The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2017

Third country firms: financial promotions

14.—(1) The communication, in the course of business, of an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity is not to be regarded as a communication for the purposes of section 21(1) (restrictions on financial promotion) of the Act if it is made in the course of exercising rights under Title 8 of the markets in financial instruments regulation.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) a communication is made in the course of exercising rights under Title 8 of the markets in financial instruments regulation if it is made—

(a) by a third country firm registered with ESMA to eligible counterparties or to clients considered to be professionals in the course of exercising rights under Article 46.1 (general provisions);

(b) by a third country firm to eligible counterparties or to clients considered to be professionals in the course of exercising rights under Article 46.5 of the Regulation provided that—

(i) the counterparty or client has initiated at his or her own exclusive initiative the provision by the firm of an investment service or activity under that Article to the counterparty or client; and

(ii) the communication is in respect of the investment service or activity; or

(c) by a third country firm with an EEA branch to eligible counterparties or to clients considered to be professionals in the course of exercising rights under Article 47.3 (equivalence decision) of the markets in financial instruments regulation.

(3) An order made by the Treasury under section 21(5) of the Act does not apply to a person who, in the course of business, communicates an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity if—

(a) the communication is made in the course of providing investment services or performing investment activities with or without ancillary services to eligible counterparties or clients considered to be professionals; and

(b) the person is—

(i) established in a country which is subject to an equivalence decision; or

(ii) permitted to provide those services under Article 46.5 of the markets in financial instruments regulation.

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (3)—

(a) “equivalence decision” means a decision adopted by the Commission in relation to a country under Article 47.1 of the markets in financial instruments regulation which has not been withdrawn by a subsequent decision adopted by the Commission under that Article; and

(b) a country is subject to an equivalence decision if a period of more than three years has elapsed since the adoption of the decision by the Commission, beginning on the day after the date of the adoption of the decision.