Continuing its increasing focus on fair customer treatment and achieving good customer outcomes, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a consultation on a new Consumer Duty, which would set higher expectations for the standard of care that firms provide to consumers.
A series of briefings that take a ‘bite-size’ look at international trends in financial services regulation, drawing on the expertise of Baker McKenzie’s experienced practitioners located across the globe.
This edition of Bite-size Briefings, a series of briefings that take a “bite-size” look at international trends in different jurisdictions, explores the regulation of crypto (or digital assets) and, in this context, the development of anti-money laundering (AML) supervision in the UK, the US, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and Thailand.…
In brief The UK’s fintech sector is due to get a major boost in reforms suggested as part of the Kalifa Review of UK Fintech (the Review). These reforms are part of a suite of legislative reviews launched by the UK government to enhance the competitiveness of the UK market in the…
The Malaysian Finance Act 2020 introduced, among others, several legislative changes to the Malaysian Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA) in respect of transfer pricing. Notably, a penalty provision was introduced. Effective 1 January 2021, taxpayers (where applicable) who fail to furnish transfer pricing documentation (TPD) upon the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board’s (MIRB’s) request will be subject to a fine ranging from RM 20,000 to RM 100,000 and / or imprisonment.
Consistent with this, the MIRB has also revised the Transfer Pricing Guidelines 2012 to reduce the time given to taxpayers to furnish their TPD from 30 days to 14 days.
On 7 January 2021 HM Treasury (HMT) published a consultation and call for evidence on the regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins. The consultation represents the first stage in HMT’s consultative process on the broader regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins. The consultation closes on 21 March 2021.
In this briefing we explore the policy background underlying the consultation, set out the key points of HMT’s proposals, and provide a comparison to corresponding provisions in the European Commission’s recent proposal on a regulatory framework for cryptoassets.
With the end of the Brexit transition period rapidly approaching, regulated firms must ensure that they are prepared to comply with their new obligations from 31 December 2020 when EU law ceases to have effect in the UK and the post-Brexit UK regulatory regime will instead apply. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA) will “onshore” into UK law existing EU legislation which has direct effect in the UK at the end of the transition period and preserve existing UK laws which implement EU obligations. As part of this onshoring process, some legislation and regulatory requirements have been amended so that they work in a UK-only context, which means that there will be some areas where the requirements on firms and other regulated persons have changed.
In brief In its first enforcement action for a breach of the Short Selling Regulation (SSR), the FCA has imposed a fine of £873,118 on Asia Research and Capital Management Ltd (ARCM). The fine relates to ARCM’s failure to notify the FCA and to disclose to the public its net…
In brief With the end of the Brexit transition period rapidly approaching, EEA firms wishing to operate in the UK via a branch or UK establishment from the start of 2021 will need to understand the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) authorisation requirements. To help those firms understand the regulator’s approach…