Press release of March 26, 2020 - HP - CONSOB AND ITS ACTIVITIES
PRESS RELEASE
Consob today published three Warning notices (n. 3/20, n. 4/20 and n. 5/20) that specify the measures to be adopted by the operators within the deadline of 2020 following the approval of the withdrawal agreement of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU).
British operators providing investment services in Italy have been warned about the need to adopt all the measures to guarantee business continuity in Italy or to carry out, if necessary, an orderly exit from the domestic market. Operators will also have to provide Italian customers with updated information about the consequences of the changed operating conditions deriving from Brexit, also with specific reference to the implications for existing OTC derivative contracts.
The Warning (n. 3/20) was made necessary due to the overcoming of the transitory discipline dictated by Law Decree no. 22 of 25 March 2019 to the Brexit no-deal case. The related Communications by Consob, as well as the notifications sent by operators to Consob pursuant to the Decree, are therefore no longer valid. The measures adopted by Consob in 2019 to ensure the operational continuity of the Italian and British trading venues are no longer effective, too.
In fact, a new "transition period" has begun, lasting until 31 December 2020 (except for any extension), in which European legislation will continue to apply as if the United Kingdom were still a member of the European Union. Consequently, the rules provided for non-EU subjects will also apply to British entities operating in Italy, as well as to Italian entities operating in the United Kingdom.
For the trading venues, the office managers have been similarly warned (Warnings n. 4/20 and n. 5/20) about the fact that, if they intend to operate after the end of the transition period, they must promptly submit to Consob a specific request based on the regulatory regime applicable to them. Furthermore, the office managers having already obtained from Consob in 2019 (or, in any case, having filed for this purpose) the clearance, the authorization or the recognition with relation to a no-deal scenario, have been invited to communicate if they are still interested, or not, in obtaining the provision for the extension of their operations as well as to report any changes that have occurred to the information already communicated at the first instance.
