1 The aim of the absence management strategy 1.1 To reduce the annual absence rate from [insert rate, eg 3.5%] to [insert rate, eg 2.0%]. 1.2 [To reduce the detrimental impact on service delivery that the high rate of short, sporadic absence is having on the firm.] 1.3 To manage long term sickness more effectively so its impact on the firm’s absence rate is reduced. 2 Key trends and causes of absence over the past 12 months 2.1 [One employee has been absent for six months with long-term sickness related to stress (following the breakdown of marriage). No meetings

This week's edition of Insurance weekly highlights includes: National House Building Council v Peabody Trust, and Bath Racecourse Company Ltd v Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Se; case analysis from 7 King’s Bench Walk on the Russian aircraft claims case (Aercap v AIG); UK landlords face group claim over 'hidden' insurance fees; Insurers keen on UK captive regime but fear gold-plating; PRA confirms May 2026 start for general insurance stress test; Retail insurance market: FCA publishes package of reports on cost pressures, claims handling failings and pricing reform impacts; What insurers can do to prepare for PRA 'solvent exit' rules; EIOPA consults on rules for resolution colleges and reporting requirements under IRRD; EIOPA publishes statement with findings on climate risk integration in insurers’ ORSAs; European Commission seeks views on Solvency II proposals, plus dates for your diary and key recent cases.

The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) has published a report detailing a monitoring framework for systemic liquidity risks within the financial system. This framework addresses two primary dimensions of liquidity: funding liquidity, which pertains to the ability of financial institutions to secure funding, and market liquidity, which relates to the capacity of market participants to trade financial assets swiftly and in substantial volumes without causing significant price fluctuations. Additionally, the framework assesses the risks of contagion and amplification, recognising that localised liquidity shortages can escalate into widespread stress across various entities and markets, potentially intensifying through adverse feedback loops. The report introduces three composite indicators designed to identify underlying vulnerabilities that may lead to heightened liquidity stress: one for funding liquidity risks, another for market liquidity risks, and a third for contagion and amplification risks.

This week's edition of Financial Services weekly highlights includes: a BoE and PRA letter on the 2024 Cyber Stress Test findings; a new streamlined authorisation process for managing agents announced by the PRA, FCA, and Society of Lloyd’s; an EBA consultation on amending RTS to shorten the application timeframe for own funds and eligible liabilities under the EU CRR; and an IAIS Application Paper on the fair treatment of a wide range of consumers; plus dates for your diary over the coming week.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has responded to the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) consultation on updated guidance and public disclosures for central counterparties (CCPs), supporting the proposed measures to improve transparency and the responsiveness of initial margin practices while recommending stronger implementation requirements. ISDA called for CCPs to be required to take the final Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS)-CPMI-IOSCO recommendations into account, supported by implementation monitoring, and urged retention of stronger requirements for margin simulation tools that replay historical stress events on a day-by-day basis to reflect the path-dependent nature of many margin models. It also recommended greater standardisation of simulator outputs, increased transparency around stress scenarios, and clarified that margin simulators should complement rather than replace disclosures needed to understand and replicate margin models. ISDA further welcomed the proposed quantitative disclosure requirements and backward-looking margin responsiveness measures but argued that the proposed one-year observation period would provide limited value, recommending that CCPs also disclose responsiveness during predefined historical stress periods to better support firms' liquidity planning.

With technology sweeping through the workplace and changing the way we do things on an almost daily basis, it can feel rather like going for a paddle in a rough sea—a wave of change comes along and nearly sweeps you off your feet but, before you’ve regained your balance, the next wave is bearing down on you. This practice note will help you identify what you are currently doing that is helping and hindering your personal resilience when dealing with these waves of change and offer a number of practical tips for dealing with ongoing change. What is personal resilience? The internet offers the following definition: Psychological a resilience is defined as an individual's ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity. Stress and adversity can come in the shape of family or relationship problems, health problems, or workplace and financial worries, among others. Wikipedia This is where the first challenge arises—though this Practice Note is focusing on building your resilience in the workplace the reality for most of us is that there

Working within an in-house legal team at the moment is rather like going for a paddle in a rough sea—a wave of change comes along and nearly sweeps you off your feet but, before you’ve regained your balance, the next wave is bearing down on you. This Practice Note will help identify what you are currently doing that is helping and hindering your personal resilience when dealing with these waves of change and offers a number of practical tips for dealing with ongoing change. This Practice Note covers: • What is personal resilience? • Tackling the root of resilience • Why does everyone else appear to be coping? • The scientific approach • Getting to grips with 'learned helplessness' • Other areas of support What is personal resilience? Psychological resilience can be defined as an individual’s ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity. Stress and adversity can come in the shape of family or relationship problems, health problems, or workplace and financial worries, among others. This is where the first challenge arises.

UK Finance has published the contents of a letter addressed to the governor of the Bank of England (BoE) written on behalf of the eight UK stress-tested banks and building society and UK Finance. In the letter, the parties say they share the objective of ensuring the UK remains at the technological frontier of safe and resilient payments innovation, supporting openness, trade and growth. In this context the parties welcomed the BoE’s approach to innovation in money and payments discussion paper.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published a staff paper which argues that, to safeguard financial stability at the national and global levels, and better protect markets and economies from crippling capital outflows, it is necessary to boost the resilience of investment funds. A key part of this involves reducing the scope for investment funds’ business models to amplify the macrofinancial impact of adverse shocks, making their business operations less likely to be susceptible to asset fire-sales during stress.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has conducted a thematic review of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) to analyse their intraday liquidity risk management practices.The review was prompted by recent financial stress episodes including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Credit Suisse failure in 2023, the 2022 UK gilt market turmoil, and the 2022 energy crisis. The review found that while the sampled banks have functioning practices for managing intraday liquidity risk, the maturity of these frameworks differed across banks.

A round-up of EU financial services developments.

MLex Summary: EU dumping duties of up to 46.2% in place on EU imports of pre-and post-stressing wires and wire strands of non-alloy steel from China are under review to see if their expiry would result in continued dumping and harm, the European Commission said on 1 September 2026. The request for a review was brought in June 2026 by the European Stress Information Service on behalf of the EU industry of PSC wires and strands.