PIMFA Weekly News Bulletin - 22 February 2021

View this email in your browser

PIMFA WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN | 22 February 2021 Dear Nigel,

Welcome to the PIMFA Bulletin; grab a coffee and take 10 minutes to read this week's latest industry news impacting you and your firm.

PIMFA VIRTUAL FEST V2 9-10 March 2021 FREE to attend for PIMFA Members & Associates REGISTER TODAY: Click here to book your place

The Latest on Brexit

EU’s preliminary approval of UK data protection rules On 19 February the European Commission launched the process towards the adoption of two adequacy decisions for transfers of personal data to the UK – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Law Enforcement Directive (LED). The draft decisions are the beginning of the process towards their adoption, which involves obtaining an opinion from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the green light from representatives of the EU Member States. Once this procedure has been completed, the Commission could proceed to adopt the two adequacy decisions.

The Commission has carefully assessed the UK's law and practice on personal data protection and concluded that the UK ensures an essentially equivalent level of protection to the one guaranteed under both the GDPR and for the first time, under the LED. The EU’s preliminary approval of UK’s data protection standards means that EU data can continue to flow across the Channel. Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice, said: “A flow of secure data between the EU and the UK is crucial to maintain close trade ties and cooperate effectively in the fight against crime”. He added: “EU citizens’ fundamental right to data protection must never be compromised when personal data travel across the Channel. The adequacy decisions, once adopted, would ensure just that.”

New role for the former UK Chief Negotiator David Frost, UK Chief Negotiator during the negotiations with the EU on the terms of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, will join the Prime Minister’s Cabinet and become a minister of state in charge of forging a new relationship with the EU.

In his new role Frost will seek to maximise post-Brexit trading opportunities, will represent the UK on the UK-EU trade deal partnership council, co-chair the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, replacing Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, and lead central coordination of UK’s international trade policy, working closely with Trade Secretary Liz Truss.

Amsterdam – Europe’s largest share trading centre

Amsterdam used to be the sixth largest exchange in Europe but it has just overtaken London as Europe’s largest share trading centre. Average daily trading in Amsterdam went up €2.6bn (£2.3bn) to €9.2bn in January, whereas in London, average daily trading went from €17.5bn down to €8.6bn last month. The EU rules stipulate that EU shares traded in euros can only be traded in the EU or in exchanges in those third countries that have been granted equivalence status.

According to the chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, Steven Maijoor, Euro-denominated share trading is not expected to return to London: “I would suspect that this is going to be a permanent change in terms of movement of trading from the UK to the EU,” he said.

Global Regulatory Outlook According to the Duff & Phelps annual survey, Global Regulatory Outlook, New York (56%) has surged ahead of London (34%) as the world’s preeminent financial centre. But 30% of those surveyed said the UK has the most favourable regulatory regime for financial services, ahead of New York (26%) and Singapore (18%). Almost half (47%) say investor demand will drive environmental responsibility in the financial sector, against 25% for regulation.

Duff & Phelps surveyed 240 senior executives in financial services across banking, asset management, hedge funds, private equity, broker dealers and a range of other business.

They come from the US, UK, Asia and a number of other jurisdictions. Seven out of ten work for organizations with operations in more than one country.

APPG on Financial Markets and Services

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Financial Markets and Services has published a report which sets out the need for Parliament to have a greater role in defining the regulatory framework for financial services following the UK’s departure from the EU. The APPG’s report, which followed a wide consultation with stakeholders across the financial services industry, focuses on Parliament’s role in shaping the political parameters for financial services regulation. The report recognises that further powers for regulators

will be necessary, as they are best placed to take on functions previously held at EU level, but that this increase in powers will require a more robust system of checks and balances.

HM Treasury Call for Evidence: Overseas Framework

The Treasury has published a Call for Evidence on the Overseas Framework in order to understand how the current framework works for firms, how the regimes within it are used and if the framework is attracting activity into the UK while also supporting stability and the UK’s position as a global financial centre.

The call for evidence covers the Overseas Person Exclusion, Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation Title VIII, Recognised Overseas Investment Exchanges, Financial Promotion Order and Overseas Long Term Insurers. PIMFA will submit a response. We would greatly appreciate if firms with an interest in contributing to this call for evidence could contact Maja Erceg.

Index Weight Changes to the MSCI PIMFA Index Series

In response to quarterly survey submissions from PIMFA member firms regarding the asset allocation to Objective and Equity Risk based model portfolios, the PIMFA Indices Committee has made changes to the index weights of both MSCI PIMFA index series.

Further details can be found here: - MSCI PIMFA Private Investor Index Series index weight changes.

- MSCI PIMFA Equity Risk Index Series index weight changes.

If you have any queries, please email indices@pimfa.co.uk.

Latest PIMFA Press Releases

Latest PIMFA Press Coverage

PIMFA launches second Virtual Fest with Treasury’s John Glen unveiled as a keynote

Professional Adviser: Tim Sargisson - PIMFA and the value of advice

speaker Daily Mail: Investors could face higher bills PIMFA calls on Government to include economic harm in Online Safety Bill as

after compensation bill for victims of misselling and collapsed firms tops £1bn

members report rise in increasingly sophisticated online scams

Lovemoney.com: Clone firm investment scams: how they work, how to spot them and

PIMFA delighted to welcome Investec’s Ciaran

stay safe

Whelan and Openwork’s Mike Morrow to Board

CityAM: Screenshot: Should online harms laws take on the hackers and pirates?

PIMFA calls on Industry, Government and Regulators to work together to create a future advice market that works for all

YourMoney.com: Law changes needed to tackle ‘sophisticated’ online scams

Little regulators can do to stop fraud without action from Government

FTAdviser: PIMFA members warn on rise in online scams

Upcoming PIMFA Committees

W/C 22nd February: Tuesday 23rd February: Regulatory Forum – contact Giulia Lupato Wednesday 24th February: Talent, Inclusion & Diversity Strategic Committee – contact Maja Erceg Thursday 25th February: Operations Forum – contact Mike Cahill

W/C 1st March: Monday 1st March: Advice Group – contact Alexandra Roberts

PIMFA's Consultation Responses & Member-Only Guides

PIMFA’s latest Consultation Response is to HM Treasury on the Future Regulatory Framework Review. Read this and all other PIMFA consultation papers here.

PIMFA also regularly produces member only guides on key industry topics such as remuneration, vulnerable clients, cyber resilience, pension transfer advice etc.

Members can log in and access these guides at https://www.pimfa.co.uk/members/commspublications/guides-for-members/

EVENTS & LEARNING

PIMFA Events PIMFA VIRTUAL FEST V2 9-10 March 2021 FREE to attend for PIMFA Members & Associates For more info and to book your place, please click here.

PIMFA Webinar “GOOD CULTURE DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN! – WHAT PIMFA MEMBERS NEED TO WORK ON IN 2021” 25 February 2021 Fees: FREE

If Culture is what people do when no one is looking, then 2021 might prove to be as challenging to your Conduct and Culture risk frameworks as the last nine months have been. Continued Conduct risks related to employees working from a home and a regulator finding the identification of Conduct risk in firms ‘unacceptably weak’ means that Wealth firms can’t let Conduct and Culture drop down the agenda.

In this FREE 60 minute webinar with Julie Pardy, Director of Regulation & Market Engagement, Worksmart and Maurice McDonald Head of International Banking & Wealth Management, Bovill you’ll learn more about: •

Why the FCA will continue to prioritise Conduct & Culture in 2021

•

What good Culture looks like

•

How the FCA expects Wealth Managers to monitor, measure and audit Conduct & Culture

•

Approaches to identifying conduct risks in your firm

•

The key components of an effective culture programme

For more info and to book your place, please click here.

View all other upcoming PIMFA Events and Learning here.

FCA Review: Implementing Technology Change

The FCA has published a multi-firm review entitled 'Implementing Technology Change'. This review sets out the findings from the FCA’s cross-Financial Services change management review which looked at how financial firms manage technology change, the impact of change failures and the practices utilised within the industry to help reduce the impact of incidents resulting from change management.

Find Out More about PIMFA ...

Bulletin is just one of the many insights and publications PIMFA produces on the latest industry news and issues - most of which are accessible to PIMFA members only.

If you have a query on how to become a member firm, the work we undertake or anything in Bulletin, please contact us at info@pimfa.co.uk.

BECOME A MEMBER Find out more about becoming a PIMFA member here.

Read our membership brochure or chat to our team at membership@pimfa.co.uk.

www.pimfa.co.uk Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) 22 City Road, Finsbury Square, London EC1Y 2AJ (registered in England No 2991400) Unsubscribe | Manage Profile | Terms and Conditions

This email was sent to NigelRS@pimfa.co.uk why did I get this?

unsubscribe from this list

update subscription preferences

PIMFA · 22 City Road · Finsbury Square · London, EC1Y 2AJ · United Kingdom