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On 4 August 2022, the Consumer Credit Oversight Board Task Force issued the first of a two-part consultation paper to the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) to obtain feedback from interested parties and members of the public on the proposed enactment of the CCA.
The Task Force has now issued the second public consultation paper. The public consultation period on the second paper will close on 15 May 2023.
The feedback from the consultation paper will be considered ahead of the anticipated CCA being passed into law by the end of 2023.

On 28 March 2023, the Minister of Finance introduced Budget 2023, aptly titled a “Made-in-Canada Plan.” A key trade-related theme resonates throughout the Budget: futureproofing the Canadian economy to respond to realignment of global trade patterns. Budget 2023 highlights new policy based initiatives and legislative amendments to address, such as: the global race to net-zero economies and “industries of tomorrow”; “friendshoring” economies to limit dependence on authoritarian regimes for critical goods; domestic supply chain weaknesses; forced labor in Canadian supply chains; and circumvention of economic sanctions.

On 24 March 2023, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier issued a press release requesting certain alternative investment fund managers, management companies of undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities and institutions for occupational retirement provision to participate in the data collection exercise relating to pre-contractual product disclosure information under Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector as amended and Regulation (EU) 2020/852 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment as amended.

In the latest episode of Baker McKenzie’s global financial institutions industry podcast, Jonathan Peddie and Amy Greer go through the findings relevant for financial institutions from Baker McKenzie’s report The Year Ahead: Global Disputes Forecast 2023. The episode examines the expected types of disputes and the external risks for disputes throughout the rest of the year.

On 20 March 2023, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter to benchmark administrators setting out the findings of its preliminary review into ESG benchmarks. The review covered: (i) the quality of disclosures made by a sample of UK benchmark administrators; and (ii) the robustness and reliability of ESG benchmarks themselves. The FCA’s key finding was that the overall quality of ESG-related disclosures made by benchmark administrators is currently “poor”.

The Financial Conduct Authority has recently reiterated that its new Consumer Duty represents a significant shift in its expectations of affected firms. Good customer outcomes must be at the heart of firms’ business strategy and objectives. In an article for Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence, Annabel Mackay and Kimberly Everitt provide an overview of the employment law implications of the Consumer Duty and lists next steps firms should take to ensure compliance.

The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority has introduced stricter rules for commercializing virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin or Ether, among consumers in Belgium. Among others, advertisements must contain the disclaimer “Virtual currencies, real risks. The only guarantee in crypto is risk.” In addition, mass advertising campaigns to more than 25,000 people must be notified to the regulator 10 days in advance.

The 2023 Guide to Doing Business in the United Arab Emirates is your simple but comprehensive guide to understanding and navigating the current investment climate and the most important laws regulating investments and commercial activities in the UAE.
The guide features various topics, including the history, geography and economy of the UAE, the legal and judicial systems, foreign investment models, real estate ownership and leasehold, and employment. It also provides a comparison of the available legal investment vehicles that may potentially be used to enter the UAE market.