The FCA has given an update on the UK financial industry’s Market Cleanliness (MC) statistic. The regulator has said the relevant measure for 2023 was 30.3%.
“This represents a decrease over the previous year, when the statistic reached 35.3%,” the regulator has said.
“The overall increase in the statistic compared to previously published figures that were based on the previous methodology, is the result of methodological changes, and not from an increase in market abuse.”
The FCA regularly publishes a “Market Cleanliness (MC) statistic for takeover announcements in the UK equity markets.”
“This is defined as the proportion of corporate takeover events for which we observed a significant abnormal movement in share price before the takeover announcement.”
The findings are being published after the MC statistic methodology was updated in November 2024, and both the previous as well as the new methodology were used. The regulator has said future statistics will be updated according to the new methodology only.
The findings also show that suspicious activity did actually occur around the time of 30% takeover announcements in the UK last year. But, on a positive note, the regulator secured two convictions for insider trading this year, the first successful prosecutions since 2019.
Despite the positive findings, the FCA has said it’s MC stats are just one indicator of possible insider trading, and are limited as a general measure of whether the market is being abused or not.
The FCA has said it is updating the direction modifying the UK’s derivatives trading obligation (DTO) from 31 December 2024. This will replace the transitional direction which is expiring
The regulator has said, “The DTO is a G20 commitment to improve over-the-counter derivatives markets.”
The UK has implemented this commitment through Article 28 of the UK Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR), under which transactions in certain classes of derivatives must be concluded on regulated trading venues.
“It will only apply to transactions in classes of derivatives subject to the DTO in both the UK and EU. This is to reflect changes to the scope of the UK and EU DTO following the transition from LIBOR to risk-free rates,” the FCA says.
Also last week, the FCA announced that it is establishing a bond consolidated tape (CT) to ensure that data on bond transactions is accessible in a cost-effective way.
According to the regulator, “A bond CT collates data on transactions, such as prices and volumes, bringing together data on trades executed on trading venues as well as those arranged over-the-counter.”
“We are starting the process of appointing a bond CT provider. On 3 December 2024 we published a Concession Notice setting out our next steps for running the tender process.”
The FCA has also said that by 31 January 2025, it will publish draft tender documents on its procurement portal and invite questions from bidders before it issues final tender documents.
Consultation
An update has been published on the FCA’s package of measures that were announced a year ago to improve trust in and transparency of sustainable investment products.
The agency’s Director of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Sacha Sadan, has said in a blog, “Results from our Financial Lives survey show that 81% of adults would like their investments to do some good as well as provide a financial return.”
“But research also showed that investors weren’t confident that sustainability-related claims made about investments were genuine,” he adds.
The measures introduced last year included:
- 4 product labels to help investors understand what their money is being used for, based on clear sustainability goals, outcomes and criteria.
- Naming and marketing requirements so products cannot be described as having a positive impact on sustainability when they don’t.
- An anti-greenwashing rule for all authorised firms to make sure sustainability-related claims are fair, clear and not misleading.
“It’s still early days for the regime. We recognise that changes to fund managers’ investment approaches require significant effort and will take time to phase in. But we are now seeing more and more funds adopting the labels,” the FCA executive has said.
Media
The FCA has said it welcomes “the swiftness of the Supreme Court’s decision to hear an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment in 3 recent motor finance cases involving Close Brothers and FirstRand Bank.”
“We previously wrote to the Supreme Court asking it to decide quickly whether it will give permission to appeal and, if it does, to determine the substantive appeal as soon as possible,” the regulator has said in a statement.
“This is because of the potential impact of any judgment on the motor finance market and the many consumers who rely on it. We are considering whether to formally intervene in the case to share our expertise to assist the Court on the substantive appeal.”
“We will take the Court’s decision to hear the appeal into account as we decide on the outcome of our consultation. We thank everyone that responded to the consultation and will publish our policy statement by 19 December 2024,” the statement adds.