26 February 2021, the long-awaited MiFID II “Quick” Fix Directive was published in the OJ. The Quick Fix is in response to the CV-19 epidemic and associated disruptions, it is not intended to replace the ongoing full MiFID II review. First proposed as part of the 24 July 2020 Capital Markets Recovery Package, the Quick […]

For those lucky few with time to spend participating in regulatory consultations, there are another two potentially material ones to be aware of. 12 February 2021, the EC launched two parallel, but linked[1]  consultations on proposed amendments to the Financial Collateral Directive (FCD) and the Settlement Finality Directive (SFD). The FCD was adopted on 6 […]

Episode 1 is now live! We are pleased to announce that the first episode in our ongoing podcast series ‘DRS Exchange’ – is now live. The series overall explore ssome of the legal and regulatory issues affecting the financial markets – from changes in regulation to recent case law to new technologies and ways of […]

17 February 2021. Delegated Regulations further amending the EMIR Margin RTS and amending the three Clearing Obligation RTS have today been published in the OJ. They will both enter into force on the following day- 18 February 2021. Amendments to the Margin RTS Extension of equity options derogation until 4 Jan 2024 Extension of intragroup […]

15 February 2021, HM Treasury launched a consultation titled “Supporting the wind-down of critical benchmarks”.  On 21 October 2020, the government introduced the Financial Services Bill to Parliament. This Bill includes amendments to the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR), which provide the FCA with new and enhanced powers to oversee the orderly wind-down of critical benchmarks, such […]

Although confirming an earlier Audit Court judgement in respect of jurisdiction, the recent publication of a 17 November 2020 decision in respect of Morgan Stanley by the Italian Supreme Court (Court of Cassation), serves as a reminder that the status of derivatives under Italian law is still far from settled. This note briefly reviews the […]

ABC Electrification v Ltd v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 1645 Introduction One of the most important tasks of any commercial contract is to answer the question “how can it all go wrong?”  In other words, what do we mean when we talk about the ‘default’ of one or both of the parties?  […]

The IBOR Fallbacks Protocol is legally effective as of today. Following a permanent IBOR cessation, or an FCA determination that a LIBOR has “become” non-representative, fallbacks in the form of adjusted risk-free rates will apply to in-scope derivatives contracts. Clearly, the Protocol only applies to those who have adhered- 11902 to date. Purely in terms […]

As expected, ISDA has yesterday opened the 2020 UK (PRA Rule) Jurisdictional Module Protocol (UK Module) for adherence. The new UK Module joins its stablemates as part of the ISDA Resolution Jurisdictional Modular Protocol, replacing the previous 3 May 2016 UK (PRA Rule) Module with a shiny, new Brexit-ed version. At the expiry of the […]