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NewsRound-up The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed new rules to protect access to cash for businesses and consumers across the UK. The FCA plan would require banks and building societies to assess and address gaps, or potential gaps, in cash access provision to local communities.Among other measures, they would have to ensure they do not close cash facilities, including bank branches, until any additional cash services identified are available. Convenience retailers welcomed the proposals.PHOTO (COLOR) [Extracted from the article]

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is planning to consult on proposed changes to its regulation of commodity derivatives, with a focus on position limits. The FCA aims to strengthen the regime for commodity derivatives markets and improve supervision of exchanges in managing position limits. The FCA's director also mentioned the importance of exchanges having the right information about activity in over-the-counter markets to maintain orderly exchange-traded markets. This consultation could potentially lead to the UK diverging from the European regulatory regime. [Extracted from the article]

NEWSROUNDUP SUDDEN IMPACT: The market is beginning to see the first cases of consumers flexing their muscles under the new Consumer Duty regulations introduced in July by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Vehicle & Leasing Association (BVRLA) in its latest Leasing Outlook Report, that some of its members were seeing owners return cars because advertised WLTP ranges were too optimistic. "Leasing companies are starting to report pockets of incidents where private clients are flexing their new rights under the FCA's new Consumer Duty," it said.PHOTO (COLOR) [Extracted from the article]

The British regulator said on Monday the fine referred to lax anti-money laundering controls on high-risk clients between 2014 and 2018. ADM's UK arm fined £6.5m for money laundering failings The Financial Conduct Authority has fined the UK arm of ADM Investor Services £6.5 million for failing to remedy the regulator's concerns over the broker's anti-money laundering controls. [Extracted from the article]

In October, the mining firm was warned that it could be forced to shut down after a $27 million share sale appeared to have collapsed. (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Argo Blockchain Plc were temporarily suspended by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority after the beleaguered Bitcoin miner disclosed a November decline in revenue. [Extracted from the article]

The Financial Conduct Authority in a statement on Friday said the bank had fully cooperated with its probe and accepted the watchdog's findings that there had been repeated failings between 2012 and and 2017. (Bloomberg) -- Santander UK Plc was fined £107.7 million pounds ($132 million) by the UK financial watchdog over repeated anti-money laundering failures. Santander Fined £107 Million in UK Anti-Money Laundering Probe. [Extracted from the article]

FCA Fines BGC £5 Million for Market Abuse Surveillance Failures (Bloomberg) -- The Financial Conduct Authority has fined three entities of BGC Partners Inc. £4.7 million ($5.7 million) for failing to ensure they had appropriate systems and controls in place to effectively detect market abuse. Between July 2016 and January 2018, BGC Brokers LP, GFI Brokers Ltd. and GFI Securities Ltd. had deficient surveillance processes that meant there was an elevated risk that potentially suspicious trading would go undetected, the regulator said in a statement Thursday. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority have told lenders to act flexibly if their customers get into difficulties repaying their mortgages, as the UK looks to soften the impact of rising interest rates and a spluttering economy. Lenders also recommitted to enabling mortgage holders to switch to a new fixed rate mortgage, without a new affordability test, as long as consumers are up to date with their payments, according to a separate statement by the Treasury on Wednesday. [Extracted from the article]

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt met with mortgage lenders Wednesday to discuss the market and support measures. (Bloomberg) -- The Financial Conduct Authority has told lenders to act flexibly if their customers get into difficulties repaying their mortgages, as the regulator looks to soften the impact of rising interest rates and a spluttering economy. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The UK is finalizing plans for regulation of the crypto sector, moving ahead with plans to make Britain a hub for the industry as it grapples with the fallout from FTX's collapse. In April, Rishi Sunak spoke of making the UK a post-Brexit "crypto hub", announcing a plan for government oversight of stablecoins and said it would consult on regulating a wider set of cryptoasset activities. Currently the UK's Financial Conduct Authority only has an anti-money laundering registration process for crypto companies, although it has repeatedly warned investors about the risks of investing in crypto. [Extracted from the article]

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to phase out "greenwashing", with measures including investment product sustainability labels and restrictions on how terms such as "ESG", "green" and "sustainable" can be used. Greenwashing is a form of advertising or marketing spin where sustainability claims are deceptively used in order to convince consumers that an organisation's or firm's products, aims and policies are environmentally friendly. The FCA aims to introduce sustainable investment product labels to give consumers more confidence. [Extracted from the article]

Julius Baer Fined £18 Million by UK for Enabling Russian Finders-Fee Deals The UK branch of the Swiss firm was fined by the Financial Conduct Authority for a series of shortcomings including that it failed to conduct its business with integrity and failed to be open with the watchdog. (Bloomberg) -- Julius Baer International Ltd. was hit with an £18 million ($21.6 million) penalty by the UK financial watchdog for enabling "corrupt" finders-fee type arrangements. [Extracted from the article]

The French watchdog is not the only regulator scrutinizing the firm, with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority also investigating H2O for compliance breaches, according to the money manager's most recent accounts. (Bloomberg) -- H2O Asset Management risks a multimillion-euro fine from French market regulators who are poised to accuse the London-based fund of making unauthorized investments in securities owned by controversial German financier Lars Windhorst. [Extracted from the article]

Nikhil Rathi told a House of Lords committee on Tuesday that a sweeping rethink was needed following the market chaos caused by the mini-budget on Sept. 23. (Bloomberg) -- The head of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority called for a new regime to wrap up failing pension funds and said investment consultants should be regulated after turmoil in the industry caused havoc in financial markets. [Extracted from the article]

The FCA reviewed 50 firms and found that just 30% sufficiently explored customer's specific circumstances, meaning repayment agreements were often unaffordable and unsustainable, the regulator said. (Bloomberg) -- The UK's markets regulator said seven firms have agreed to pay a total of £12 million ($14 million) in compensation to thousands of customers after they failed to offer proper support to struggling borrowers during the pandemic. The unidentified companies will make voluntary payouts to nearly 60,000 customers, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement on Thursday. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The UK's financial regulator made clear it will no longer tolerate vague ESG fund designations as it moves to crack down on investment managers that can't back up their claims of targeting environmental, social and governance metrics. Fund managers operating in the UK will face a "package of new measures, including investment product sustainability labels and restrictions on how terms like "ESG", "green" or "sustainable" can be used", the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement on Tuesday. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- UK consumers could be at risk from the "predatory" behavior of Big Tech companies if the government continues to delay new laws intended to curb their power, according to a new lawmaker report. Silicon Valley firms could cause harm to consumers if they rapidly gain market share in the financial sector and are able to exploit this, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement. [Extracted from the article]

Officials at the Financial Conduct Authority contacted several buyout groups to try to find out how badly the turmoil had hit pension funds and other investors while also quizzing them about the effects on private markets, according to the report, which citing unidentified people brief on the calls. (Bloomberg) -- Britain's financial watchdog has been consulting private equity firms about the effects on the companies and their investors of rising rates and the bond market tumult triggered by the government's failed mini-budget, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. [Extracted from the article]

The article offers information on the review by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for crowdfunding in Great Britain. It states various categories of crowdfunding such as donation-based crowdfunding, loan-based crowdfunding, and investment-based crowdfunding. Also mentioned the standard of crowdfunding regulation in the country.

The article discusses decision of the Great Britain Court of Appeal in Financial Conduct Authority v Capital Alternatives Ltd and Asset Land Investment Plc v Financial Conduct Authority related to collective investment scheme and mentions provision of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority issued a draft notice to Link Fund Solutions Ltd. -- the entity that managed the Woodford fund -- warning of the penalty, according to a statement from Link Wednesday. Woodford froze the vehicle in mid-2019 because he couldn't meet clients' withdrawal requests, trapping £3.7 billion of investor funds. (Bloomberg) -- Link Administration Holdings Ltd. could be forced to pay an additional £50 million ($57 million) fine to the UK's financial watchdog over the administration of a collapsed fund of former star investor Neil Woodford. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Banco Santander SA hired a law firm to perform an internal investigation this summer into allegations that a group of bankers visited a strip club in London in February after a day of work, according to a person familiar with the matter. Santander hired Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a US law firm, for the investigation and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority was notified. [Extracted from the article]

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority published a warning to consumers about Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX, saying it isn't authorized by the regulator to offer financial services or products in the country. The regulator said on Friday on its website that Bahamas-based FTX "is targeting people in the UK", adding that investors are "unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong" since they won't be protected by the country's ombudsman service and compensation scheme. [Extracted from the article]

The regulator said on Friday on its website that Bahamas-based FTX "is targeting people in the UK", adding that investors are "unlikely to get your money back if things go wrong" since they won't be protected by the country's ombudsman service and compensation scheme. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority published a warning to consumers about Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX, saying it isn't authorized by the regulator to offer financial services or products in the country. [Extracted from the article]

EPayments Systems Ltd., a UK electronic payments company that's been under regulatory scrutiny for years over its anti-crime controls, is closing down. The Financial Conduct Authority forced ePayments to freeze operations in early 2020 and the closely held firm had been working to improve its anti-crime controls since then, filings show. The London-based firm, which deals in prepaid cards and electronic wallets and had almost £180 million ($211 million) in client funds at its peak, has begun the process of entering into an "orderly, solvent wind-down", according to a statement on its website. [Extracted from the article]

The estimated redress payment reflects the regulator's "current view" of Link's failings in managing the liquidity of Woodford's Equity Income Fund. (Bloomberg) -- The Financial Conduct Authority said the administrator of Neil Woodford's failed fund could face a penalty of up to £306 million ($358 million) over its collapse, a first indication of the likely findings from the UK regulator's longrunning probe. Woodford Administrator Faces Possible £306 Million Hit, UK Says. [Extracted from the article]

The London-based firm, which deals in prepaid cards and electronic wallets and had almost £180 million ($211 million) in client funds at its peak, has begun the process of entering into an "orderly, solvent wind-down", according to a statement on its website. The Financial Conduct Authority forced ePayments to freeze operations in early 2020 and the closely held firm had been working to improve its anti-crime controls since then, filings show. EPayments Systems Ltd., a UK electronic payments company that's been under regulatory scrutiny for years over its anti-crime controls, is closing down. [Extracted from the article]

Rees-Mogg plans giant London office sell-off: Minister proposes selling £1.5bn of "half-empty" civil service offices in the capital Rees-Mogg also hit back at recent news from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that staff had pushed back against plans to alter the regulator's hybrid working policy. Jacob Rees-Mogg has outlined plans to sell £1.5bn of central London government offices, arguing that the number of civil servants working from home has made many buildings redundant. [Extracted from the article]

The Financial Conduct Authority and Financial Reporting Council have published two reports on findings from a review of listed firms' climate disclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citi Fined £12.6 Million by UK for Trading Surveillance Failings Compliance teams at the US bank's broker-dealer couldn't effectively monitor trading activities for potential insider dealing and market manipulation, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement Friday. Citigroup Inc. was fined £12.6 million ($15 million) by the UK financial regulator for failing to properly implement market abuse controls. [Extracted from the article]

Liz Truss is planning a review of the UK's finance watchdogs if she becomes prime minister, potentially leading to the largest shakeup of the sector's regulatory infrastructure since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The foreign secretary would scrutinize the roles of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Payments Systems Regulator, said a campaign official, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Truss is the firm favorite to win the Conservative Party leadership contest and succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister next month. [Extracted from the article]