UK: FInancial Services (Banking Reform) Bill - Committee stage amendments published by Government

The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill begins its Committee stage in the House of Lords on 8 October. The Government will be tabling various amendments to the Bill, details of which were published yesterday: see here. An overview of the proposed amendments, which introduce a wide range of new clauses, is available here (pdf). Amongst other things, the introduction of a new criminal offence is proposed in respect of a decision by a senior manager of a bank leading to bank failure. A short briefing note in respect of this offence is available here (pdf).

Europe: ESMA publishes final guidelines on reporting obligations of alternative investment fund managers

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published its final guidelines in respect of the reporting obligations for alternative investment fund managers under Articles 3(3)(d) and 24(1), (2) and (4) of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (2011/61/EU): see here (pdf).

UK: Bank of England publishes stress testing framework discussion paper

The Bank of England has published a discussion paper titled A framework for stress testing the UK banking system: see here (pdf). The paper sets out the main features of the Bank's proposed stress-testing framework, the purpose of which is provide a quantitative, forward-looking assessment of the capital adequacy of the UK banking system and individual institutions within it.

UK: HM Treasury consults on country by country reporting under CRD IV

HM Treasury has published a consultation paper seeking views in respect of the implementation of the country by country reporting requirements in CRD IV: see here (pdf).

UK: England and Wales: Directors' duties, creditors and section 172 of the Companies Act 2006

Judgment was given last week by Mr John Randall QC, sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court, in Hellard & Anor (Liquidators of HLC Environmental Projects Ltd) v Carvalho [2013] EWHC 2876 (Ch). In misfeasance proceedings, brought by a liquidator under section 212 of the Insolvency Act 1986, a company director was found to have breached section 171 and section 172 of the Companies Act 2006. The decision is noteworthy because of the judge's discussion of the operation of section 172, and the extent to which the subjective duty it imposes is subject to qualification.