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PIMFA NEWS BULLETIN | 3 July 2020 Welcome to your Weekly PIMFA Bulletin Grab a coffee and take 10 minutes to read this week's highlights and key issues affecting you and your firm
WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER Dear << Test First Name >>,
We hope you and your loved ones are safe and well during this difficult time. Due to the virus, PIMFA is continuing to work remotely, and we remain committed to representing our members and providing as much useful information as possible.
In addition to the latest industry news, Bulletin contains information on the impact of the virus and other key issues PIMFA are working on for our members. If there is anything we
can help you with, please contact us at enquiries@pimfa.co.uk.
Best wishes The Team at PIMFA
COVID-19 & What's happening in PIMFA
PIMFA and LGBT Great Allyship campaign
Last week PIMFA, alongside eight of our members, became an official partner to LGBT Great, a global membership organisation that specialises in developing LGBT+ diversity and inclusion within the investment and savings industry. PIMFA is one of 100 organisation to partner with LGBT Great as part of their Allyship campaign and we will be doing more work with them in the future. This week we were delighted that Matt Cameron, global managing director of LGBT Great was able to join us alongside Susheel Sharma, partnership manager at The Brokerage, for Webinar Wednesday to discuss diversity and inclusion in the Financial Series industry and in particular within wealth management and financial advice.
If members want to know more about either organisation, more information is available here.
Brexit negotiations
Brexit: UK – Switzerland
After this week’s round of negotiations
This week Chancellor Rishi Sunak
between the UK and EU, big differences
announced the start of the talks between
remain unresolved between the two sides.
the UK and Switzerland on “an ambitious,
Michel Barnier, EU’s Chief Negotiator,
outcomes-based mutual recognition
said that “after four days of talks serious
agreement”. The agreement will bring
divergences remain”. David Frost, UK’s
together government, regulators and
Chief Negotiator echoed his comments,
industry to create a new and better
saying that the talks “have been
framework for cross-border financial
comprehensive and useful but they have
services across insurance, banking, asset
also underlined the significant differences
management and capital markets. The
that still remain between us on a number
Chancellor said that “no one’s ever done
of important issues.” According to Barnier,
anything as ambitious as this, on this kind
the EU has engaged constructively and
of scale.” The Swiss-UK proposal aims to
will continue to insist on parallel progress
create a new template for trade in finance.
in all areas. “We need an equivalent
Sunak also pledged to reopen access,
engagement by the United Kingdom”,
which the EU had shut, for UK traders to
Barnier added. Both sides insist they
the Swiss stock market, as soon as the
remain committed to finding a deal on the
UK leaves the transition period.
future relationship between the EU. The talks continue in London next week.
Chancellor Merkel on Brexit negotiations
New FSCS Working Party: Join today & have your say
Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, told the Bundestag that both the UK and EU
PIMFA is seeking to work up alternative
should press for a good solution to the
funding solutions for the FSCS. In order to
negotiations on the future relationship, but
do so, we require input from firms over the
also said that Germany and the rest of the
coming months to ensure that any
EU “must and should prepare for the
alternative solution does not
event that an agreement is not reached
disproportionately impact any member
after all.” On 1 July Germany took over the
firm in a negative way.
rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, which will allow it to play an important
We are still looking for participants in our
role in coordinating the position of the
FSCS Working Group from across the
EU27 Member States and maintain their
membership. Please contact Simon
unity during the final stages of
Harrington should this be of interest to
negotiations. German officials believe the
you.
last realistic moment for both sides to reach an agreement is late October, as PIMFA Website: COVID-19 Information
Visit our members only COVID-19 web area for the latest information on the virus, to access webinar recordings, download briefing notes, and view the
any later date would not leave sufficient time to the European Parliament and EU governments to ratify the deal.
Consultations launched on pensions value for money and default charge cap
latest global response tracker.
The FCA and DWP respectively have launched consultations looking at value for
Click here if you have forgotten your
money in pension schemes (and pathway
password or to create a user account.
solutions) as well as a call for evidence on the default charge cap for workplace
The public COVID-19 page can be
pension schemes which is currently set at
accessed here.
0.75%. PIMFA is minded at this point to respond to both.
Webinar Wednesday: Compliance under COVID-19
We would welcome comments from firms to inform our approach. Please contact Simon Harrington with any
At next week's Webinar Wednesday (8
comments/queries.
July, 3pm) join NICE Actimize and PIMFA for this FREE webinar as we share best practices to help your firm navigate these
PIMFA Podcasts
complex challenges. We’ll provide Don't forget to access the latest freely
guidance on: • The current regulatory environment and
available PIMFA podcasts on topics such as Wellbeing, Cyber Resilience & SM&CR
enforcement practices • How to extend compliance processes
etc, all in our online learning library.
and technology to remote workforces and new communication modalities to comply with key global regulations • How automated solutions can help your firm ensure compliance (for example with SM&CR’s requirements around maintaining certification and avoiding conflicts) even in remote environments. Please click here to book your free place
Brexit Financial Services Update
The Chancellor has provided a useful update on the UK’s approach to financial services as we leave the EU regulatory regime.
The key points include: •
The UK’s approach to the prudential regime
•
The next stage of the Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review will look
at how financial services policy and regulation are made in the UK, including the role of Parliament, the Treasury (HMT) and the financial services regulators, and how stakeholders are involved in the process. HMT will consult in the second half of the year. •
The UK will not be implementing the EU’s new settlement discipline regime, set out in
the Central Securities Depositories Regulation, which is due to apply in February 2021. UK firms should instead continue to apply the existing industry-led framework. Any future legislative changes will be developed through dialogue with the financial services industry, and sufficient time will be provided to prepare for the implementation of any new future regime •
Additionally, the UK will not be taking action to incorporate into UK law the reporting
obligation of the EU’s Securities Financing Transactions Regulation for non-financial counterparties (NFCs), which is due to apply in the EU from January 2021. Systemically important NFC trading activity will be captured sufficiently through the other reporting obligations that are due to apply to financial counterparties. HMT plans to set out further detail on upcoming legislation in due course, which will include: •
Amendments to the Benchmarks Regulation to ensure continued market access to third
country benchmarks until end-2025. HMT will publish a policy statement in July 2020; •
Amendments to the Market Abuse Regulation to confirm and clarify that both issuers
and those acting on their behalf must maintain their own insider lists and to change the timeline issuers have to comply with when disclosing certain transaction undertaken by their senior managers (‘Persons Discharging Managerial Responsibilities’); •
Legislation to improve the functioning of the PRIIPs regime in the UK and address
potential risks of consumer harm in response to industry and regulator feedback. HMT will publish a policy statement July 2020; and •
Legislation to complete the implementation of the European Market Infrastructure
Regulation (REFIT) to improve trade repository data and ensure that smaller firms are able to access clearing on fair and reasonable terms.
Barnier rejects UK proposals for financial services cooperation
EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier rejected the UK’s proposals for financial services cooperation post-Brexit which would include a legally enforceable regulatory cooperation framework. Barnier described the proposal as unacceptable to Member States or the European Parliament. He suggested instead that the UK and EU could set up a voluntary framework for dialogue among regulators and supervisors of the kind that already exists between the EU and third countries. Barnier further accused the UK of attempting to negotiate the terms of the EU’s process for withdrawing equivalence decisions and turn what is the EU’s unilateral decision into co-managed one. He repeated a longstanding Commission stance that equivalence decisions remain unilateral. Although both sides have been expected to conclude technical assessments of each other’s rulebooks by the end of June, Barnier said the UK has answered questionnaires on just four out of 28 areas covered by equivalence.
The UK has not responded yet to the EU Chief Negotiator’s rejection of the UK proposals but Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister John Glenn referred to the equivalence issue when he spoke before the House of Lords EU Services Sub-Committee on 2 July. Glenn said the UK had already made its assessment of the EU’s equivalence and will publicize the conclusions when the EU is ready to reveal its own. As for providing replies to 4 out of 28 EU questionnaires, he said that the UK received over thousand pages of detailed questionnaires to assess the equivalence of British rules, including 240 pages which were sent as late as the end of May. The UK is working on providing detailed answers and “will be able to conclude that in the next couple of weeks.” He also added that equivalence is a technical process for assessing financial services rules as they stand at the time of assessment and the UK and EU start from nearly identical regulations.
LATEST PIMFA BLOGS & PRESS RELEASES
•
PIMFA welcomes appointment of Nikhil Rathi as Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority
•
PIMFA welcomes proposed permanent FCA marketing ban for mini-bonds
•
PIMFA welcomes FCA Chairman Charles Randell’s comments regarding the FSCS Levy
•
Regulator working on how to avoid ‘lumpy bills’ for firms in future, FCA Executive Director of Supervision, Megan Butler, tells PIMFA’s Virtual Fest
•
Financial services has a chance to help consumers in the aftermath of COVID-19, Baroness Morgan tells PIMFA’s Virtual Fest
•
Blog: ESG and Covid 19
EVENTS & LEARNING
The inaugural PIMFA Virtual Fest took place on 3 and 4 June 2020. If you missed it, you can still catch up with all the sessions using our on-demand service for 2 months. Simply register your place to gain access. The content is FREE to members, (paid for tickets are also available for non-members). Catch up with sessions from 30+ high profile experts such as Mark Carney, Megan Butler, John Glen and Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Nicky Morgan) on topical areas which you have identified to us as key priorities for the profession. ALL SESSIONS ARE AVAILABLE ON-DEMAND. BOOK NOW
VIRTUAL FEST
PIMFA WEBINAR: LIFE BEYOND LOCKDOWN How women can get what they really want As lockdown starts to ease, many female executives have been reflecting on what their new ‘normal‘ will look like. For some, a return to the office will be a welcome relief; for others, there is a real danger of burnout, feelings of guilt or even thoughts about leaving a job role they have worked so hard to get. In this FREE interactive one-hour session with women’s leadership coach, Caroline Holt, and PIMFA CEO, Liz Field we: •
explore the challenges and opportunities facing you and other women in wealth management and financial advice in these unprecedented times
•
get clarity about what you want your new ‘normal’ to look like – professionally and personally
•
understand what typically gets in the way of professional women realising their career aspirations and how to clear away these block
You can click here to register your place.
14 July 2020
PIMFA IN THE PRESS
Professional Adviser: Chris Davies; The FCA Business Plan 2020/21 Professional Adviser: FCA permanently bans marketing of mini-bonds FT Adviser: What the advice industry wants from new FCA boss Rathi Money Marketing: How the battle on continent charging was lost Wealth Adviser: PIMFA welcomes appointment of new FCA Chief Executive
LATEST PIMFA CONSULTATION RESPONSES
PIMFAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest consultation response is to the European Commission regarding their Review of MiFID II and MiFIR.
Read this and all of our other PIMFA consultation papers here.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR INDUSTRY
DB pension transfers - update from the FCA
Following on from the FCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent publications on DB transfers, they will be contacting all firms who hold relevant permissions to request further data. The aim is to allow them to build a more detailed picture of the entire DB transfer advice market.
They are planning to issue the request next week and firms will be asked to submit their response by 31 July 2020. If you have any questions relating to this please do not hesitate to contact us.
FCA extends SM&CR deadline for solo-regulated firms
The FCA has extended the deadline for solo-regulated firms to have undertaken the first assessment of the fitness and propriety of their Certified Persons from 9 December 2020 until 31 March 2021.
It says this will help give firms impacted by challenges arising from the coronavirus pandemic more time to make the changes they need to implement. The FCA is also consulting on extending the date the Conduct Rules come into force, the deadline for submission of information about Directory Persons to the Register, and for assessing Certified Persons as fit and proper (which has been agreed by the Treasury)
The regulator pointed out that senior managers should ensure Conduct Rules training is effective and that impacted staff are aware of (and understand) the Conduct Rules that will specifically apply to them as they do their jobs.
The FCA indicated firms should continue with their work programme for implementing SM&CR. Firms who are able to certify staff earlier than March 2021 should do so, and should not wait to remove staff who are not fit and proper from certified roles.
The regulator will still publish the details of certified employees of solo firms starting from 9 December 2020 on the Financial Services Register.
More information is available here.
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