For many, this is the final working day of 2019, although some will continue to keep things moving during the holiday period. Our opening post of the year (see here) predicted several trends, which for the most part have come to pass. These were:

An increase in enforcement cases – The number of enforcement cases, in Europe under REMIT and also worldwide (for example see here and here) has indeed continued to increase.

Focus on anti abuse activity – The focus has certainly increased, partly driven by the rise in cases and partly due to the maturing of compliance departments and certain regulations. There is no doubt that an increasing proportion of time and resources are being spent on anti abuse technology, processes and training.

Changes to existing rules – EMIR REFIT provided some change for market participants to absorb in June (see here). We have now seen consultations on MAR and MiFID II (see here and here).

A focus on organisation and culture – This has continued , partly driven again by cases (see here) but also due to the increasing maturity of compliance organisations.

Brexit – The originally targeted Brexit date of 29th March, and several others did not happen in 2019. However, it is now known that Brexit will “get done” (see here on Time magazine’s site) on 31st January 2020. This will lead to the transitional phase during which time the “target arrangements” will be negotiated. The transitional phase ends on 31st December 2020.

New technology – The year has seen some activity on new technology, for example Machine Learning. However the focus has been more on application that exploring technology for its own sake, certainly in the experience of the author.

We thank all of our readers for their attention in 2019. Wishing all a very happy festive season.