The last two weeks have proven to be turbulent times in the financial markets.
The pace of regulatory change has kept up with the peaks and troughs of market prices.
In the last week alone, we have seen ESMA reduce the already low reporting thresholds in the EU Short Selling Regulation to even lower levels; outright short selling bans in Italian, Spanish, French and Greek jurisdictions; as well as a dramatic lowering of the Italian major thresholds for both SME and non-SME businesses.
As compliance managers and even regulators, struggle to keep up with the pace of change, recent news from Spain proves that Sensitive Industry (SI) monitoring is no exception and adds to the burden faced by managers globally.
Judging the current pandemic situation to be of such a threat to the national economy, the Spanish Government acting under Royal Decree, approved urgent and extraordinary measures to limit the economic and social impact of Covid-19.
As a direct consequence of the decree, foreign investment in sectors, which include but are not limited to, critical infrastructure, technologies, supply of fundamentals e.g. energy and commodities; as well as media investments will require prior authorisation.
Those failing to comply with the decree will be judged to have made “a very serious infringement” and would likely face penalties “up to the economic value of the transaction” in addition to a “public or private reprimand.”
The growing crescendo of regulatory change demonstrates more than ever that having a managed service, which ensures that a shared and constantly updated regulatory rule set, is a vital tool and no longer an optional extra. Inadequate and outdated solutions are no excuse for those that are caught out of compliance.
FundApps' Sensitive Industry subscribers can rest assured that their regulatory rules and daily checks are fully up to date with the latest changes, including those published recently by Spain, and that as responsible asset managers, they can demonstrably and unequivocally show that they are doing all they can to ensure compliance with the ever changing regulatory environment.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions regarding the rapidly changing regulatory situation or how FundApps can help you to manage your obligations.