In this issue, we feature the following articles:
- 2020 vision: what lies ahead… A rapidly changing world is causing regulators to update their strategies to address, amongst other issues, digital innovation, operational resilience and sustainable finance.
- The EU agenda for 2020: The three European Supervisory Authorities have issued a number of reports and papers – in addition to their work programmes for 2020 – indicating increased activity and areas of focus. The overarching message is that they intend to make full use of their new responsibilities and powers.
- Emerging crypto asset regulation: BigTech firms’ role in financial services, cross-border payment systems and the challenges of regulating crypto-assets are all hot topics – with regulators setting out approaches at a global, regional and national level.
- Operational Resilience “a shift in mindset”: Strengthening of financial institutions’ operational resilience remains a key priority for regulators. A raft of new guidelines and consultations were published in 2019, broadening the scope of regulatory scrutiny and pointing to increased supervisory activity.
- ESG Regulation: the race has begun: Political, social and investor pressure has led to the introduction of a swathe of new European rules, to be implemented in stages over the next three years, with more to come.