The PRA and the FCA have today issued a joint statement outlining far-reaching changes to remuneration policy. PS 15/16: Strengthening the Alignment of Risk and Reward: New Remuneration Rules aims to improve risk-reward alignment, deter the irresponsible and short-term appetite for risk, and to encourage effective risk-management. The rules will apply to FCA-regulated banks and […]

Introduction As a firm, do you know the detailed contents of your portfolios of derivatives and securities financing contracts?  The Bank of England[1] wants to know, and will soon have the power to compel you to provide this information. The Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (“BRRD”) mandates competent authorities of Member States to require an […]

The Bank of England yesterday announced that it is widening access to its Sterling Monetary Framework to include broker-dealers and CCPs. “Specifically, from today, those broker-dealers deemed critical to the stability of the UK financial system (designated investment firms) and CCPs that operate in UK markets and are either authorised under EMIR or recognised by […]

On 27 October 2014, the Fair and Effective Markets Review (FEMR) in the UK published a consultation paper on fixed income, currency and commodities (FICC) markets, with a section dedicated to benchmarks. The Review is led by staff from the HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the FCA. On the same day, the Council […]

On 6 August 2014, 11 US banks received a reminder by their regulators that the rights on early termination in their ISDA Master Agreements will require material changes in order to provide credibility for their living wills. This comment likely applies to every institution which is required to produce a living will under the Dodd-Frank […]

Although George Osborne’s annual Mansion House speech was dominated by plans to tackle the UK’s chronic housing shortage, the Chancellor made some familiar noises concerning the importance of the ‘integrity of the City,’ and ‘robust financial markets,’ and set out proposals to protect both. Osborne announced that the Treasury, the Bank of England and the […]

George Osborne has surprised markets with his second U-turn in as many days. In a published exchange of letters with the Governor of the Bank of England, the Chancellor asked the Bank to begin an immediate review as to “whether and when” it required formal powers to mandate leverage ratios for banks. Mr Osborne had […]

This is a link to an interesting paper published by the Bank of England relating to CCP loss allocation rules (first spotted over on The OTC Space).  The paper explains the reasons why CCPs must maintain a matched book at all times and the process typically followed on the occurrence of a clearing member default.  […]

On 25 April 2013, HM Treasury published a consultation paper on the introduction of a Special Administration Regime (SAR) for inter-bank payment systems (such as Bacs, CHAPS, Continuous Linked Settlement, CREST, LCH Clearnet Ltd, Faster Payments Service and ICE Clear Europe), operators of securities settlement systems (CREST being the only example in the UK) and […]