Exercise of rights to establish a branch by UK firms
5.—(1) Paragraph 19 of Schedule 3 to the Act (exercise of passport rights by UK firms to establish a branch) is amended as follows.
(2) At the beginning of sub-paragraph (1), insert “Subject to sub-paragraph (5A),”.
(3) For sub-paragraph (5), substitute—
“(5) The third is—
(a)if the EEA right in question derives from the insurance mediation directive, that one month has elapsed beginning with the date on which the firm received notice, in accordance with sub-paragraph (11), that the Authority has given a consent notice;
(b)in any other case, that either—
(i)the host state regulator has notified the firm (or, where the EEA right in question derives from any of the insurance directives, the Authority) of the applicable provisions; or
(ii)two months have elapsed beginning with the date on which the Authority gave the consent notice.”.
(4) After sub-paragraph (5), insert—
“(5A) If—
(a)the EEA right in question derives from the insurance mediation directive, and
(b)the EEA State in which the firm intends to establish a branch has not notified the Commission, in accordance with Article 6(2) of that directive, of its wish to be informed of the intention of any UK firm to establish a branch in its territory,
the second and third conditions do not apply (and so the firm may establish the branch to which its notice of intention relates as soon as the first condition is satisfied).”.
(5) After sub-paragraph (7), insert—
“(7A) If—
(a)the firm’s EEA right derives from the insurance mediation directive,
(b)the first condition is satisfied, and
(c)the second condition applies,
the Authority must give a consent notice, and must do so within one month beginning with the date on which it received the firm’s notice of intention.”.