WMA Bulletin 5th April 2017 WMA Bulletin is a fortnightly snapshot delivering the latest news and current affairs from within the wealth management industry and WMA.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR INDUSTRY? Brexit – Article 50 triggered, the EU27 response On 29th March, the UK triggered Article 50 thereby officially starting the procedure to exit the European Union. Responses from across the EU27 Member States were relatively mild and the Council published a short acknowledging statement. In early comments, German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised the EU position of prioritising the UK’s obligations in the negotiations and that Germany will seek to minimise the fallout of negotiations for individuals.
Other EU27 leaders stressed that they are calm, are ready for the negotiations and will seek to play a constructive role. The European Parliament is set to adopt a Brexit resolution in the week commencing 3rd April and the Council will finalise its negotiating guidelines at an extraordinary Summit on 29th April. The European Commission will use the guidelines to draft negotiating directives, allowing Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier to begin negotiating on behalf of the EU during May.
Latest news is that face-to-face EU/UK negotiations will commence on 22nd May, allowing approximately 17 months to reach a set of proposals to put to 38 different Parliaments plus governmental authorities in all EU member states for agreement by 29th March 2019.
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PRIIPs Level 2 in final stages The European Commission published the revised Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) for PRIIPs on 8th March, giving the European Parliament and Council three months to object to the RTS. The European Parliament’s ECON Committee on 27th March decided to fast-track the approval of the RTS by already signalling their non-objection. The European Parliament’s plenary is expected to sign off on the approval in the week commencing 3rd April and the Council is already discussing non-objection in COREPER. Following the official non-objection from both sides, the RTS are likely to be published in a matter of weeks and the ESAs will already be able to start producing guidelines.
Consumer Financial Services Action Plan launched On 23rd March, the European Commission published its long-awaited Consumer Financial Services Action Plan (previously the Retail Financial Services Action Plan). Rather than this being a major set of initiatives in the same vein as the Capital Markets Union, it is a much more targeted set of measures. Of the 12 actions, only two are legislative in the short term with the rest being further studies and reviews. One of the interesting actions is the facilitation of cross-border use of electronic identification. The Commission is conducting a study to assess the current regulatory and supervisory framework and best practices for remote identification and customer due diligence across the EU.
WHAT'S WMA WORKING ON? WMA Operations Committee The WMA Operations Committee met on 30th March 2017 and discussed a number of transaction reporting issues following review of FCA’s recent feedback. There was also a discussion about the CSD Regulation and in particular the requirement in Article 38(5) to offer
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clients the choice of segregated or omnibus accounts on which the WMA are preparing Q&A for member firms. The Committee also discussed the recent publication of the Dormant Asset Commission’s report making recommendations on extending the scheme to a broader range of asset classes.
WMA Transaction Reporting Working Group Today (5th April) WMA is hosting a meeting of members to work through the remaining outstanding issues in respect of the ESMA Transaction Reporting Guidelines. This will help formulate a transaction reporting supplement which will be shown to FCA for feedback before being published in the members’ area of the WMA website.
Latest New Member WMA would like to welcome it's latest new member: MAIA Asset Management
WHAT'S COMING UP IN WMA? Edinburgh CPD Seminar: MSCI WMA Private Investor Indices – 25.04.2017 MSCI will provide an update on the new MSCI WMA Private Investor Index Series. They will explain the underlying components of the indices, provide an update on the recent enhancements and answer any questions from member firms. Book your place here
WMA Regional Briefings Series April 2017 WMA Briefings are a series of country-wide events designed to keep members updated on Regulatory, Business and Operational issues in the UK and EU. Book your place here: Jersey – 20.04.17 Newcastle – 24.04.17 Edinburgh – 25.04.17 Glasgow – 25.04.17 Norwich – 26.04.17
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New Sponsorship & Hosting Opportunities for 1Q 2018 The WMA has just released its 1Q 2018 Sponsorship Programme, offering a comprehensive listing of its events, and providing an early bird opportunity for members to lock-in Lead Sponsorships for hosting any of our sell-out events such as our Financial Crime Conference. To find out more about these events and how your firm can get involved, please email Cheryl Chickowski.
WMA Compliance Conference 29th June 2017
Herbert Smith Freehills, London
09:00 to 17:00 - 5 hrs of CPD
Tickets: £225 + VAT (Members), £450 + VAT (Non Members)
Book Now
This full day conference will bring together a high-level audience to engage with the leading industry experts and discuss key issues shaping the compliance in the investment management and financial advice world. Topics and speakers will include:
Nick Miller, the new FCA Head of Investment Management Supervision “Current issues in Wealth Management Regulation”
Financial Ombudsman Service "Current trends within our sector and feedback on complaints handling"
Senior Managers Regime and its interaction with Employment law
Review of Joint Money Laundering Steering Group’s new Guidance
MiFID II update
PRIIPs update
The final agenda will be published at the end of April.
WMA GDPR Conference 2017 In light of the new GDPR regulations coming into force in May 2018, the WMA is hosting a fullday workshop to help firms meet their data protection obligations. This conference will be a deep dive one-day event that will specifically focus on the likely impact GDPR will have on business critical processes and provide a framework to keep your organization GDPR compliant. To find out more and secure your place, book now
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