April 2018 - Financial Services Institutions Briefing
Welcome to the latest edition of our Financial Services Institutions Briefing.
As we entered the new calendar year the regulatory environment has been challenging if varied. Many of our clients are bedding down MiFID II reforms, and adapting to the PRIIPs (packaged retail investment and insurance based products) regime. Project teams are also coping with the extensive legal and procedural changes brought in by the General Data Protection Regulation. With the UK plans for the post Brexit financial sector up in the air interesting times lie ahead!
We hope you find this edition interesting and useful. If you have any comments on the briefing or ideas for future topics just let me know.
To download a full copy of the Briefing, please click here.
Access to the Financial Ombudsman Service for SMEs?
Financial services companies may face more disputes with SMEs. In consultation paper CP18/3, published on 22 January 2018, the FCA has proposed to extend access to the Financial Services Ombudsman to small businesses, charities and trusts that meet certain thresholds.
Gender Pay Gap Reporting ("GPGR") 2018
All employers with 250+ employees have to report the relevant information relating to their gender pay gap. A week before the deadline (4 April 2018) only 6,045 employers out of a suspected 9,000 had reported. Most relevant employers have now reported, but it is clear most were leaving it close to the deadline. Within the Financial Services (“FS”) sector 264 employers have so far reported.
The blockchain, the future of Financial Services… or is it?
Blockchain technology, and Bitcoin in particular, was the hot topic in Financial Services in 2017. However, putting the “Bitcoin hype” aside, the underlying blockchain technology appears to have been met with public scepticism amongst some conventional financial institutions.
Non-doms: an update for the dazed and confused
In his Budget speech in July 2015 the then-Chancellor George Osborne announced far-reaching tax changes in relation to foreign domiciliaries, including what he called the abolition of permanent non-dom status. The period of nearly three years since that announcement has been unsettling for non-doms and their advisers alike.
FCA discussion paper on financial services culture
As discussed in a speech on conduct and culture by its Chief Executive Andrew Bailey on 19 March, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a new discussion paper on culture within financial services.
For more information please contact Jonathan Bayliss on +44 (0)20 7427 6699 or at jonathan.bayliss@crsblaw.com
