FCA changes deadline for applying for Temporary Permissions Regime
Firms and funds wanting to enter the TPR now have until April 11, 2019, to notify the regulator.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has just posted its Regulation Round-up March 2019, with the document including an update on Brexit.
Nausicaa Delfas, Executive Director of International at the FCA, comments that the Government has confirmed that the date the UK will leave the EU has changed. The Government has agreed with the EU that the earliest the UK will now leave the EU is 11pm on April 12, 2019.
The FCA will continue to prepare for all scenarios, including the possibility the UK leaves the EU on April 12, 2019, without an agreement. While the change in date provides the regulator with extra time to prepare, this is only a short delay. That is why, the FCA will therefore continue to prepare at the same pace as before and expects firms to do the same.
For the most part, the FCA’s expectations for firms remain the same. But, with one important exception: firms and funds wanting to enter the Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) now have until April 11, 2019, to notify the regulator.
The Temporary Permissions Regime will allow EU firms and funds that currently passport into the UK to continue operating in the UK in case of “hard Brexit”, and end of passporting. EU firms will temporarily be able to continue to operate within the scope of their current permissions and EU funds will be able to continue marketing into the UK.
Firms will need to notify the FCA that they wish to use the regime using the Connect system.
After the notification window closes, the FCA will inform the firms of when they will have to submit their application for authorisation – their ‘landing slots’. The regulator says it will ensure that firms and funds have enough time to prepare their applications. The FCA expects the first landing slots to be October to December 2019 and the last to be January to March 2021.
In a speech given earlier in March, Nausicaa Delfas said more than 1,000 EU firms and fund managers have already decided to enter the UK Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) and seek to continue to do business in the UK after Brexit.
