Financial Services Authority February 17, 2012 The FSA has published a memorandum on transactions in flex derivatives contracts conducted through Eurex OTC. The memorandum confirms that the FSA and approved reporting mechanisms (ARMs) will obtain the instrument reference data for Eurex flex derivatives contracts, which will enable the FSA to identify and accept the instruments for particular transactions.

The Supreme Court February 29, 2012 The Supreme Court has handed down its judgment on the treatment of client money that had not been segregated, or that had been improperly segregated, as at the date that Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (" LBIE") entered into administration. In its ruling, the Court determined that: (i) a statutory trust arose when LBIE received the money and not on segregation; (ii) money does not have to be in a client account to be client money, but can equally be held in a house account of an insolvent firm; and (iii) clients whose cash had not been properly

HM Treasury February 21-22, 2012 A consolidated version of the Financial Services and Markets Act has been published, highlighting amendments by the Financial Services Bill at Introduction.

European Union February 22, 2012 EU Commissioner Michel Barnier has appointed members of a high level Expert Group on possible reforms to the structure of the EU banking sector. The Group will examine structural aspects of the EU's banking sector. The Group will determine whether structural reforms of EU banks would strengthen financial stability and improve efficiency and consumer protection. The Group will now begin work and present its final report to the Commission by the end of Summer 2012.

February 28, 2012 The Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group of ESMA has issued guidelines on: (i) certain aspects of the MiFID compliance function requirements; and (ii) certain aspects of the MiFID suitability requirements.