It has been great hearing from our colleagues who this week are attending the first Futures Industry Association Law and Compliance annual conference (FIA L&C) in person in three years in Washington, D.C. While we’re hearing that the panels and other programs have been as enlightening and compelling as always, we know that the opportunity to reconnect, face to face, with so many old friends is invaluable.

Today’s Cabinet News and Views touches on one of the key topics at FIA, but next week’s issue will feature a deeper dive into where things stand at the present time and where we think things are going.

What do you think about this week’s topics and Cabinet News and Views in general? We’d love to hear from you. Just write to us here.

Daniel Meade & Michael Sholem
Co-Editors, Cabinet News and Views

By Peter Y. Malyshev

Partner | Financial Regulation

This week, attendees at the FIA L&C conference are gathered in Washington, D.C., for the first time in three years to discuss several issues with significant potential impact on the markets. One such issue is redefining the concept of the trading facility for securities and derivatives. In 2021 and 2022, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") have taken several regulatory actions that will have significant implications for commodity traders as well as for the fintech sector.  

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By Michael Sholem

Partner | Financial Services

On April 25, 2022, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) provided an important update relating to the future of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) benchmark. On its updated “Benchmarks Regulation: our powers, policy and decision-making” webpage, the FCA has set out the steps it intends to take regarding synthetic sterling LIBOR.

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By Mercedes Kelley Tunstall

Partner | Financial Regulation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) recently announced that it is going to exercise authority described as “dormant” to supervise nonbanks that are not otherwise subject to the CFPB’s supervision authority. Since 2011, the CFPB has limited its supervisory activities to banks, so-called “larger participants” in specific industry sectors such as credit reporting, and mortgage and payday lenders. This expanded supervision authority suggests therefore that the CFPB is focused upon gaining supervisory access to fintechs that are not involved in lending and that offer products or services to consumers. Basically, if a company is considered a “covered person” for purposes of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (the "CFPA", also known as Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act), then the CFPB could potentially claim to have supervisory authority over that company.

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By Daniel Meade

Partner | Financial Regulation

Last week, six bank trade associations, including the Bank Policy Institute and the American Bankers Association, submitted a joint comment letter on the Federal Reserve’s re-proposed Guidelines for access to Fed accounts and services that we previously wrote about in March.

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By Michael Sholem

Partner | Financial Services

By David Quirolo

Partner | Capital Markets

On 12 April 2022, the European Banking Authority (the “EBA”) announced the publication of its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (“RTS”) specifying the requirements for originators, sponsors and original lenders in relation to risk retention. Regulation (EU) 2017/2402, as amended (the “Securitisation Regulation”), established the requirements concerning the retention of a material net economic interest in securitisations and empowered the EBA to prepare draft RTS in this area. There has been a long wait for these final drafts, given the EBA submitted an initial version to the European Commission in July 2018 (the “2018 RTS”) and then consulted on further changes in June 2021. 

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Cadwalader welcomes the arrival of CFTC Regulatory Partner Peter Y. Malyshev and Fintech and Consumer Financial Services Partner Mercedes Kelley Tunstall, who join Cadwalader's Financial Services Group in Washington, D.C. 

Peter focuses his practice on regulatory, compliance and transactional matters relating to commodities, derivatives and securities products regulated by the CFTC and the SEC. For over 25 years, Peter has assisted clients in the United States and overseas on numerous transactions involving over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives products in almost every asset class and market, such as: banking, financial institutions and insurance; agriculture, energy, mining and emissions; transportation and infrastructure; interest rates and credit default swaps; foreign exchange, digital assets and fintech; precious metals; and securities.

Mercedes regularly counsels banks, lenders, payments companies, digital asset companies and fintechs regarding federal banking regulators and compliance with laws and industry standards. She also defends clients against enforcement actions taken by these regulators, including the CFPB. As a former FTC lawyer and bank in-house counsel, she also draws on her experience to work with companies in a wide variety of industries, including the burgeoning Web3 and metaverse spaces, on advertising law, privacy and cybersecurity issues, as well as to represent clients in FTC and National Advertising Division defense. 

Read more about Peter here and Mercedes here.