Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 4 2024

Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 4 | 2024 25 QUICK LINKS AIFMD BENCHMARK REGULATION CBDC COSTS & CHARGES CRYPTOASSETS CYBERSECURITY DIVERSITY & INCLUSION FINTECH IFD/IFR LIBOR TRANSITION MIFID II/MIFIR OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE PRIIPS RETAIL INVESTMENT STRATEGY SETTLEMENT SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG UCITS ASIA LUXEMBOURG NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM • Building on the significant progress already made to become a world-class data-led regulator by automating more of its analytics tools to help it detect and respond to consumer harms faster and working with firms on the safe deployment of artificial intelligence. The FCA says the planned programme of work builds on the progress made over recent years to become a more outcomes-based, assertive and data-led regulator. The FCA also states that the introduction of the Consumer Duty marked a major shift by setting higher and clearer standards of consumer protection and has already led to firms making changes to savings rates and fees. The FCA states that it is making better use of data to spot and stop harm faster and is being tougher on the firms that could cause harm. It removed over 10,000 potentially misleading adverts in 2023 and sent out 2,243 warnings about unauthorised firms and individuals. It also more than doubled the number of firm permissions cancelled, compared to the previous year, for failing to meet its minimum standards. The FCA states that it has adapted its rules and improved its processes to ensure the UK remains an attractive place to invest. This includes proposing the most far-reaching package of reforms to the listing regime for decades to encourage a greater range of companies to list in the UK and compete on the global stage. Link to Business Plan 2024/25 here Link to FCA’s Three Year Strategy here Link to Key Achievements in 2023 here Dear CEO Letter: Our Asset Management & Alternatives Supervisory Strategy – InterimUpdate On 1 March 2024, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter updating previous letters issued in August 2022 and February 2023. The FCA states that its supervisory approach will continue to focus on assessing the effectiveness of firms’ governance arrangements in assigning senior accountability for the risks identified below, oversight by governance bodies, and ensuring appropriate management information about those risks support good decision making. Under the heading “Setting and testing higher standards” the FCA states that it will continue to work for consumers to make sure that governance bodies of its portfolio firms are looking after investors’ interests particularly in periods of market disruption, stressed market conditions and through consolidations occurring in industry. The letter goes on the detail the FCA’s work on: • Assessments of Value and Consumer Duty; • Change management; and • Valuation practices for private assets. Under the heading “Reducing and preventing serious harm” the FCA states that it will be building on work done over the last year to strengthen horizon scanning for emerging risk, making sure firms in its portfolio meet threshold conditions, closely monitoring those firms with significant market impact, that present idiosyncratic risks to the system or are identified as outliers. The FCA goes on to discuss its work on market integrity and disruption. Under the heading “Supporting Innovation” the FCA discusses its ongoing work with the Technology Working Group and with Project Guardian, a collaboration with regulators across the world to explore fund and asset tokenisation use cases. Finally, under the heading “Promoting competition and positive change” the FCA discusses its policy priorities including its work to implement the Smarter Regulatory Framework. Link to Dear CEO Letter here