Regulatory Environment Flashcards
What are the 2 features of a fund manager?
- Operates within the wholesale market
- Uses their expertise to manage institutional client assets to maximise returns
What are the 4 features of a wholesale client?
- Institutional clients such as charities, insurance companies and pension funds
- Have more knowledge
- Less regulated
- Larger trades in more specified investments
What are the 3 features of a retail client?
- Private individuals
- Less knowledge and experience
- More regulated by the FCA
What are the 7 functions of Investment Banks?
- Trading: buying and selling shares
- Broking: dealing on behalf of a client
- Market making: Quoting market prices to other participants
- Corporate finance: advice on the raising of capital
- Research: offering insight and analysis
- M&A: takeover advice
- Fund management: investing client capital to maximise return
What is insurance and what are the 2 types of insurance companies? (3)
- Client pays a premium to be protected
- General - car, housing, travel
- Life insurance - death, accident,
What does a pension fund do? (1)
Invests pension money
What are the 2 functions of custodians when it comes to investment portfolios?
- Safekeeping
- Administrating
What is an IFA? (3)
- Independent financial adviser
- Gives advice on any product in the market
- Helps clients to make the best decisions
What is an execution only client? (1)
- A client who makes an informed decisions to invest in a product based on their own knowledge, experience and judgement
What is an appointed representative? (3)
- An advisor or a ‘tied agent’ who advises on a particular product
- Tied to a provider or a group of providers
- Advise is valuable but limited
Name the 2 institutions that set economic policy in the UK?
- The government (supply side and fiscal)
- The BoE (monetary)
Which government institution writes financial law?
Her Majesty’s Treasury
What 2 major laws did Her Majesty’s Treasury introduce?
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000)
- Financial Services Act 2012 (FSA 2012)
What are the 4 objectives of the FCA?
Strategic objective
1. Ensure that markets work effectively
Operational objective
2. Consumer protection: ensuring an appropriate degree of protection for consumers
3. Integrity of the UK financial system
4. Promoting competition in the interest of consumer
What are the 4 features of the European Union?
- To promote a single market
- Free movement of labour and capital
- Single currency - economic and monetary union
- Sustainable development
What was the European Union Withdrawal Act 2018? (1)
- When Britain left the European Union and single market following the June 2016 referendum
Which EU institution sets EU law and directives? (1)
The European Commission
Who are the 3 new EU supervisory bodies?
- European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)
- European Banking Authority (EBA)
- European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)
Which body did ESMA replace and what is its function? (3)
- Committee of Securities Regulator in 2011
- Regulators of securities markets throughout the EU
- Referred to as ‘competent authorities’ like the FCA
What are the 3 objectives of ESMA?
- Investor protection
- Maintain market order
- Ensure financial stability within economies
What are the 4 ways ESMA achieves its objectives?
- Supervisory convergence
- Assesses risks to investors, markets and financial stability
- Directly supervises financial bodies
- Single rule book for EU market
What are the 5 powers of ESMA?
- Technical advice to the EU Commission
- Drafting subordinate acts (how to implement acts into EU law and delegating acts - the details needed to comply with the law)
- Consistent approach for implementation and enforcement of EU legislation
- Investigates non-compliance either at the request of the EU commisssion or its own initiative
- Launch investigate a national regulatory authority on an issue within 2 months (e.g. FCA)
What EU institution monitors financial risk in the EU?
European Systemic Risk Board
What is the 3 objectives of the Financial Services Action Plan?
A set of laws and directives
- To create a wholesale market
- To achieve open and secure retail markets
- To create prudential rules and structures
What is EU regulation? (2)
- EU law
- Legally binding across member states and on par with national law
What is EU directives? (2)
- Instructed to national governments
- National governments have the duty to then implement it into law
What was the name of the regulator FSMA 2000 originally created?
The Financial Services Authority - a single regulator for the entire market
Why does the FSA no longer exist?
- Too micro focused
- Global Financial Crisis 08/09