Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite Sized Issue 7 2023

Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 7 | 2023 10 QUICK LINKS CRYPTOASSETS CYBER DORA ELIGIBLE ASSETS DIRECTIVE FINANCIAL STABILITY BOARD FINTECH LTAF MICA MIFID II/MIFIR NBFI SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ ESG ASIA EUROPE LUXEMBOURG NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM For the first time, this year’s report details the SFC’s sustainability efforts with reference to the TCFD Recommendations and its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. In August 2022, the SFC published its Agenda for Green and Sustainable Finance, a strategic roadmap to develop Hong Kong as a regional and global sustainable finance hub by focusing on corporate disclosures, asset management, environmental, social and governance funds and carbon markets. Link to SFC’s Annual Report 2022-23 here SFC Concludes Consultation on the Position Limit Regime On 5 June 2023 the SFC published conclusions to its further consultation on proposed changes to the position limit regime for the derivatives market. These include imposing obligations on asset managers who manage funds or sub-funds of umbrella funds and amending the Securities and Futures (Contracts Limits and Reportable Positions) Rules in response to HKEX’s proposed enhancements to its position limit regime. After considering market feedback, the SFC will implement the proposed changes to give more clarity on regulatory requirements in relation to funds to facilitate compliance and provide more flexibility to the market by increasing position limits for certain products. Subject to the legislative process, the SFC plans for the law changes to come into effect in December 2023. Link to Conclusions here EUROPE ESMA in 2022 – Focus on Financial Stability and Investor Protection On 16 June 2023 the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its Annual Report for 2022. It sets out the key achievements of the authority in fulfilling its mission of enhancing investor protection and promoting stable and orderly financial markets in the European Union during a transformative year. ESMA’s key achievements in 2022 included developing its new Strategy which will guide its work over the years 2023-2028. ESMA also cites work throughout the year to respond to the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 2022 was also a significant year from the supervisory convergence perspective, with several Common Supervisory Actions, three major peer reviews including one detailing the actions undertaken by NCAs linked to relocations following Brexit, and ESMA issuing its first recommendations to a national competent authority under article 16 of its Founding Regulation. ESMA had three cross cutting priorities for 2022: supporting the development of sound capital markets, promoting sustainable finance and innovation and fostering innovation and digitalisation. Examples of outputs are also provided in the Annual Report. Link to ESMA 2022 Annual Report here ESMA Launches Data Strategy for the Next Five Years On 15 June ESMA published its Data Strategy for 2023-2028. ESMA says it will work to facilitate the use of new data-related technologies, reduce reporting compliance costs by regulated entities, enable the effective use of data at both EU and national level; and make data more broadly available to the public. The Data Strategy supplements the ESMA Strategy 2023-2028 by elaborating on how ESMA data assets will be mobilised to best serve and help deliver on its strategic and thematic objectives in the period covered. The ESMA Data Strategy 2023-2028 first lays out the internal and external motivations for this report, which serve as a baseline for subsequently articulating ESMA’s data vision and objectives. It then provides details on how ESMA intends to scale up its data capabilities to ensure the successful delivery of the listed projects and tasks within the proposed timeline, and to achieve its strategic objectives: