Regulation
Reporting Requisites
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its concluding multi-firm review report on the implementation of the internal capital adequacy and risk assessment (ICARA) process and reporting requirements under the Investment Firms Prudential Regime (IFPR), finding there are still improvements to be made. Read the full report and the key points in the press release.
Retail replacement
Replacing the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation, the UK Treasury has published its post-Brexit UK Retail Disclosure Framework – Draft SI and Policy Note. This will apply to all funds marketed to UK retail investors, including Ucits and recognised overseas funds. Ignites Europe reports.
Tech traction
The Asset Management Taskforce’s Technology Working Group (TWG) has released a UK Fund Tokenisation – A Blueprint for Implementation report, detailing the initial phase of integrating innovative technologies into UK fund management. Read the Financial Times (FT) overview on the initiative. And keeping on the theme of tokenisation, Funds Europe/Caceis have released research on the attitudes to it of European asset owners.
Sustainable Investment / ESG
SDR in the spotlight
The FCA has published its Sustainable Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels policy statement. The press release is here. Dates to be aware of include the anti-greenwashing rule coming into effect from the 31 May 2024; firms can use the investment labels from 31 July 2024 and the naming and marketing rules for asset managers come into effect from 2 December 2024.
The FCA has also published the findings from its supervisory work looking at how authorised fund managers (AFMs) comply with existing regulatory requirements and expectations on the design, delivery and disclosure of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and sustainable investment funds.
FBC is hosting a member meeting this coming Tuesday, 5 December 2023, with the FCA’s Christopher Davis, Head of Asset Management & Funds Market Interventions, and Senior Associate Fiona Law, to discuss the findings of its supervisory work and to take questions from our members.
FBC Corporate Members can register for this session in the Member Portal here.
Market News
Gauging governance
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published its latest Annual Review of Corporate Governance Reporting, finding improvements in the quality of reporting against the UK Corporate Governance Code but that more work is needed to meet stakeholder expectations. For those who prefer to listen in, there’s also a podcast of the findings.
Property plunge?
Investment Week takes a Deep Dive into the ‘bleak’ future (but not a ‘forgone conclusion’) for open-ended property funds, following more recent closures.
2024 Prospects in pictures
If you’re looking for something a little more light-hearted to read after all the papers and policies, the FT’s review of the stock images used on a selection of the myriad 2024 future-gazing reports recently launched is worth a look.
Several of the news outlet cited in this blog require registration or subscription. Also, FBC takes no responsibility for the accuracy or quality of the news in the links provided above, and nor are the views and comments representative of FBC or its members, unless expressly stated. Content stored on the FBC portal is freely accessible for FBC members.
