This Policy Statement contains the necessary changes required to the Handbook so it reflects the new regulatory framework for financial services, which starts on 1 April 2013. The following are some of the key points for firms:
Disclosure text
- The mandatory regulatory disclosure wording you put on your stationary for example has now been decided. If you are dual regulated the required disclosure is ‘Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. If you are only regulated by the FCA, the required disclosure is ‘Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority’.
- You will have 12 months (to 1 April 2014) to run any old stocks of documentation such as letterheads with the FSA information, and make the changes to wherever else you currently disclose your status.
- Also, you can no longer use the FSA logo and won’t be able to use the FCA or PRA logos. If you are using these, you will have until 1 April 2014 to run down any old stocks.
Skilled Persons reports
The Handbook has been updated to reflect the FCA and PRA’s ‘Skilled Persons’ power which:
- Extends the FCA’s powers to allow us to use Skilled Persons reports in respect of recognised investment exchanges.
- Gives the FCA and PRA the power to appoint and contract directly with the Skilled Person and the costs and fees are to be paid by the firm.
Approved Persons
All existing approvals will be grandfathered to either the PRA, or FCA, according to which regulator has specified that control function in its rules.
Dual-regulated firms seeking approval for both a PRA and FCA control function will submit just one application to the PRA. Also, applications from dual-regulated firms for governing functions (CF1-CF6) will be determined by the PRA, but FCA consent will be required before approval.
FCA Contact Details
The FCA’s new web address which will be www.fca.org.uk. The number firms ring for the contact centre will stay the same: 0845 606 9966, and email address.