Financial Services

Hedge funds seek double-digit returns in 2024 after year of outflows

A blistering rally in stocks and elevated bond yields are pressuring global hedge funds to boost returns as they fight to staunch investor outflows, industry insiders told Reuters.Investors have pulled…

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UK funds sector says at risk of losing competitiveness post-Brexit

Britain must align itself with European Union rules and cut compliance costs to avoid its 8.8 trillion pound ($10.74 trillion) funds sector losing global competitiveness, the Investment Association (IA) industry body…

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Britain proposes diversity and misconduct rules for financial firms

Britain's financial regulators proposed guidance on Monday for financial firms to tackle sexual harassment and bullying, along with new requirements for large banks and insurers to set targets to improve…

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European asset managers reject plans for tigher liquidity rules

Proposals to force open-ended investment funds to hold more liquid assets to cope with a surge in redemptions are "fundamentally flawed" and would bump up costs for investors, asset managers…

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UK plans to reverse ban on EU-era securities rule -Bloomberg News

British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt is planning to repeal a piece of European Union-era legislation that required financial businesses to separate the cost of investment research from trading expenditures, Bloomberg News reported…

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Britain reviews bank depositor insurance scheme to bolster confidence

The Bank of England (BoE) has said it is considering "improvements" to the mechanism under which depositors can recover money in their accounts at smaller banks that get into difficulties.…

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Competitive, secure and credible: Malta’s new Financial Services strategy launched

National Strategy for Financial Services launched: A financial services jurisdiction that is competitive, secure and credible. These are the three key objectives being sought out by the newly-launched financial services…

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Britain’s financial industry plans blueprint for post-Brexit ‘kickstart’

Top officials from Britain's financial sector said on Tuesday they would set out a blueprint later this year to "kickstart" London's role as a post-Brexit global financial centre by 2030. The City of London, home to Britain's historic financial district, said that Lloyd's…

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EU financial services need shake-up to benefit retail investors, top official says

A potential ban on commissions paid by banks to financial advisers who sell their products could be part of a wider shake-up of retail financial services in the European Union,…

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New York’s financial regulator takes aim at firms co-mingling crypto funds

New York’s chief financial regulator is set to release new guidance on Monday dictating that companies separate customers' crypto assets from their own, after alleged co-mingling of funds at collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its affiliated…

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Germany joins battle against EU ban on financial product commission

Banning commission-based sales of financial products from banks and insurers would be a "serious setback" to the European Union's capital market and limit choice for consumers, Germany's finance minister Christian…

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US Republicans want the financial services regulator to explain why staff are quitting

Senate Republicans want the SEC to explain why staff are leaving the nation's corporate watchdog at the highest rate in 10 years amid a flurry of proposed rules, according to…

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UK’s Kwarteng tells city bosses he is confident his economic strategy will work – FT

British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng told leading bankers, insurers and asset managers he was "confident" that his economic strategy would work, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The pound touched an all-time…

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Financial Services: Truss wants more de-regulation, growth

Liz Truss becomes Britain's prime minister on Tuesday after a campaign in which she promised to "really unshackle" the City of London by making the most of Brexit in the…

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Insurance watchdog calls for pan-EU policy protection

Harmonised insurance protection schemes of last resort are needed across the European Union as consumers increasingly buy policies from outside their country, the bloc's insurance regulator said on Tuesday. Petra Hielkema, chair of the…

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How crypto giant Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers

In September 2020, a North Korean hacking group known as Lazarus broke into a small Slovakian crypto exchange and stole virtual currency worth some $5.4 million. It was one of…

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City of London leader calls for tougher reform to shed ‘laundromat’ tag

Recent reforms need to be strengthened to help change a perception that London is a "laundromat" for dirty money, the leader of the British capital's financial district said. British Prime…

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ESMA finds room for improvement in funds’ liquidity stress testing

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has carried out a supervisory engagement with investment funds together with National Competent Authorities (NCAs). The exercise focused…

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Abela says former PMs still have responsibilities / News Briefing – Tuesday 9 November 2021

Times of Malta says that Financial crimes investigators who seized electronic equipment from the home of a former senior official at Pilatus Bank in April still have to establish if…

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Crypto assets are helping illegal activity, BoE’s Bailey says

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that the rise of crypto assets was helping illegal activity. "I'm afraid that the advent of digital means of payment, and in particular…

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Euronext to ditch London Stock Exchange by 2024

Pan-European exchange Euronext said on Monday it will clear all trades on its newly acquired Italian platform by 2024, helping the European Union cut its reliance on the London Stock Exchange for…

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EU starts sales of first ever green bond

The European Union started selling its first ever green bond on Tuesday, Refinitiv news service IFR reported, taking its first step to potentially becoming the biggest issuer of environmentally-friendly debt with a record-sized…

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Malta: Financial services contribute 90% to FDI in 2020

The Financial services industry contributed to over 90% of total Foreign Direct Investment Flows in 2020. These totalled €196.2 billion, an increase of €3.4 billion over the year before. According…

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EU insurance regulator calls for independence of national supervisory authorities

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published criteria for assessing the independence of supervisory authorities. In a statement, the EU regulator said that he independence of supervisory…

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Financial Services: EC adopts new rules for retail investment

The European Commission has today adopted new and improved rules in the area of retail investment. A Delegated Regulation adopted today sets out what should be included in the so-called…

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London takes aim at New York with five-year financial plan

ritain needs to ease taxes on banks and make it easier to hire staff from abroad, its financial and professional services lobby said in a blueprint to help London unseat New York…

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Respect financial watchdog independence, UK lawmakers tell ministry

Britain's finance ministry should avoid crimping the independence of financial regulators by overloading them with requests for post-Brexit rule amendments, UK lawmakers said on Tuesday. Having fully left the European Union at…

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Bitcoin tumbles 17% as doubts grow over valuations

Bitcoin tumbled 17% on Tuesday, sparking a sell-off across cryptocurrency markets as investors grew nervous at sky-high valuations and leveraged players took profit. The world's biggest cryptocurrency suffered its biggest daily…

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Apple positioned to offer cryptocurrencies: RBC report

Apple Inc has a "clear opportunity" to offer a buying and selling mechanism for cryptocurrencies, a move that would allow the company to immediately gain market share, according to a research report…

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ECB to stress test 38 euro area banks as part of the 2021 EU-wide stress test

he European Central Bank (ECB) will examine 38 significant euro area banks as part of the 2021 EU-wide stress test coordinated by the European Banking Authority (EBA). In line with the…

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Small investors behind surge in GameStop and other shares hit by restrictions

An army of retail investors that has routed Wall Street's professionals in recent days was dealt a blow on Thursday, after online brokerages restricted purchases of red-hot GameStop and other stocks that…

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HSBC to close 82 branches in UK

HSBC plans to axe 82 branches in Britain this year after a drop in footfall across its retail network and a surge in digital banking, the bank said on Tuesday. The lender said it would…

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City of London unlikely to get broad EU access, says UK banking body

The European Union is unlikely to grant broad access for the City of London, and the flight of euro share trading from Britain to the bloc is permanent, UK bankers said on Monday.…

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Italy gives UK finance firms six-month operating extension post-Brexit

ROME (Reuters) - British financial intermediaries can keep on operating in Italy until the end of June as they await authorisation to do business in the country as non-European Union…

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UK-EU trade deal would avoid years of acrimony, says funds industry

A trade deal between Britain and the European Union would help open the door to cross-border financial services from January and avoid years of acrimony, industry officials said on Monday. Financial services are not…

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Britain pursues Brexit finance plan, door open to EU firms

Britain left the door open for European Union financial firms to operate in Britain after a post-Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31, pledging on Monday to help "renew" the…

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BOV to freeze payment of dividends

Bank of Valletta said in a statement this morning that in view of the current Covid-19 situation, the Board of Directors was withdrawing its original recommendation to its AGM to…

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French central bank urges UK-based financial firms to relocate to EU

UK-based financial firms need to quickly wrap up their relocation to the European Union to be able to keep operating in the bloc, France's central bank head said on Wednesday.…

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Standard Chartered may have moved terrorist-related money – BBC

A British bank moved money that may have been linked to terrorist financing, according to more leaked documents made public after the FinCEN documents leak. The British broadcaster reported that…

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Don’t pay dividends this year, ECB tells European banks

The European Central Bank has told banks not to pay any dividend payments until at least January and urged them to be “extremely moderate” when setting staff bonuses during the…

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Regulators ease no-deal Brexit fears in funds sector

Regulators in Britain and the European Union said they have dusted off their no-deal Brexit agreements to avoid disruption in cross-border asset management. Britain left the EU in January, but unfettered access…

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Maltese Editors’ Perspectives

Two print editorials share divergent perspectives on the EU's announced economic recovery plan. The Times of Malta shares its views on the EU economic recovery package. While welcoming this important…

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EU recovery plan will stimulate mergers between European banks – Santander

The European leaders' agreement on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus battered economies should help kick-start cross-border consolidation in Europe and complete the European banking union, Santander Chairman Ana Botin said. "What…

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Brexit will split financial markets, says Bank of England appointee

Brexit will make markets less efficient but it won't be disastrous for Britain's economy, an appointee to the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said on Monday. Britain left…

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Comuniq.EU – Financial Services

by Keith Zahra The EU continued with its efforts to reform the Capital Markets Union with a new report presented by its Chair, Thomas Wieser. This report sets out 17…

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Malta likely to fail Moneyval test – greylisting beckons: US official

The likelihood of Malta failing this year's Moneyval exam on money laundering and financial crime is becoming increasingly likelier according to reports based on comments by American officials based in…

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Britain, EU to miss deadline for future financial market access

Britain and the European Union are set to miss their end-June deadline for assessing future cross-border trade in financial services, leaving just six months before a potentially messy UK exit,…

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Malta: MFSA ‘fully prepared’ for Moneyval assessment later on this year, CEO says

The Malta Financial Services Authority is "fully prepared" for the Moneyval assessment later on this year, its CEO, Joe Cuschieri has told The Malta Indepdendent. Asked by this newspaper to…

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Comuniq.Eu – Financial Services

By Keith Zahra A report of the investment services industry carried out by ESMA, the European regulator in this field, concluded that the costs paid by retail investors are significantly…

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Stock markets free-falling as outbreak restrictions grow globally

Stock markets are on course for another day of heavy losses as concerns mount the coronavirus crisis will lock down global economic activity for an extended time. US futures tumbled…

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UK interest rate cut to help economy during outbreak

The Bank of England has cut interest rates and announced help for businesses in an emergency move to provide support amid the coronavirus crisis. Hours before the chancellor Rishi…

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CommuniqEU – Financial Services

This article by Keith Zahra appeared first on Diplomatique.Expert (Edition 23) and is compiled by CiConsulta for Corporate Dispatch In its efforts to enhance investor protection around the continent, ESMA, the regulator…

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Malta needs to provide evidence that it is addressing its shortcomings – HSBC CEO – The Headlines – MaltaToday

Maltatoday’s midweek edition quotes HSBC Malta’s CEO Andrew Beane, who yesterday insisted that it was crucial that Malta to start providing evidence and clear outcomes in its efforts to address…

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Future relation between the EU and the UK discussed in European Parliament

Barnier told the European Parliament that the EU will grant equivalence to particular sectors of its financial services industry but he said that there will not be “general, open-ended” equivalence in…

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Visa backs payments start-up that powers popular fintech apps like Monzo and Revolut

Financial technology start-up Currencycloud, which powers cross-border payments for a number of popular finance apps, has raised $80 million in a funding round backed by Visa. Based in the U.K.,…

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Harvest Technology plc launches Initial Public Offering of 40% of issued share capital

Harvest Technology plc, the technology group comprising IT solutions provider PTL Ltd, payment gateway specialist APCO Systems Ltd, and automation and security company APCO Ltd, is launching an Initial Public…

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L-Oriżżont Headlines – 21st May 2019

L-Orizzont quotes Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri who said that the financial services sector remained stable despite ‘months of attacks.’ Schembri said that there are 51 licensed institutions in the sector.…

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