Tracker, Financial Services Regulation & Compliance - Cross Sectoral

DOMESTIC:

Central Bank publishes the Minimum Competency Code 2017

The Minimum Competency Code 2017 and the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48 (1)) Minimum Competency Regulations 2017 have been adopted and together replace the former Code (New MCC Rules).  The New MCC Rules will take effect 3 January 2018 and will have to be adhered to by persons who carry out a controlled function in a regulated firm.

The Central Bank also published Questions and Answers to address concerns that raised in the consultation prior to the publication of the New Rules. They have been divided into two sections; general feedback and feedback relating to the credit union sector.

Central Bank publishes Market Update - Issue 6 2017

The Markets Update makes reference to the speech given by the Director of Asset Management Supervision, Michael Hodson, (to the IDA) on industry preparedness for MiFID II and regulatory implications stemming from Brexit. In the speech Michael Hodgson specifically refers to the investment firm opinion on Brexit relocations, published by ESMA, and noted it will be incumbent on prospective applicants to be mindful of the ESMA opinions when seeking to engage with the Central Bank. He set out that, at a minimum, applicants should seek to address potential queries which may arise in relation to the rationale for the structure, location and characteristics of the proposed firm.

The Update also contains information on topics such as the first edition of the Prospectus Regulatory Framework Q&A, the updated UCITS Financial Derivative Instruments and Efficient Portfolio Management Guidance, the nineteenth edition of a the Central Bank UCITS Q&A the Consultation Paper on the Protection of Retail Investors in relation to the Distribution of CFDs, the Central Bank UCITS (Amendment) Regulations 2017 and the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) (Amendment) Regulations 2017.

European Union (Disclosure of Non-Financial and Diversity Information by certain large undertakings and groups) Regulations 2017 enter force

The European Union (Disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups) Regulations 2017 (Non-Financial Disclosure Regulations) transpose into Irish law Directive 2014/95/EU (Non-Financial Disclosure Directive) on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large companies and groups. They will apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 August 2017.

The Non-Financial Disclosure Directive amended Directive 2013/34/EU (Accounting Directive), which has already been transposed into Irish law by the Companies (Accounting) Act 2017. However, the additional disclosure obligations imposed by the Non-Financial Disclosure Directive had to be first transposed into Irish law, in order to be effective here. In addition, some of the amendments introduced by Non-Financial Disclosure Directive gave various options to EU Member States, which had to be selected by the Government, when transposing it into Irish domestic law.

EUROPEAN:

European Supervisory Authorities publish updated guidance on the Key Information Document requirements pursuant to the Packaged Retail and Insurance-Based Investment Products Regulation (EU) 1286/2014

Updated guidance on the Key Information Document (KID), which is required by the Packaged Retail and Insurance-Based Investment Products Regulation (PRIIPs Regulation), has been published by the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs). The guidance includes:

• additional Questions and Answers on the KID required by the PRIIPs Regulation including on topics such as the categorisation of retail investors, assessing credit risk, the presentation of information on costs and  biometric risk premiums; and

• flow diagrams for the risk and reward calculations in the PRIIPs KID (which were published alongside the updated Questions and Answers).

European Banking Authority publishes a Discussion Paper on its approach to financial technology

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published a discussion paper on its approach to financial technology (FinTech) in order to enhance their understanding of developments in the area and to inform their approach to regulation of the area. The EBA identified proposals for future work in six areas which include authorisation and sandboxing regimes; the impact on prudential and operational risks for credit institutions, electronic money institutions and payment institutions; the impact of FinTech on the business models of these institutions; consumer protection and retail conduct of business issues; the impact of FinTech on the resolution of financial firms; and the impact of FinTech on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. The consultation will run until 6 November 2017.

European Banking Authority publishes consultation on fraud reporting requirements under the second Payment Services Directive (EU) 2015/2366

Under the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), Payment Service Providers (PSPs) will be required to provide statistical data on fraud, relating to different means of payments, to their relevant competent authority and competent authorities will be required to provide the data to the European Central Bank (ECB) and the EBA in aggregated form. In order to ensure consistent implementation of the provisions, so that the data collected is comparable and reliable, the EBA have published guidelines on the reporting requirements. They are inviting comments on the guidelines until 3 November 2017 and the final guidelines will then be published, taking effect on 13 January 2018.

Corrigendum to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653 of 8 March 2017 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (PRIIPs)

The corrigendum was published in the Official Journal on 15 August 2017.

For further information please contact a member of the Financial Regulation team.

Date published: 07 Sept 2017