The FCA has confirmed the deadline for notifications for the temporary permissions regime (TPR) will be extended to the end of 30 October 2019. TPR would allow EEA-based firms passporting into the UK to continue new and existing regulated business within the scope of their current permissions in the UK for a limited period, while they seek full FCA authorisation.
It will also allow EEA-domiciled investment funds that market in the UK under a passport to continue temporarily marketing in the UK. The deadline for applying to the Trade Repository and Credit Ratings Agencies has also been extended to the same date. For EEA payment services and e-money firms, the notification window for temporary permission is closed, but it will open again under the relevant HM Treasury Regulations on 31 July and end on 30 October.
Nausicaa Delfas, Executive Director of International at the Financial Conduct Authority said: ‘The FCA continues to plan for all Brexit scenarios, which includes a no-deal Brexit. Extending the deadline for firms to notify the FCA they want to enter the TPR is part of this ongoing work. It is important that firms also continue to plan for all scenarios, including the possibility of a no-deal Brexit at the end of October 2019.
‘As more information emerges about what Brexit will mean for financial services, firms need to make sure they understand the implications and plan accordingly. If firms are unsure of our expectations or what they need to do, they should visit our Brexit pages on the FCA website.’
Financial regulators powers
Parliament has also legislated to give the UK financial regulators powers to make transitional directions connected to changes in financial services legislation made under the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The FCA have stated that it intends to make use of the temporary transitional power to ensure that firms and other regulated persons can generally continue to comply with their regulatory obligations as they did before exit. This will enable firms to adjust to post-exit requirements in an orderly way.
Take reasonable steps
We have also published information on those areas where we are not providing transitional relief (for example, firms subject to the MIFID II transaction reporting regime, and connected persons). In these areas, we expect firms and other regulated entities to take reasonable steps to comply with the changes to their regulatory obligations by exit day. The FCA has explained previously that, in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an implementation period, it will not take a strict liability approach and do not intend to take enforcement action against firms and other regulated entities for not meeting all requirements straight away, where there is evidence they have taken reasonable steps to prepare to meet the new obligations by exit day. However, firms should use the additional time between now and the end of October to prepare to meet these obligations. If firms are not ready to meet these obligations in full, we will expect to see evidence why this was not possible.
Further information on how regulated firms could be affected by Brexit has been published on the FCA website. This includes information specific to the banking sector, UK‑based pensions and retirement income firms, general insurance firms, retail firms, wholesale banks, markets and asset managers operating in the UK.
The FCA will continue to provide updates as necessary on our website and through other channels. See our Brexit pages for more information.
Source: https://www.fca.org.uk
