Regulatory overview

The 20 March 2023, the new T2/T2S consolidated platform was successfully launched. The platform consolidates both technical and functional aspects of TARGET2 and TARGET2-Securities (T2S).

The 23 March 2023, the European regulation on market infrastructures (trading platforms) and post-trade infrastructures (settlement/delivery systems) came into force. It makes it possible to authorise infrastructures that integrate both market and post-trade activities for the first time. The goal is for new infrastructures based on this new technology not to...

After the Council, which voted last December 2022 to amend the European Commission's (EC) proposal, the Parliament formalised its vision of the future CSDR Refit.

On 31 January 2023, the European Parliament published a communication to merge information relevant for capital markets, financial services and sustainable finance.

On 20 March 2023, Regulation (EU) 2023/606 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2023 amending the initial ELTIF Regulation (EU) 2015/760 has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The 20 December 2022, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, clarified the legal provisions on reporting and data management under the amended EMIR rules and providing practical guidance on their implementation.

On 30 January 2023, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament (ECON) published an opinion on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937.

On 25 November 2021, the European Commission published a proposal to amend the AIFM and UCITS Directives.

On December 8, 2022, the European Commission published a package of proposals in connection with its commitment to simplify EU listing rules.

On March 27 , 2023, the ESMA, the EU’s Financial Markets Regulator and Supervisor has published its Final Report on Guidelines on MiFID II product governance guidelines.

The African Exchanges Linkage Project has launched an e-platform “the AELP Trading Link”, enabling seamless cross-border securities trading among seven African stock exchanges representing 2,000 companies with roughly $1.5 trillion market capitalization. The AELP Link Trading Platform incorporates stock market integration, an order routing system, and market...

The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) regulation and directive were published in the Official Journal of the EU on 27 December 2022 and came into force on 17 January 2023. The DORA regulation comes into effect directly on 17 January 2025 and the DORA directive must be transposed into national law by EU member states by the same date.

On 16 February 2023, the AMF proposed that the European Commission introduce in European law minimum environmental standards that financial products should meet to be categorised “Article 9” or “Article 8” under SFDR.

The AMF published on 23 March 2023, an overview of SFDR classifications introduced by SFDR regulation in the French fund market. This assessment covers 10,600 French collective investment schemes, representing assets under management of more than €1.9 trillion at end-2021. As this assessment is based on data at end-2021, it does not consider the possible...

The Central Bank of Ireland has published in November 2022 an information note titled “Sustainable finance and the asset management sector: Disclosures, investment processes and risk management”.

The industry VAT working group prepared a Discussion Paper on the VAT treatment of depositary services and global custody services which was shared with Revenue in advance of a meeting on this topic.

The interest rate benchmark LIBOR is being wound down. Publication of the remaining US dollar LIBOR settings ceases immediately after 30 June 2023. Most of LIBOR have ended, and their settings ceased or are permanently unrepresentative.

On 20 March 2023, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter addressed to benchmark administrators in which it highlighted widespread failings in ESG disclosure and warned of enforcement action if its expectations are not met in future.

On 15 February 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rule changes to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer transactions in securities from two business days after the trade date (T+2) to one (T+1). The final rule is designed to benefit investors and reduce the credit, market, and liquidity risks in securities transactions...

On 8 March 2023, the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) confirmed that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) cannot be securities.

The FAQ aims at providing further clarity on aspects of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial sector (SFDR). The FAQ applies to Financial Market Participants (AIFMs, UCITS Management companies, …) and to Financial Products (AIF and UCITS).

After the acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Group by Euronext in 2021, which included the multi-asset-class clearing house Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia, Euronext created an European clearing house. As a result, CC&G will now be called Euronext Clearing.