Emma RadmoreFCA has confirmed various rule changes in its latest Handbook Notice:
- to the technical standards under EMIR, to give firms clarity and to align the UK in implementing various Basel Committee and IOSCO recommendations. These changes took effect from 30 June;
- the new fees instrument, which took effect from 1 July, setting out all the new periodic and other fees; and
- the Funeral Plans Instrument, creating new and amending existing material from 29 July, and also confirming the application and periodic fees for these firms;
- rules to allow FCA to use its power on cancellation of permissions (from 23 July);
- rules to change the PII cover requirement for insurance distribution firms, increasing the limit for single claims to €1,300,380 and for claims in aggregate to €1,924,560. Any “comparable guarantee” must reflect this also, from 1 August. However, there is a transitional provision so that the requirements apply to new policies from 1 August, but allow an additional year for non-annual arrangements to be aligned with the new requirements; and
- changes to CONC in relation to HCSTC information sheets and sheets on getting into arrears on loan agreements entered into on P2P lending platforms. The current CONC rules use the statutory arrears sheet as the basis for drawing up the information sheets and will no longer work once the new arrears sheet comes into force on 25 October – so FCA has made minor changes to CONC to take effect from that date.
