Archive: December 2021

Following its call for views on AI and the IP framework in early 2021, the UK Government has released another consultation on AI and IP rights. Led by the IPO, the consultation is available here, and is open until 7 January 2022.

Since open banking was first implemented in the UK through the PSD2 and the Open Banking Standard in 2018, jurisdictions around the world have adopted their own approaches, and the concept has gained momentum internationally.

On 5 November 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published an update about the governance of Open Banking. The update sets out progress in strengthening corporate governance at the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) following an independent investigation and the status of the government’s consideration on the future governance of Open Banking.

On 9 November 2021, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its final report on draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the information that crowdfunding service providers offering individual portfolio management of loans shall provide to investors in relation to the method to assess credit risk, and on each individual portfolio. The draft RTS also specify the policies, procedures and organisational arrangements that crowdfunding service providers shall have in place in relation to any contingency fund they may offer to investors. These draft RTS are the first of two mandates assigned to the EBA with a view to contributing to a sound prudential and disclosure framework for crowdfunding service providers.

On 10 November 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report on technical standards (RTS and ITS) under the European crowdfunding service providers for business Regulation. The draft technical standards have been amended and improved based on the feedback received during an earlier consultation which was published in February 2021 where ESMA had received 32 responses. This report covers all 12 of ESMA’s mandates in this area which are as follows:

On 22 November 2021, the European Central Bank’s Governing Council approved a new oversight framework for electronic payments.

On 22 November 2021, Victoria Cleland, Executive Director for Banking at the Bank of England (BoE) gave a speech at the Central Banks Payments Conference.

On 29 November 2021, the FCA published Policy Statement 21/19 ‘Changes to the SCA-RTS and to the guidance in ‘Payment Services and Electronic Money – Our Approach’ and the Perimeter Guidance Manual’ (PS21/19).

On 30 November 2021, the European Payments Council published the second version of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-To-Pay (SRTP) Scheme Rulebook, which is based on the comments received in response to a three-month public consultation on the proposed change requests to the first version of SRPT scheme rulebook.

On 9 November 2021, HM Treasury published its response to the feedback received to its earlier consultation on the launch of the second phase of the Future Regulatory Framework (FRF) Review, which considers how the regulatory framework for financial services needs to adapt to be fit for the future. The response makes a series of proposals to deliver the intended outcomes of the FRF Review, building on the strengths of the UK’s existing framework. The deadline for comments on the proposals is 9 February 2022.