Firms regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are expected to take on a stewardship role in delivering sustainable economic growth, which will benefit UK consumers and businesses in all regions. Both the UK government’s Transition Plan Taskforce and the FCA have recently shared content on putting together a blueprint to ensure this

Crossing out Plan A and writing Plan B on a blackboard.

Read time: 1 minute 20 seconds

Earlier this month the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (the ‘PRA’) wrote to all UK companies undertaking cross-border activities between the UK and the EU under passporting arrangements, requesting a summary of their Brexit contingency plans.

The letter continues the regulator’s focus on ensuring firms have robust measures and business strategies in place to respond to market turbulence. 
Continue Reading BREXIT- Hand-over your contingency plans…

Blog - reasonableRead time: 4 minutes

The provision of indemnities, particularly those provided to corporate trustees and agents, is an important feature of an effectively functioning structured finance market.  It enables the parties involved to allocate the risks of unforeseen expenditure to those parties with the ultimate economic interest in the transaction and allows trustees and agents to keep their fees at a reasonable level.

Whilst the need for indemnities is generally accepted, the terms on which they are provided can be an area of robust negotiation.
Continue Reading Indemnities – beware the consequences of “reasonableness”

ESMA for blogRead time: less than 1 minute

Credit rating agencies (‘CRAs’) that operate in the EU will be interested to hear that on 30 March 2017, ESMA published an update to its Questions & Answers (Q&A) on the ‘CRA’ Regulation (Regulation 1060/2009, as amended in 2011 and 2013).  The CRA Regulation requires CRAs within the EU to be registered and to comply with requirements relating to their independence and avoidance of conflicts of interest, their methodologies, their disclosures and their approach to sovereign debt.  It also contains requirements on parties involved in securitisations in respect of the rating of structured finance instruments.
Continue Reading ESMA clarifies timelines for publication of credit ratings and rating outlooks

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This week saw the High Court clash between the swap provider, UBS, and the recently appointed replacement note trustee (Glas Trust Corporation) on the embattled Fairhold Securitisation.  The dispute at hand centres on whether or not the ad hoc noteholders group’s fees and expenses (comprising the fees of its financial adviser and lawyers) can be recovered from the waterfall, effectively subordinating payments to the swap providers and noteholders.  The financial adviser’s fees were reported to be in excess of £3.75m.
Continue Reading Fairhold Securitisation – can noteholders claim advisers’ fees through the trustee?

The UK referendum has caused uncertainty in the financial services industry, but what does it mean for alternative capital providers? And could it create some business opportunities?

Alternative capital providers are unregulated, or at least non-bank, financial institutions. Alternative finance embraces lenders from the smallest participants in peer-to-peer platforms to multibillion dollar global alternative lending

The green bond market is currently one of the fastest-growing fixed-income segments, with issuances tripling between 2013 and 2014. There is a sense of excitement and optimism surrounding the market – initially led and developed by the multilateral development banks (MDBs) and international financial institutions (IFIs), but now actively promoted, sponsored and supported by the

clocksI bring good news from the Bank of England. Whether you have been up all night trying to close a £1 billion securities transaction for your client, or you are buying a house and there’s a last minute snag, the deadline for settling securities transactions and making high-value cash transfers is due to be extended

If you thought the wrangling over special servicer replacements was over following Richard Snowden QC’s judgment in US Bank v Titan Europe 2007-1 (NHP) plc in April last year, think again.

Ever since Fitch issued their press release confirming that as a matter of policy it would not provide rating agency confirmations (RACs) in relation