Displaying items for 2021

Efforts to improve clearing and settlement processes inside the EU have been ongoing for two decades now as regulators look to facilitate better cross-border investment. A number of regulations have been introduced over the years to abet this, including the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR). Unveiled seven years ago, the CSDR established a standardised regulatory framework for EU central securities depositories (CSDs). It also sought to harmonise trade settlement practices across the bloc by forcing member states to adopt a T+2 rolling settlement cycle. So why is the CSDR – a piece of EU regulation that overwhelmingly applies to post-trade…

Three months have intervened since Brexit, but how is the asset management industry finding the transition? Although the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced a Temporary Marketing Permissions Regime (TMPR) allowing EU-based UCITS and AIFMs to distribute funds into the UK without impediment, the EU has been less accommodating – opting instead to end pan-EU passporting rights altogether for UK-based managers of AIFs and UCITS. Since January 1, 2021, UK firms can only access EU institutions via the national private placement regimes (NPPR) in place in the member state(s) in which they are marketing. This set-up is unlikely to change…

Since 2017, the New City Initiative (NCI) has been campaigning vigorously for the UK to develop a new branded post-Brexit fund structure based on globally-accepted best practices, which could potentially compete and improve upon the EU’s widely regarded mutual fund wrappers, principally UCITS (Undertakings for the Collective Investments in Transferable Securities) and AIFs (alternative investment funds). If the UK were to successfully establish its own unique fund structure, then it could result in either the onshoring or creation of asset servicing roles in areas such as fund administration - which have historically been based in places like Luxembourg and Ireland.…

To say that 2020 was a shock to the system would be an understatement, although the financial services sector has largely held its own during the crisis. Despite this, a number of regulatory changes aimed at the asset management industry are likely to be unveiled over the next 12 months. The New City Initiative (NCI) looks at some of the potential developments that could unfold in 2021.Liquidity risk management – expect new rulesLiquidity risk management was an area of concern for the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) long before COVID-19 struck. The preceding summer had seen Neil Woodford’s Equity Income…