Welcome to the 2023 edition of our annual Emerging Themes in Financial Regulation & Disputes. Here you will find a collection of thought leadership and opinion pieces from our team, drawing out the practical impact of legal and regulatory developments we are seeing in the financial services market.
This year, our theme is "Protecting What's Important". Under that banner, we present our insights under three headings: Emerging Risks, Building Safer Markets; and Digital Assets and Cryptocurrencies.
We have expanded Emerging Themes’ remit for 2023 so that, in addition to covering developments in financial services regulation, we also comment upon emerging litigation risks in the sector. We hope that you enjoy hearing from our talented litigators about these topics, as we head into a phase of unprecedented supply chain disruption, rising energy costs and interest rate rises that can be expected to drive a significant increase in litigation risk worldwide. As always, we also include commentary on emerging regulatory ‘hot topics’ with practical tips on how to avoid novel regulatory risks from crystallizing into problems that show up on your balance sheet.
"This year, against an unsettling backdrop of high economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the title that felt right to us is "Protecting What's Important'."
Polly James
Partner and Global Practice Leader- Financial Services Disputes & Investigations, London
Protecting what's important
From a UK perspective…our theme reflects the sharpening FCA focus upon consumer protection and value for money as the economic climate deteriorates and the cost of living increases, as well as the shifting focus of both the FCA and PRA towards protecting and promoting the international competitiveness of London as a financial center (as they will be required to do by their new secondary statutory objectives under a new Financial Services and Markets Act).
US-side… economic uncertainty and a divided government rang in the New Year. Protecting what is important is an appropriate lens to view the impetus behind increasing regulatory focus on consumer protection issues and the upswing in litigation that accompanies economic slowdowns.
Globally…we are seeing a re-appraisal of the risks of digital assets as an emerging asset class following the collapse of FTX, and an increasing consensus about the need for digital asset regulation to protect the integrity of these developing markets.
