WMA Bulletin 19th October 2016 Dear WMA Member WMA Bulletin is a fortnightly snapshot delivering the latest news and current affairs from within the wealth management industry and WMA.
What's going on in our industry? HMRC draft guidance on failure to prevent the criminal facilitation of tax evasion On 13th October HMRC published draft Government guidance in respect of the proposed new corporate offence in respect of a failure to prevent the criminal facilitation of tax evasion. This is relevant to WMA members and more detailed information will be provided in the next WMA Update. WMA also had a call with the Association of British Insurers and the Investment Association in respect of financial advisers and their potential role as “associated persons” in any facilitation of tax evasion.
What is WMA up to? Brexit – Engaging the Department for Exiting the European Union Following meetings with HMT and the FCA, and the submission to Treasury of the WMA first paper on exit negotiations with the EU, we met the Department for Exiting the European Union (DEXEU) to discuss our position further on 18th October. We introduced the wealth management sector, its industrial context, its value to the UK economy, jobs and growth, and its interaction with EU legislation. We have also drafted new materials in support, derived from our original paper, and will have these ready for members in October.
Operations Committee On 12th October the Operations Committee discussed the operational impact of Blackrock ETFs moving to Euroclear Bank, the recently published HMRC Client Notification Regulations in respect of offshore accounts, and an update on the work of the account transfer and re-registration industry working group.
Offers to Members We have launched a 'offers for members' area on our website. This will be updated as exclusive new offers for our members become available, so we would encourage members to visit this page on a regular basis.
Industry Working Group on Transfers and Re-registrations A further meeting of the cross-industry working party, of which WMA are a member, took place on 10th October. The final version of the consultation paper is expected shortly following comments received from FCA.
Prospectus Regulation Prospectus Regulation trilogues between the European Parliament, Commission and Council will start later in October. We are actively engaging with all three institutions to advocate the WMA position in favour of the Qualified Investor approach to corporate bond issuance embraced by the Parliament. This will remove the â‚Ź100,000 bond denomination prospectus exemption, facilitate bond issuance in smaller denominations without a retail prospectus, and interpose the discretionary fund manager between the private investor and the bond investment decision, thus retaining investor protection while helping to open the corporate bond market to retail investors. Watch this space.
FCA ScamSmart WMA met with the FCA to discuss their ScamSmart campaign to identify where we can assist in promulgating key messages.
What's coming up in our industry? MiFID II / MiFIR With 26 of the 28 Regulatory Technical Standards adopted by the European Commission, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is now publishing consultations on additional technical guidelines aimed to promote common supervisory approaches and practices in the application of MiFID II and MiFIR. Several consultations are now open until 5th January 2017, such as the consultation on MiFID product governance guidelines for both manufacturers and distributors. These consultations will form the basis for guidelines to be published in the first half of 2017. A significant number of documents have recently been published on MIFID II by FCA and ESMA which can be found on their websites. Full details will be published in the next WMA Update together with our MIFID Project Status Report.
PRIIPs The arguments in the EU institutions continue about a possible delay to the PRIIPs dossier. The European Commission is expected to provide clarity soon on how it will respond to the Parliament’s decision to reject the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTSs) and to the Council’s recently stated support for a delay beyond 1st January 2017 to implementing the legislation. The Commission is expected to confirm a delay, but considers this a last resort and has spent time exploring other options.
What's coming up in WMA? WMA Annual Summit 9th October 2016 (08:30 to 19:30) The Grange Hotel Tower Bridge E1 8GP
With less than 4 weeks to go to the WMA Annual Summit 2016 is a unique opportunity to investigate and gain a comprehensive understanding of the key issues impacting the wealth management sector. With over 400 delegates from across the community and high calibre speakers such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes Bt OBE (who will be closing the event) - the annual summit is not to be missed. Book your place today Hotel Room Offer As a reminder, WMA have negotiated a special rate of £219 for hotel room bookings at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel which expires today - Wednesday 19th October. To book this deal, which includes a continental breakfast for WMA Summit attendees, please call: 0207 959 5000 and quote the reference: CTO157659.
WMA Briefing Events Various locations October to December 2016
WMA Briefings provide member firms with information on current and upcoming UK and EU Regulatory, Business and Operational issues that the WMA are currently working on for the community. They are also a great opportunity for firms to discuss with WMA any issues affecting them and to network with industry peers. These events are free to members and entitle attendees to 1.5 CPD hours. To book your place and for more information on any WMA Briefing, click on the relevant city below or click here for a list of all WMA events. Birmingham - Dublin – Glasgow – Jersey – Leeds - Liverpool – Newcastle For more information on many of the articles above visit the WMA Members Area of our website. If you have queries you can also contact the relevant WMA Staff Member. If you have forgotten, or do not have your WMA log in details, please contact us at enquiries@thewma.co.uk.
Website: www.thewma.co.uk Tel. (+ 44) 20 7448 7100
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