The guidelines create new obligations for financial, payment, and electronic money institutions that will impact cloud outsourcing and deployment of FinTech. By Fiona M. Maclean and Laura Holden On 25 February 2019, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a final report on its draft guidelines on outsourcing arrangements (Guidelines). The report followed the EBA’s publication … Continue Reading
Increased revenue, improved governance, and innovative financing in Serie A are drawing interest from overseas investors. By Giancarlo D’Ambrosio In the 1980s and 1990s, Italian football dominated the European football industry, achieving consistent success on the field and attracting a vast global audience. Italy’s top division, Serie A, is still among the best in the … Continue Reading
Increased competition among insurers and improved policy terms suggest the German W&I insurance market is becoming more favourable to investors. By Christian Thiele In real estate transactions, buyers and sellers naturally pursue conflicting interests when negotiating a sale and purchase agreement. On the one hand, sellers will strive to achieve the highest possible purchase price, … Continue Reading
Many auto advisers and automated discretionary investment managers risk poor outcomes for customers by falling short of FCA expectations. By Nicola Higgs and Brett Carr The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement outlining its expectations of firms providing automated online discretionary investment management (ODIM) services and retail investment auto advisers (auto advisors). The … Continue Reading
By Matthias Rubner, Denis Criton, Olivia Rauch-Ravise and Bénédicte Bremond President Macron recently unveiled employment and tax reforms to increase France’s appeal for deal makers. While France ranks highly as an investment destination for private equity firms, complex and inflexible French employment laws have been perceived as a hindrance — perpetuating the belief that France can … Continue Reading
By Isabella Porchia The Italian Securities Commission (CONSOB) has approved two handbooks, “Management of Inside Information” and “Investment Recommendations,” which offer guidelines under Market Abuse Regulation no. 596/2014 (MAR) and delegated acts. These publications have implications for a range of market participants, including companies with listed equity and debt securities on both Italian regulated markets … Continue Reading
By Tom Alabaster and Nick Benson Increasingly complex fund structures and documentation mean that analysing how potential portfolio acquisitions interact with the fund at the top of any deal structure is more important now than ever. Investor Excuse Rights for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) Compliance As investors focus on ESG compliance, requirements for … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green Broadly defined, conservation finance is the raising of capital to support the conservation of land, water and resources. This concept started with “debt for nature” swaps during the 1980s and 1990s whereby developing countries agreed to protect ecosystems using revenues freed up by sovereign debt relief (such deals usually … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green Commercial risks to businesses can no longer be neatly divided into financial and non-financial considerations. For example, there is growing recognition, particularly in the pensions sector, that a failure to take account for environmental and social governance (ESG) risks (in particular, climate change risks) can result in adverse financial … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green A new pensions directive was passed by the European Parliament on 24 November securing 512 votes (only 77 votes against and 40 abstentions), requiring EU workplace pension funds to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. This is considered a ‘landmark’ moment for responsible investment. The new pensions directive … Continue Reading
