Articles by Huw Jones

G20 Watchdog to Tackle ‘Vulnerabilities’ in Decentralized Finance After FTX Collapse

The G20’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) said on Thursday it would take steps to tackle “vulnerabilities” and data gaps in decentralized finance (DeFi) highlighted by the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX last year. The fast-growing and unregulated DeFi segment offers …

EU Lawmakers Want to Extend Reach of Draft ESG Oversight of Corporations

A panel of European Union lawmakers on Thursday backed an amendment to extend the reach of groundbreaking draft legislation to force companies to check whether their suppliers use slave or child labor, or pollute the environment. The EU’s executive European …

Rethink Needed on How to Regulate Big Tech in Finance Services: BIS Official

A rethink is needed on how to directly regulate activities of Big Tech companies in financial services, given their size and influence, a top official at an international forum for central banks said in Wednesday. Data-rich Big Tech companies such …

Britain’s Finance Ministry Issues Draft Rules to Regulate Cryptoassets

Britain’s finance ministry laid out its first set of rules to regulate cryptoassets on Wednesday, saying ongoing turbulence in the sector and the collapse of exchange FTX highlighted risks that need addressing. Cryptoassets, such as bitcoin BTC=BTSP, have little direct …

British Financial Services Damaged by Slow Supervisors, Report Warns

Britain’s regulators can be slow, inefficient and unpredictable, raising costs and slowly damaging the financial sector’s global competitiveness, industry body TheCityUK said in a report. Complex, opaque and slow authorizations, such as for a new chief executive or a new …

Bank of England Worried New Insurance Capital Rules Could Risk Policyholder Bailout

Britain’s proposed changes to capital rules for insurers could lead to the government having to bail out policyholders, as happened 20 years ago after the near-collapse of life assurance company Equitable Life, the Bank of England said on Monday. Late …

Germany Joins Opposition to EU Ban on Commission-Based Financial Products

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 Lindner has said. EU financial services chief Mairead McGuinness set …

Fund Groups Warn Against EU Idea of Legally Defining ‘Greenwashing’

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – European Union regulators should not define greenwashing in law, fund industry groups have told the bloc’s markets watchdog, citing concerns this would complicate a sector in “constant flux.” Trillions of dollars have flowed into investments …

Climate Change Could Cost Pension Funds Billions of Euros: EU Watchdog

Pension funds across the European Union would lose billions of euros from their investments in polluting industries without action to mitigate the impact of climate change, the bloc’s first stress test of its kind showed on Tuesday. The European Insurance …

UK Non-Bank Institutions (Such as Insurers) Face 1st Stress Test After Pensions Turmoil

Investment funds and other non-bank financial institutions face their first “stress test” next year to apply lessons from the near-meltdown in Britain’s pension fund sector, the Bank of England (BoE) said on Tuesday. The BoE had to step in from …