Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 7 2024

12 QUICK LINKS CBDC CYBERSECURITY DIVERSITY DORA FINTECH IOSCO MICA OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE PRIIPS RETAIL INVESTMENT PACKAGE SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ ESG T+1 TOKENISATION ASIA EUROPE LUXEMBOURG NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 7 | 2024 The SFC says that over 60 participants, including representatives from the deemed-to-be- licensed VATP applicants and their consultants, attended the briefing session and that Dr Eric Yip, Executive Director, Intermediaries, and Ms Elizabeth Wong, Director of Licensing and Head of Fintech Unit, both at the SFC, gave a comprehensive overview on the competencies expected of these applicants, and walked them through the licence application process. The SFC also introduced to the applicants its on-site inspection programme, which aims to ascertain their compliance with the relevant regulatory requirements. The SFC also states that the non-contravention period for VATPs operating in Hong Kong under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap 615) (AMLO) came to an end on 1 June 2024. All VATPs operating in Hong Kong must be either licensed by the SFC, or VATP applicants which are deemed-to-be-licensed by operation of the AMLO. Link to SFC Press Release here EUROPE ESMA in 2023 – Focus on Investor Protection, Risk Monitoring and Supervision On 14 June 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its Annual Report for 2023. It sets out ESMA’s key achievements in the first year of implementing its new five- year strategy, delivering on the mission of enhancing investor protection and promoting stable and orderly financial markets in the European Union (EU). ESMA’s key accomplishments during 2023 include: • Exploring new areas of regulation and working closely with EBA and EIOPA in preparation for the implementation of Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). • Preparing for Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) implementation and together with the NCAs fostering convergent authorisation and supervision approaches, providing guidance to market participants, conducting consultations on detailed rules, and collaborating with international bodies on crypto-asset regulation. • Enhancing supervisory convergence through peer reviews on the supervision of central counterparties (CCPs) and central securities depositories (CSDs), identifying areas for improvement and issuing recommendations to ensure consistent supervision across the EU. • Monitoring retail investment markets and reporting on the costs and performance of retail investment products, highlighting cost reductions and variations across products and Member States, and recommending that investors carefully evaluate costs and diversify investments. • Enhancing sustainability disclosures through active participation in the development and application of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and in the IOSCO endorsement of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. • Launching a new data strategy for 2023-2028, aiming to leverage technology and data to improve market supervision and investor protection. • Assessing greenwashing through a progress report on greenwashing risks and supervision, setting out a definition of greenwashing agreed with EBA and EIOPA, identifying material risks across the sustainable investment value chain and outlining preliminary remediation actions. ESMA says that these achievements reflect its commitment to navigating the evolving financial landscape, ensuring effective regulation and supervision, and protecting investors in the EU. Link to 2023 Annual Report here ESMA Publishes Latest Edition of its Newsletter On 12 June 2024, ESMA published the latest edition of its Spotlight on Markets Newsletter. In the Newsletter, ESMA says that it focuses on the Position Paper on “Building more effective and attractive capital markets in the EU”, published in May 2024, and includes a factsheet with the main highlights.