The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Consumer Credit) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2014

Legal professional privilege

8.—(1) The FCA is entitled to claim legal professional privilege or, in Scotland, confidentiality of communications in respect of legally privileged information disclosed to the FCA by the Office of Fair Trading (“the OFT”).

(2) In this article, “legally privileged information” means information received or generated by the OFT, before 1st April 2014, in respect of which the OFT would have been able, before that date, to maintain a claim to legal professional privilege or, in Scotland, to confidentiality of communications in legal proceedings.

(3) For the purposes of this article, legally privileged information is to be treated as disclosed to the FCA by the OFT if it is contained in a document transferred by the OFT to the FCA—

(a) under a transfer scheme made under Part 2 of Schedule 21 to the Financial Services Act 2012(1) (property, rights and liabilities of Office of Fair Trading); or

(b) otherwise in connection with functions of the FCA becoming exercisable in respect of an activity which—

(i) ceases on 1st April 2014 to be an activity in respect of which a licence under section 21 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (businesses needing a licence)(2) is required or would be required but for the exemption conferred by subsection (2), (3) or (4) of that section or paragraph 15(3) in Part 2 of Schedule 3 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (grant of permission)(3), and

(ii) becomes on that date a regulated activity for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

(1)

2012 c.21.

(2)

1974 c.39. Section 21 amended by the Consumer Credit Act 2006 (c.14), section 33, and the Energy Act 2011 (c.16), section 26.

(3)

Paragraph 15(3) amended by the Consumer Credit Act 2006, section 33, and the Enterprise Act 2002 (c.40), Schedule 25, paragraph 40(1) and (19)(a).