Regulatory Blog

On 17 November 2023, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority published a general industry notice, informing all registered virtual assets service providers that their annual renewal fees for the year 2024 (as specified in Schedule 2 of the Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Regulations, 2020) will be the same as the fees paid during the initial registration.

On 17 November 2023, the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) released joint guidance, addressing the implementation of the UK's ownership and control by public officials, within financial sanctions legislation. The guidance was issued following statements of the English Court of Appeal in the case Mints v PJSC National Bank Trust [2023] EWCA Civ 1132.

On 10 November 2023, the Luxembourg Constitutional Court ruled that the minimum net wealth tax applicable to certain Luxembourg holding companies was unconstitutional in view of the principle of equality before the law.

On 26 October 2023, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a European association representing digital marketing and advertising companies, released a paper with recommendations for enhancing GDPR enforcement in cross-border cases. This is in response to the European Commission's aim to simplify GDPR enforcement in these cases.

On 9 November 2023, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority published a supervisory information circular, advising that it recently updated its guidance notes on the prevention and detection of money laundering and terrorist financing to incorporate e-KYC and remote CCD/ongoing monitoring provisions. The amendments, effective from August 2023, address queries from financial service providers seeking clarification on the compatibility of CIMA's anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism/counter proliferation financing supervisory framework with technological solutions for remote, virtual, or non-face-to-face onboarding and ongoing customer due diligence.

On 18 October 2023, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) jointly released an opinion regarding the proposed regulation on the digital euro, a central bank digital currency aimed at enabling electronic payments both online and offline.

On 12 October 2023, the Data Protection (Adequacy) (United States of America) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1028) came into force, with which the UK government adopted an adequacy decision for the US (the UK-US Data Bridge). The UK-US Data Bridge enables UK organisations to freely and securely transfer personal data to certified US companies under the "UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework" (UK Extension).

On 8 November 2023, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority published a general industry notice to advise that effective 15 November 2023, it will implement changes to enhance monitoring and reporting accuracy for Mutual Funds and Private Funds. These changes will impact the information required when registering funds.

On 27 October 2023, the European Data Protection Board issued an urgent binding decision instructing the Irish Data Protection Authority to take definitive action against Meta Ireland Limited within two weeks and impose a ban on the processing of personal data for behavioural advertising in the European Economic Area based on the lawful bases of contract and legitimate interest.