unauthorised investment business
What are criminal offences under the financial services act (section 91)?
Make false or misleading statements
Act or engage in any act that may be misleading in investments.
What are the consequences of committing criminal offences under FSMA and the financial services act?
FSMA - 2 years in prison
FSA - up to 10 years in prison, or a fine, or both
Under the regulated activities order (2001), what are specified investments?
All investment instruments and rights to those investments instruments excluding physical assets
Includes: providing credit, mortgages and buy-to-let
Excludes: land, antiques and commodities, gold
There are a few few regulated activities that need authorisation (specific investments) before they can be carried out. What are the regulated activities under the regulated activities order? (7)
- Accepting deposits
- Issuing electronic money
- Effecting (administering/performing contracts of insurance
- Dealing in investments as a principal or agent/arranging deals in investments/advising clients on investments - using own funds and acting as a broker/intermediary
- Arranging advising on home finance transactions
- Managing investments
- Operating a multilateral trading facility (MTF) and OTFs
What is the payment systems regulator?
The regulator for payments systems in the UK, established in April 2015 and is a part of the FCA
What are the systems of the payment systems regulator? (7)
BACS
C&C (cheque & credit)
CHAPS
Faster Payments Services (FPS)
LINK
MasterCard
VISA Europe
What is excluded from PSR regulation? Why?
Any payments systems in the securities trading systems, clearing houses or CCPs
This is because of the BoE, and its role as one payment provider.
What are the 3 main objectives of the payment systems regulator?
Make sure payments systems are operated in ways that has business and consumers best interests
Promote competition in payment systems market
Promote development and innovation
According to the FCA, who is classed as an ’exempt persons’?
- Appointed representatives
-Recognised investment exchanges (RIEs) and clearing houses (RCHs) - Members of the professions: members of a designated professional body (DPB) carrying on incidental investment business
- members Lloyds
Who are the CMA and the department for business, energy, business industrial strategy?
They investigate mergersto ensure sufficient competition in the market to protect consumers.
The Secretary of State for BEIS will intervene if it affects public
When do the CMA and BEIS intervene?
-the merged company gains more Than 25% market share ( ‘share supply test’)
-target company has a turnover of $100m > (‘turn over test’)
What does the takeover panel do? (PTM - panel on takeovers and mergers
They operate and enforce the City code on takeovers and mergers
They act as the referee for the fair conduct of takeover bids
How is the panel on takeovers and mergers funded?
The PTM levy (4 on purchase/sales > £10,000)
What constitutes as payable of the £1 levy for PTM’s?
Equity share capital
Securities that convert into equity share capital.
US depository receipts
What constitutes of fair conduct in takeover bids?
A bidder that gets 30% or more of the voting rights of a company is required to give a cash-offer to all other shareholders at the highest price they paid for a share in the previous year.
Any offer must remain open for at least 21 days
An offer document must be sent to shareholders of the target company within 28 days of the announcement of the firm’s intention to make it
If the company bidding has 90% or more of a stake in the company, the predator company can force the minority shareholders to sell their shares
What does the information commissioners office do?
Data collectors must be registered with the ICO and they set out regulation on how data is to be processed
What are the fines for breaches of GDPR? What is the reporting period for breaches?
- Up to €20m or 4% of global annual turnover (biggest one)
- breaches must be notified to the ICO within 72 hours
What are one objectives of the pensions regulator? (3)
- Protecting the benefits of members
- Reducing the risk of situations that may lead to compensation
- Promoting good administration
What does the pension protection fund do?
Provide compensation where a sponsoring employer of a defined benefit scheme becomes insolvent abcs the scheme is unable to pay their liabilities
What does the pension protection fund cover for those retiring and waiting to retire?
How is the PPF funded?
PPF covers 100% of benefits for existing pensioners and 90% of benefits for those that have not retired
It is funded by a levy on all defined benefit pension schemes
What is the pensions schemes act 2021?
Gave the TPR enforcement powers, additional defined benefit funding requirements, changes to transfer rights and climate change risk governance requirements. There was also a legislative framework for collective money purchase pension scheme.
What are the civil penalties the pensions regulator is able to give out?
Up to £1 million
Under the pensions schemes act 2021 regulations, what are trustees required to do?
- Maintain oversight of climate control risks. - identify and assess the impact of these risks and how they affect the investment strategies in short, medium and long term
- Triennial Scenario analysis where there is an increase in the global average temperature
- Seta climate target against the emissions based metrics and measure schemes performance against it
- Publish annual reports about climate change risk governance. The report must be signed by the trustee and chair and published in the website
5, fines can be issued by regulators for non compliance of up to £5000 for an individual trustee and £50,000 for an corporate trustee
What is money helper?
What is a Pensions Ombudsman Service?
A pensions and financial advice scheme for consumers.
The pensions ombudsman service investigated complaints about pensions administration
What must trustees of pension funds do (2)?
- Appoint their own actuary, auditor and financial advisors
- Produce a statement of investment principals and renew this every three years
What are the roles and statutory objectives of the FCA?
Strategic: ensuring relevant market function well
Operational objectives:
- Consumers protection
- Competition
Integrity of UK financial system
What is block 1 of the FCA handbook?
The high level standards for authorised persons and approved persons.