Financial Services Regulation

Short Reads - Recently, the Dutch bill for the implementation of BRRD II (i.e. Directive (EU) 2014/59 establishing a framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms, as amended by Directive (EU) 2019/879) in the Netherlands was submitted to Dutch Parliament, where it is currently under debate.

Short Reads - Turbobeleggers nemen veel risico’s en verliezen gemiddeld veel geld. De AFM vindt dat particuliere beleggers onvoldoende beschermd worden tegen de risico’s van turbo’s. De verkoop van turbo’s aan deze beleggers wordt daarom aan banden gelegd. Met ingang van 1 oktober geldt een hefboombeperking, een verplichte risicowaarschuwing en een verbod op handelsbonussen. Daarmee wil de Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) particuliere beleggers beter beschermen tegen de risico’s van turbo’s.

Short Reads - On 20 July 2021, the European Commission presented a new legislative package containing significant changes to the applicable anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing regime. In this short read, Soeradj Ramsanjhal and Maciek Bednarski elaborate on the proposed amendments.

Short Reads - Publicatie voorstel voor een Europese Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

Short Reads - Non-Fungible Tokens, widely known as NFTs, have recently gained much attention due to their role in the transfer of digital artworks. The market for NFTs grew from USD 13.5m in the first six months of 2020 to USD 2.5bn in the first half of 2021 and is still growing at an expansive rate. Notwithstanding their increasing popularity in the world of art, NFTs have many potential applications. In this blog Maciek Bednarski, Annemijn Witkam and Roderik Vrolijk explain what NFTs are and describe some of the legal challenges they will bring about.

Articles - Beleggingsfondsen kunnen beleggers beter informeren over duurzaamheid. De informatieverschaffing van fondsen over duurzaamheidsrisico’s en duurzaamheidskenmerken is nog vaak te algemeen, daardoor krijgen beleggers te weinig inzicht in waar ze in investeren. Dat is een van de conclusies van de Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) in een verkennend onderzoek naar de toepassing van de Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

Articles - On 6 July 2021 the European Commission adopted the much-awaited decision C(2021) 4858 final (the “Decision”) which provides, in its annex, very useful answers to the questions raised by the European Supervisory Authorities (i.e. the EBA, ESMA and EIOPA) in their letter dated 7 January 2021 on priority issues relating to the application of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR” or “Level 1 requirements”).

Short Reads - Today’s publication of the Sustainable Finance Package will impact large corporates, as well as financial institutions, including asset managers, insurers and others. New rules on sustainability reporting, taxonomy, product governance and more are taking shape. This year and 2022 will require specific action from our clients to comply with the EC’s ambitious plans to green the EU economy. Read more below from Stibbe’s ESG team of specialists.