Registration of Annex I financial institutions, estate agents etc.
Power to maintain registers
32.—(1) The supervisory authorities mentioned in paragraph (2), (3) or (4) may, in order to fulfil their duties under regulation 24, maintain a register under this regulation.
(2) The Authority may maintain a register of Annex I financial institutions.
(3) The OFT may maintain registers of—
(a)consumer credit financial institutions; and
(b)estate agents.
(4) The Commissioners may maintain registers of—
(a)auditors;
(b)external accountants; and
(c)tax advisers,
who are not supervised by the Secretary of State, DETI or any of the professional bodies listed in Schedule 3.
(5) Where a supervisory authority decides to maintain a register under this regulation, it must take reasonable steps to bring its decision to the attention of those relevant persons in respect of whom the register is to be established.
(6) A supervisory authority may keep a register under this regulation in any form it thinks fit.
(7) A supervisory authority may publish or make available to public inspection all or part of a register maintained by it under this regulation.
Requirement to be registered
33. Where a supervisory authority decides to maintain a register under regulation 32 in respect of any description of relevant persons and establishes a register for that purpose, a relevant person of that description may not carry on the business or profession in question for a period of more than six months beginning on the date on which the supervisory authority establishes the register unless he is included in the register.
Applications for and cancellation of registration in a register maintained under regulation 32
34.—(1) Regulations 27, 29 (with the omission of the words “Subject to regulation 28” in regulation 29(1)) and 30(2), (3) and (4) apply to registration in a register maintained by the Commissioners under regulation 32 as they apply to registration in a register maintained under regulation 25.
(2) Regulation 27 applies to registration in a register maintained by the Authority or the OFT under regulation 32 as it applies to registration in a register maintained under regulation 25 and, for this purpose, references to the Commissioners are to be treated as references to the Authority or the OFT, as the case may be.
(3) The Authority and the OFT may refuse to register an applicant for registration in a register maintained under regulation 32 only if—
(a)any requirement of, or imposed under, regulation 27 has not been complied with;
(b)it appears to the Authority or the OFT, as the case may be, that any information provided pursuant to regulation 27 is false or misleading in a material particular; or
(c)the applicant has failed to pay a charge imposed by the Authority or the OFT, as the case may be, under regulation 35(1).
(4) The Authority or the OFT, as the case may be, must, within 45 days beginning either with the date on which it receives an application or, where applicable, with the date on which it receives any further information required under regulation 27(3), give the applicant notice of—
(a)its decision to register the applicant; or
(b)the following matters—
(i)that it is minded not to register the applicant;
(ii)the reasons for being minded not to register him; and
(iii)the right to make representations to it within a specified period (which may not be less than 28 days).
(5) The Authority or the OFT, as the case may be, must then decide, within a reasonable period, whether to register the applicant and it must give the applicant notice of—
(a)its decision to register the applicant; or
(b)the following matters—
(i)its decision not to register the applicant;
(ii)the reasons for its decision; and
(iii)the right to appeal under regulation 44(1)(b).
(6) The Authority or the OFT, as the case may be, must, as soon as reasonably practicable after deciding to register a person, include him in the relevant register.
(7) The Authority or the OFT may cancel a person’s registration in a register maintained by them under regulation 32 if, at any time after registration, it appears to them that they would have had grounds to refuse registration under paragraph (3).
(8) Where the Authority or the OFT proposes to cancel a person’s registration, it must give him notice of—
(a)its proposal to cancel his registration;
(b)the reasons for the proposed cancellation; and
(c)the right to make representations to it within a specified period (which may not be less than 28 days).
(9) The Authority or the OFT, as the case may be, must then decide, within a reasonable period, whether to cancel the person’s registration and it must give him notice of—
(a)its decision not to cancel his registration; or
(b)the following matters—
(i)its decision to cancel his registration and, subject to paragraph (10), the date from which cancellation takes effect;
(ii)the reasons for its decision; and
(iii)the right to appeal under regulation 44(1)(b).
(10) If the Authority or the OFT, as the case may be—
(a)considers that the interests of the public require the cancellation of a person’s registration to have immediate effect; and
(b)includes a statement to that effect and the reasons for it in the notice given under paragraph (9)(b),
the cancellation takes effect when the notice is given to the person.
(11) In paragraphs (3) and (4), references to regulation 27 are to be treated as references to that paragraph as applied by paragraph (2) of this regulation.