Tag: FCA

Germany is paving the way for an informal transition period for the financial market in case of hard Brexit

Published on by Dr. Verena Ritter-Döring

On 20 November 2018, the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany published a Draft Act on Tax-Related Provisions concerning the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union.

The Draft Act proposes amendments to the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz) and the Insurance Supervision Act (Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz) and aims to avoid any harm to the functioning or stability of financial markets in case of a hard Brexit, i.e., the withdrawal of the UK from the EU by the end of March 2019 without an agreement.

BaFin will be allowed to grant a transition period until the end of 2020 for passporting financial services into Germany

The proposed amendment to the KWG will allow the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to permit firms based in the UK, which have been providing cross-border banking or financial services based on a European passport before Brexit, to continue to operate financial transactions in Germany until the end of 2020 at the latest. The proposal reads:

In the event that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland withdraws from the European Union at midnight on 29 March 2019 without having concluded an agreement on withdrawal from the European Union […] the Supervisory Authority may determine, in order to prevent disadvantages for the capacity of financial markets to function or for their stability, that the [passporting] provisions […] are to be applied accordingly, fully or partially, for a period of up to 21 months following the time of withdrawal, to companies based in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that on 29 March 2019 conduct banking business or provide financial services in Germany through a branch in Germany or by providing cross-border services [under the passporting regime]. [This] only applies to financial transactions that are completed after 29 March 2019 insofar as these transactions are closely connected to transactions that existed at the time of withdrawal.

As already mentioned here the FCA has been planning to take similar precautions for a hard Brexit. Now Germany is following.

The Draft Act, which needs to go through parliament before entering into force, authorises BaFin to extend the current passporting regime at its own discretion. BaFin may adopt a generally applicable rule for all institutions concerned or restrict it to individual supervisory areas that are highly affected. The transition period can also be shortened by BaFin. In addition, BaFin may attach conditions to its permission regime and abolish its measures at any time.

According to the currently proposed wording of the Draft Act, the transition period only applies to financial transactions concluded before Brexit. New financial transactions are only included if they are closely related to existing ones.

During the transition period, the companies concerned must prepare themselves to either apply for a respective license in Germany in order to to submit their German business to the supervisory regime for third countries, or to bring their German business to an end.

Transition period also proposed for the insurance sector

The Draft Act authorises BaFin to adopt a similar transition period for insurance undertakings in order to avoid disadvantages for policyholders and beneficiaries. This will enable insurance companies based in the UK to either transfer or terminate existing contracts within a reasonable timeframe, or meet the necessary prudential requirements for an orderly run-off of such contracts, where this is not possible.

Draft Act subject to European law

In case the EU comes up with a similar and uniform transition rule to protect the financial markets from any chaotic disruption due to Brexit, the EU rule will prevail.

FinTech Action Plan versus Global Financial Innovation Network

Published on by Dr. Verena Ritter-Döring

As outlined in Part 3 of this series of posts giving updates on the European FinTech regulation agenda, the envisaged harmonized regulatory framework for financial innovation within the Single Market will be based on a comprehensive understanding of the innovative landscape within the financial market. Building the knowledge takes time and effort. It took EBA three and a half months after laying out its FinTech Road Map to publish the first analyses which form part of the FinTech Knowledge Hub.

The Knowledge Hub aims at fostering a better understanding of the innovative landscape within the financial market through facilitating the exchange of information between European and national regulators, innovators and technology providers. On this basis, a regulatory framework can be built that will fit the market’s demands and will support new innovative business models.

In contrast to the European approach, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in London approaches the support for FinTechs in what seems to be at a first glance a more rapid way. Already in February 2018 the UK regulator encouraged the idea of a “global sandbox.” A regulatory sandbox allows the provider of innovative technology to offer his or her idea to a certain number of potential clients within the financial market for a limited period of time without the application of the full set of compliance, license and capital requirements. During this time the provider can assess if his or her innovative approach is worth the investment of full regulatory compliance. In the UK the possibility for FinTechs to approach the market via a regulatory sandbox has been successfully established in 2016.

Driven by the understanding that major emerging innovation trends (such as big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain based solutions) are increasingly global, rather than domestic, in nature, in February 2018 the FCA started an international dialogue with firms doing business, or looking to do business, in the UK or overseas, regulators, consumers, or any other interested party to assess what a global sandbox could look like. The FCA received 50 responses to their call in February with an overall positive feedback. Key themes to emerge in the feedback were:

Regulatory co-operation: Respondents were supportive of the idea of providing a setting for regulators to collaborate on common challenges or policy questions that firms face in different jurisdictions.

Speed to market: Respondents saw as one of the main advantages for the global sandbox that it could be reducing the time it takes to bring ideas to new international markets.

Governance: Feedback highlighted the importance of the project being transparent and fair to those potential firms wishing to apply for cross-border testing.

Emerging technologies/business models: A wide range of topics and subject matters were highlighted in the feedback, particularly those with notable cross-border application. Among the issues highlighted were artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technology, data protection, regulation of securities and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML).

Building on the FCA’s proposal to create a global sandbox, on 7 August 2018 the FCA has, in collaboration with 11 financial regulators and related organisations, announced the creation of the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN). The FCA is the only European regulator within GFIN. The other members are the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF, Canada), the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, USA), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC, Canada) and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

The idea of GFIN is to:

  1. act as a network of regulators to collaborate, share experience of innovation in respective markets, including emerging technologies and business models, and communicate to firms;
  2. provide a forum for joint policy work and discussions; and
  3. provide firms with an environment in which to trial cross-border solutions (business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B)).

With the announcement of the creation of GFIN, the FCA also published a consultation document laying out a mission statement for GFIN and the idea of a global sandbox which is still based on the FCA’s concept thereof published in February. The consultation is addressed to innovative financial services firms, financial services regulators, technology companies, technology providers, trade bodies, accelerators, academia, consumer groups and other stakeholders keen on being part of the development of GFIN and will be running until 14 October 2018.

Although the knowledge centered approach of the EU for a regulatory framework for FinTechs within the Single Market surely is a reasonable approach, an international approach could have the advantage of providing speedier solutions and create a competitive advantage. With Brexit on the horizon, the FCA’s approach seems sensible and certainly a good move to keep their financial market up to date.