Alex's Info

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

Priscum August Newsletter

. eee

DON’T PANIC ABOUT MIFFID II BOOK YOURSELF ONTO OUR SEMINAR.

IN THIS ISSUE

Welcome to the August Edition of the Priscum Newsletter

By Alex Wrightson

Welcome to the Priscum August Newsletter in todays issue. We have booked our Xmas meal for the 7th of December 2017 at the Saxon Mill for details of the festive menu and location see the next page. I have already had a lot of interest please send me your meal choices as soon as possible to confirm your place. There have been a lot of Questions recently about Miffid 2 I would say to you all don’t Panic Mr Mainwaring. Priscum have it in hand are are doing a lot of work looking into all the regulation we are going to look in the regulation in detail at our seminar in November so please book yourself a place to save the stress. Also disgused in our seminar will be the General Data Protection Regulation. We have started saving lots of updates on most tings you need to know I know on a few of Roys visits he has been handing out Miffid and Data Protection summarys of what you need to do. I have saved them all into a folder on

the website that you should be able to access. Speaking of Websites, The relatives of the Wrightions have been re designing it for us so if you would like to have a look click on the picture left, the plan eventualy is to have documents available to download from it. But for now if you want to download documents keep doing it from the Microsoft Share point site.

A Date for your Diary
It’s the Most Wonderful

Meal of the Year

Senior Managers and

Certification Regime

MiFID II
General Data Protection Regulation
Monopoly Locations by London Bus
Priscum Update
Pensions Update
Naughty People
FCA Update

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

Priscum Update

A Date for your Diary for November 13th 2017

As 2017 is turning into a busy year Keith and I have decided to hold another seminar it will be at the Old Coventrians Rugby Football Club In Coventry on Monday November the 13th START TIME 10.30 AM prompt.

By then we should have more of an update on Mifid 2. It is a week after the PFS conference at the NEC so hopefully we will get lots of information at that to pass on. We will also be discussing the usual Suspects Complaints Handling, Data Protection, Anti-Money Laundering. See bellow for other topics to be anounced.

It’s the Most Wonderful Meal of the Year. December the 7th 2017 @ 12:30

I have booked the Saxon Mill again for our Xmas meal this year. I have booked it for 12:00 for Dinner at 12:30. The address is: Saxon Mill, Coventry Road, Guys Cliffe, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV34 5YN

It is a nice venue in an Old Mill and they have already released the Festive menu.

Starter

Main

Pudding

Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasted Turkey Breast

Gingerbread Crème Brûlée

Thyme-roasted Portobello Mushrooms

Roasted Salmon Wellington

Christmas Pudding

Severn & Wye Smoked Salmon

Root Vegetable & Mixed Nut Roast

Raspberries & Frozen Natural yogurt

Duck Liver & Port Parfait

Slow-cooked smoky Beef Short Rib

Warm Belgian Chocolate Brownie

Wagyu Burger

Belgian Chocolate Ganache Torte

9oz 28-day-aged Rib-eye Steak

British Cheese Board

Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR)

The Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR) applying to all FCA regulated firms has now been published within a consultation document. Perhaps the biggest change to this will see the removal of the Approved Persons Regime (APR) and the withdrawal of investment advisers (registered as CF30) from the FCA register. So what exactly is the SM&CR, why is it now being implemented to all firms and what are the proposals? We try to answer some of these questions below.

What is the SM&CR?

Senior managers within a firm have a crucial role in demonstrating that they are accountable and responsible for their part in delivering effective governance. This includes taking personal responsibility and being accountable for their decisions and exercising rigorous oversight of the business areas they lead. FCA want all firms to develop a ‘culture of accountability’ at all levels and for senior individuals to be fully accountable for defined business activities and material risks. This should, over time, result in improved culture and governance in the industry, and help to reduce consumer harm. It should also promote public confidence that firms have the right people in the right roles, working in the interests of consumers and markets. The aim of the SM&CR is to reduce

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

harm to consumers and strengthen market integrity by creating a system that enables firms and regulators to hold people to account. As part of this, the regime aims to: • encourage staff to take personal responsibility • make sure firms and staff clearly understand for their actions and can demonstrate who does what

• improve conduct at all levels Firms can find more details on the FCA website. In September the FCA will hold a series of events around the UK for firms to gain insight into the proposed policy changes and provide feedback. You can sign up now on our website.

Click here to read the full report

MIFID 2 from 3 January 2018

Up until the last month or so it was generally thought - and we believe intended - that firms NOT passporting into the EU would not be affected by Mifid 2 However - the FCA in producing its rules - probably as a result of preparing for Brexit - is having to put all the eu legislation which is the vast part of its rules - into UK legislation.

Therefore, it could not have UK rules that differed whether or not firms were also passporting into the EU. HENCE All the Mifid 2 legislation - AND the Senior Managers Regime which previously only applied to banks and insurance companies is now DEFINATELY going to apply to all UK FCA registered firms. IT WILL ASLO APPLY to consumer credit firms - so they will have a vast shock hitting them!

If you add to that GDPR General Data Protection Legislation form May 2018 This is certainly the biggest change to hit the financial advice world since legislation first started for those of you who remember FIMBRA NASDIM and the PIA. It will have more impact and more likely fines and changes than TCF and BRAW combined.

MiFID II & How AI can help advisers with Mifid II

Contingency planning required if MiFID II permissions are not in place by 3 January 2018 From 3 January 2018, firms will only be able to carry on activities that require authorisation under MiFID II if they have the required regulatory permissions. We expect any firms who need to change their permissions and have not yet submitted a complete application to do so without further delay. The importance of doing so is outlined in our second statement. Firms who do not have the required permissions by 3 January 2018 will need to have contingency plans in place. Our first statement outlined that firms that conduct MiFID II activities without the necessary permissions may face civil, regulatory and/or criminal consequences.

GDPR will make 75% of marketing data obsolete

We shall be looking at this in our seminar but for now here is a brief update. The business operations of all companies operating in the UK and Europe are set for major disruption when the General Data Protection Regulation becomes enforceable in May 2018. New directives regarding the way data is collected, processed and disposed will leave a huge dent in existing marketing data. A study by W8 Data found that only 25% of customer data in current marketing databases meet GDPR requirements. This is leaving organisations scrambling to issue ‘re-permission’ campaigns in order to comply with new rules. This sudden realisation means that valuable brand building campaigns have been deprioritised, leaving many companies suffering.

 One in four Brits want to pay commission for advice 3

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

Pensions Update

 Confusion prevails over cold calling ban; govt 'to  consult again'
 Pensions growing battleground in divorce cases
 Rival providers row over pension transfer rights 
 Pension transfer delays blamed on IFAs
 Chris Pitt: Retirement planning no longer a ‘one-

and-done’ decision

Mortgage Update

London Monopoly Board Locations by London Bus Real life Monopoly? While we haven’t seen a

giant silver top hat, an old boot or a Scottie dog on the streets of London, are foreign investors playing a real-life game of Monopoly in our capital city? A number of trophy buildings on London’s skyline are now either owned by foreign investors or have recently been acquired by them in the last 12-months. This includes the Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie, and the Cheesegrater. The most recent to change ownership is the Walkie Talkie in Fenchurch Street, which was purchased by Lee Kum Kee, a Hong Kong food company for £1.3bn. This is a record price for a British property! The buyer, best known for its

oyster sauce, is not planning to move to the site, but is having a punt on the London property market. What is going on? Brexit has created uncertainty in the property market, particularly for many in the City’s financial sector. It was only a year ago that many property funds had to suspend trading as investors rushed for the exit. The seller of the Walkie Talkie is Land

Securities Group, the UK’s largest quoted property REIT which, sold the property on a net rental yield of 3.4%. It intends to return cash to shareholders as a result of the sale. Interestingly, British Land, the other major quoted UK property REIT, has said it also intends to return cash to shareholders from recent property disposals. However, it continues to sell into a strong investment market, as opportunities to purchase at attractive returns are more limited. When foreign investors are buying trophy property assets and UK listed property companies are selling and returning cash to their shareholders, it is telling you something. Foreigners still see London trophy property as an attractive investment, yet our leading companies can’t see the value!

 Lenders defiant over 'unfair' mortgage rates
 FCA launches UK mortgage survey
 Help to Buy review triggers fears of early end to

scheme

 House price growth dips to 4-year low
 ‘Online estate agents want brokers with similar

technology ambitions’ - Marketwatch

 Fifth of UK estate agents on brink of insolvency
 How real is the 'fake news' threat to the

mortgage industry?

 Brokers forced to hike fees for portfolio landlords
 Accounting watchdog hands PwC largest ever fine
 FCA in talks to overhaul mortgage applications
 Gambling Commission warns house raffles may

be illegal

 Plummeting Sterling driving expat BTL

investors to UK property

Clients can't make pension decisions at age 55 Clients flag concerns about tax-free cash

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

FCA Regulation Roundup

Non-public outcomes – Enforcement Our Threshold Conditions Team (TCT) takes enforcement action against firms regulated by us, which fail to comply with basic regulatory requirements (such as the requirements to submit FCA returns and to pay FCA fees). Such action often results in the FCA cancelling the statuses of those firms, which means that they cease to be able to conduct regulated business and may have to cease trading altogether. In the year to 30 June 2017, the TCT cancelled the authorisations of 207 firms for these (and other) failings. We have provided accessible information to firms about the importance of complying with these requirements, and has notified firms that failure to comply may result in firms losing their authorisation and therefore their ability to conduct regulated business.

Non-public outcomes

Following referral to the TCT, many firms comply late, but are still able to retain their authorisation. Other firms voluntarily give up their FCA authorisation. In the year to 30 June 2017, the TCT accepted 1,387 referrals of firms who had failed to satisfy the minimum standards. 824 of those firms still managed to retain their authorisation by submitting their outstanding returns or paying their overdue fees. 122 firms applied to cancel their FCA authorisation altogether.

Where firms are repeatedly referred to Enforcement for failing to comply with basic requirements, Enforcement will recommend that their permissions are cancelled even if the firms comply late.

Financial Advisers

Market Data Processor

The Market Data Processor (MDP) entity portal is now available for entities that have to obtain samples of transaction reports from the FCA for data reconciliation purposes. Users can find more information about the entity portal on our website, including how to register and make use of the test transaction report data extract facility.

Legal Entity Identifier

We have recently updated the legal entity identifier (LEI) section on our website to provide further clarification on who has the obligation to renew the LEI under the transaction reporting regime.

Live and Local - register for September and October events

Registration is open for the retail investment events & regulated general insurance firms taking place in September and October, including assessing suitability workshops, Q&A roundtable and one-to-one surgeries to be held in various locations across the UK. Further details and registration link are available on our Live & Local webpage. We will announce additional dates and locations for events in November and December in next month's Regulation Round-up. In addition, we are planning two presentations to take place at our London office in the autumn - one aimed at retail insurers and the other at Lloyd's and London Market firms. They will focus on one or more key issues within the market as well as our business priorities. Event and registration details of the two presentations will be available in September.

General insurance

CP: Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD)

We have published our second consultation paper setting out our proposals for implementing the Insurance

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

Distribution Directive in the UK. Our third consultation paper, which we will publish in the next few months, will set out our remaining proposals for implementing the IDD.

Mortgage Lenders

Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) FCA hires 'Arnie' to bid hasta la vista to PPI Our deadline for making a complaint about payment protection insurance (PPI) will be two years from today - 29 August 2019. We are launching our campaign today, which will prompt consumers to check if they have had PPI and take a decision on whether to complain or not. There is more detail about the campaign and you can see our new TV advert – which will be aired tonight - on our website. Please feel free to share this link. You can also read more in our press release

Banks, Building societies, Brokers

PS: CASS 7A

We have published our policy statement confirming our final rules and guidance on changes to the Client Assets sourcebook. Our policy statement also contains a summary of the feedback we received on our proposed changes in consultation paper 17/2. The changes come into force on 26 July and complete our review of the client assets distribution regime, the CASS rules that apply following firm failure.

CP: Information about current account services

We are consulting on proposals to require current account providers to publish information on service and performance, for example how long it takes to open an account and the number of major operational or security incidents. We announced this work in our response to the Competition and Markets Authority. It forms part of a wider programme of work to review the retail banking sector business models and evaluate the impact of changes on competition and conduct. The consultation closes on 25 September.

CP: EU Benchmarks Regulation

Our consultation on the implementation of the EU Benchmark Regulation (CP17/17) is closing on 22 August. Please send us your comments on our proposals for Handbook changes. You can find out further information on EU Benchmarks Regulation on our website.

Life Insurance

Review of property funds and liquidity risks

We have published the findings of our review into fund suspensions and pricing adjustments following the vote to leave the EU. Our review shows that property funds should take external events into account as part of their planning to help deal with potential liquidity risks. We are setting out our findings to help property funds respond to any future events which may impact on their liquidity.

PS: Regulatory reporting - retirement income data

We have published our final rules requiring providers of pensions, annuities and income drawdown to report two new data items to us. These are retirement income flow data return and retirement income stock data and withdrawals flow data return. Firms should consider the changes we have made to the rules and guidance in our handbook and should put processes in place to make sure they can meet the new reporting requirements.

Consumer Credit

Consumer credit - agenda and priorities

We have published a package of work setting out our agenda and priorities for consumer credit. This includes a feedback statement on our review of high-cost credit. This is a consultation on creditworthiness and affordability checks, and information on our motor finance work.

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

There is clear evidence that FCA regulation of high-cost short-term credit (payday lending), including the price cap, has led to substantial benefits to consumers. We have decided not to change the price cap, and will review it again in three years' time. We have significant doubts about whether unarranged overdrafts can continue in their current form. Unarranged overdraft charges are high, complex and repeatedly incurred by a small minority of consumers. We have also identified further concerns in the rent-to-own, home-collected credit and catalogue credit markets, as well as a general issue with long-term indebtedness across high cost credit markets.

We are now developing specific, tailored solutions to resolve these concerns in ways that will work for consumers, and will publish proposals for action in Spring 2018. Most firms understand our current rules and guidance on creditworthiness and affordability, but there is also evidence of some uncertainty. We are proposing a number of changes to clarify our expectations. Our update on motor finance sets out the issues that we are considering and the steps we are taking to develop our understanding of the market. We are consulting on the creditworthiness measures for the next three months, and look forward to hearing your views.

CP: Staff incentives

We have published a Consultation Paper on how consumer credit firms should manage risks related to how they pay and manage the performance of their staff. We expect all firms to consider the way they pay and incentivise staff, and ensure they manage any potential harm to consumers. We are consulting on a package of rules and guidance to help consumer credit firms identify and manage their risks effectively. The consultation runs until 4 October 2017. You can read and respond to this paper through our website.

The Consultation Paper includes findings from thematic work carried out with 98 consumer credit firms. We found that out of this sample, some firms had inadequate systems and controls to manage the risks of staff incentives. Some firms had not recognised the potential harm to customers that their incentive schemes could pose. For instance, the particular features of bonus calculations or where retailers paid bonuses on the sales of retail goods rather than the associated finance product.

The proposed guidance includes examples of different kinds of incentives, how they affect risks to customers, and how firms can control those risks. We also provide examples of good practice for firms to help them ensure they have robust approaches to risk management.

Investment Managers

CP: Client Money

We have published our consultation paper on minor amendments to the Client Assets sourcebook (CASS). Some investment firms are experiencing difficulty depositing client money at banks in accordance with CASS requirements. Our proposals are intended to address the potential harm to consumers resulting from this.

Asset Management Market Study update

We have provided an update on recent developments and next steps on our proposed remedies concerning measures to drive competitive pressure on asset managers and proposals to improve the effectiveness of intermediaries. We are also proposing that the SM&CR be extended to cover asset managers. The consultation on our proposals explains how the SM&CR will change how we regulate individuals working as asset managers.

Fintech & Innovative Businesses

Security requirements for providers of account information or payment initiation services now available

The Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) aims to harmonise and update regulations for firms. It aims to improve consumer security and fraud prevention and support innovation and competition by creating a level

PRISCUM AUGUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 8

playing field for providers of account information or payment initiation services. PSD2 also newly regulates certain payment services and makes requirements on them relating to the security of those services. Details of the security requirements for firms seeking authorisation or registration under PSD2 are now available on the FCA website. The new web pages outline what payment services are affected and what firms need to do to apply for authorisation or registration.

News & publications

New ScamSmart website

Our ScamSmart campaign hub has moved onto the main FCA website. This has brought all scam related content together, improving the user experience. We’ve also made significant improvements to the Warning List, updated the branding and re-written all website copy into engaging consumer-friendly language. The ScamSmart website gives consumers tips on how to spot and protect themselves from investment fraud, and hosts the FCA Warning List. The Warning List is an online tool that warns users of the risks associated with an investment and helps them to check a list of firms the FCA knows are operating without its authorisation. The ScamSmart url (www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart) remains the same and all existing links will re-direct automatically. If you currently use the ScamSmart widget on your website it will update automatically. We have a range of ScamSmart resources to use and share including leaflets, posters, videos and infographics. Access our media library.

Speech: The future of LIBOR

Andrew Bailey delivered a speech at Bloomberg where he examined important questions about the sustainability of the LIBOR benchmarks and the way that LIBOR is used now and in the future. He also talked about the work that we, and our domestic and international partners, have been doing to reform the interest rate benchmark landscape.

Speech: Overview of competition at the FCA

Mary Starks spoke at Credit Suisse on the FCA’s competition objective – why we do this work, why it is important, and what we do to advance our competition objective. This includes market studies, competition law enforcement, and pro-competition regulation.

GC: OPBAS

The Government announced in March 2017 that a new Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) would be created within the FCA. We have published our consultation on our approach to OPBAS. This outlines the proposed approach to supervision and text for a specialist Sourcebook for professional body supervisors.

OP: Dark pools

Naughty people!