What is happening?
Overall, there were few surprises in the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Bill, which mostly tinkers around the edges of rules inherited from the EU. The most eye-catching measures involve relaxing Solvency II so insurers can invest in infrastructure and the removal of the share trading obligation and double volume caps. The latter two measures restrict how and where firms can execute equity trades. All three diverge from the EU’s rulebook, but in totality it is not a drastic change in direction.
