The Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes transitional and savings provisions in connection with the commencement of Part 4 of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (the “2013 Act”), which makes amendments to Part 5 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”).

Part 2 makes provision about people who, before 7th March 2016, have approval to perform a controlled function in relation to a firm that is authorised to carry on regulated activities.

Article 2 makes provision about the conditions that must be met for a person who, before the 7^th March 2016, has an approval to perform controlled functions in relation to a firm to continue to have approval on and after the 7th March 2016.

Article 3 sets out additional conditions for the continuation of an approval.

Article 4 makes provision about the treatment, on and after 7th March 2016, of a continuing approval for the purposes of Part 5 of FSMA. In particular, it specifies what functions the approval is to be treated as relating to.

Article 5 confers power on either regulator to impose further requirements about the form and content of a notice given in accordance with article 2.

Article 6 requires a notice given in accordance with article 2 (or any revision of that notice) to be updated if there is a change relating to information given in, or accompanying, the notice.

Article 7 makes provision to an authorised person to apply for the regulators to impose a condition on a continuing approval (or, if a condition has already been imposed, to vary or remove that condition).

Article 8 requires that a statement of management responsibilities given under article 2 must be updated if there is any significant change in those responsibilities after 7th March 2016.

Article 9 ensures that any steps taken by either regulator before 7th March 2016 in connection with the withdrawal of an approval continue to have effect on and after 7th March 2016.

Part 3 make provision in relation to applications for approval to perform controlled functions which have not been finally determined or withdrawn before 7th March 2016.

Article 10 suspends the period of time which the regulators have to consider such an application until the firm making the application has provided to the regulators a notice in accordance with article 11.

Article 11 sets out the conditions for the continuation of an application on and after 7th March 2016, including provision of a notice referred to in article 10.

Article 12 makes provision for the treatment of an application that continues on and after 7th March 2016. In particular, it specifies what functions the application is to be treated as relating to.

Article 13 confers power on either regulator to impose further requirements about the form and content of an article 13 notice.

Article 14 requires a notice given in accordance with article 11 to be updated if there is a change relating to information given in, or accompanying, the notice.

Article 15 requires that a statement of responsibilities given under article 11 must be updated if there is any significant change in those responsibilities after 7th March 2016.

Article 16 allows the PRA or the FCA, when determining an application which continues after 7th March 2016, to have regard to anything they could have had regard to if the application had been made on or after that date.

Part 4 confers powers on the regulators for the purposes of this Order. Article 17 allows the regulators to specify which controlled functions that are specified on or after 7th March 2016 are, for the purposes of this Order, to be treated as equivalent to controlled functions that are specified before 7th March 2016.

Part 5 makes provision about the enforcement powers of the regulators under FSMA.

Article 18 provides that amendments made by the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 to section 59 of FSMA (or any rules made by the regulators). do not affect any prohibition made by either regulator before 7th March 2016 (and makes similar provision in relation to warning, decision and final notices given by a regulator in connection with a prohibition).

Article 20 ensures that the regulators’ powers to impose a penalty on a person for performing a controlled function without approval before 7th March 2016 is not affected by any rules made by the regulator which alter or replace the controlled function in question.

Part 6 contains miscellaneous provisions.

This Order will have no effect on the costs of business and the voluntary sector. For that reason, no impact assessment has been produced for this instrument.