AML / KYC

Westpac Files Defence in Federal Court on its AML/CTF Failures

16/05/2020

While Westpac made a number of admissions regarding AUSTRAC’s claims, the bank said the majority of its international money transfers were correctly reported.

Enforcement

SFC Declines to Take Action Against HSBC for No-dividend Decision

15/05/2020

Some investors in HSBC alleged the bank failed to safeguard their interests. Others questioned whether the bank’s discussions with the Bank of England were disclosed in a timely manner.

Market Infrastructure

CCP Margin Models May Need Fine-tuning: BIS Paper

15/05/2020

Some CCP margin models underestimate market volatility because they rely on a short period of historical price movements from tranquil times, the paper says.

Uncategorised

ISDA Publishes Final Report on Pre-cessation Fallbacks for LIBOR

15/05/2020

ISDA expects to publish amendments to the 2006 ISDA Definitions to incorporate the fallbacks for new trades in July, along with a protocol to allow participants to incorporate the revisions into legacy trades.

Capital / Liquidity

Sri Lanka Central Bank Bans Dividends, Share Buybacks at Banks

15/05/2020

Foreign banks are prohibited from repatriating profits. LCR and NSFR requirements have been reduced to 90%. Banks are told to refrain from non-essential expenditures.

Market Infrastructure

China Issues Guidelines on Greater Bay Opening Up

15/05/2020

The PBOC will pilot cross-border PE and VC investments and explore the establishment of a futures exchange in Guangzhou and an international commercial bank to serve Greater Bay Area.

Market Infrastructure

China Admits Fitch Subsidiary into Onshore Credit Rating Market

15/05/2020

China had committed to removing restrictions on US credit rating agencies entering its markets under the trade agreement with the US in January.

ESG / Sustainability

Hong Kong Launches New Certification Scheme for ESG Funds

14/05/2020

The new green finance certification scheme for ESG funds is an extension of the HKQAA’s certification service for green funds, launched in September 2019.

Securities / Derivatives

ASIC Withdraws Trading Limits Imposed on Equity Market Participants

14/05/2020

Trading restrictions imposed in March due to an abnormally large increase in trades executed have been revoked following processing enhancements by market operators.