FinBrief

Identifying money laundering and terrorist financing involving virtual assets

Posted by Zoë Jensen on 15 September 2020

Yesterday, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a report on Virtual assets: red flag indicators of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Third-country banks authorized to operate cross-border in Spain will not be able to carry out deposit taking activities

Posted by Ricardo Plasencia on 2 September 2020

The Spanish draft bill implementing Directive (EU) 2019/878 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 (CRD V), published for public consultation by the Spanish Ministry of Economy in the beginning of August, includes a very relevant change in the regime for authorization of third country banks.

Proposed COVID-19 related amendments to Irish company law

Posted by Kate Curneen, Conor Houlihan, Liam Mills and Lorraine Hearne on 14 August 2020

The Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) (COVID-19) Act 2020 (the Act) was passed by the Dáil on 30 July 2020 and, once commenced, will make temporary amendments to, inter alia, the Companies Act 2014 (the Companies Act) in order to address certain operational challenges that COVID-19 has presented to Irish companies.  

DLA Piper is leading on two projects accepted into cohort 6 of the FCA regulatory sandbox

Posted by Martin Bartlam on 12 August 2020

We are advising on two projects accepted into cohort 6 of the FCA regulatory sandbox.

Taking security in Australia

Posted by Hugo Thistlewood, Shehan Canagasingham and Catherine Beahan on 11 August 2020

At a time in which many businesses are struggling to adapt to often drastic and sudden losses of revenue flowing from the COVID-19 pandemic and are forced to maximise access to existing facilities and to pursue new financing opportunities, it is not surprising that many financiers have an enhanced interest in the risk mitigation that may be afforded by taking robust security interests in support of corporate loans.

This briefing is a high-level guide for off-shore entities to taking and enforcing security in Australia. Our focus is upon security over Australian assets (other than real property) in the context of a commercial transaction. 

FCA publishes the findings of a review into relending by firms that offer high-cost credit

Posted by Michael McKee and Erna Soljanin on 7 August 2020

On 6 August 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a report setting out review findings of relending by firms in the high-cost lenders portfolio. The FCA also commissioned a study by PWC as an aid to understand repeat borrowing in the high-cost credit market.

EC proposing change of law to continue non-deliverable forwards

Posted by Mark Daley on 31 July 2020

Last week we saw the UK take action to prevent the onshored Benchmarks Regulation preventing UK regulated entities being able to refer to unauthorised spot FX rates, some of which (such as KRW/USD and TWD/USD) are widely used in non-deliverable forward contracts. Its solution was to delay the current transition period under the BMR until the end of 2025. The EC’s second proposed amendment from last Friday to amend the Benchmarks Regulation concerns the same issue, and proposes amending the BMR to permit the EC to designate certain spot FX rate benchmarks.

ISDA cautions the EU on upcoming cliff edge

Posted by Mark Daley on 31 July 2020

ISDA and some other European trade bodies have updated and re-issued their October 2018 paper, “The impact of Brexit on OTC derivatives” (not yet on its website).  Given the current impasse on a free trade agreement and the absence of completed equivalence declarations, the possibilities of “cliff-edge” disruption to the derivatives market are largely as they were back in 2018, save to the extent that the quantum of affected contracts may have been reduced (if this has indeed happened to a material extent).