FSA Publications

OUR MONTHLY SUMMARY OF THE LATEST OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS BY THE FSA.

Transactions on Turquoise Derivatives and Derivative Markets Where Reference Data is Unavailable

Guidance Consultation

8th September 2011
Ref: GC 11/21 – 2 pages

Of interest to authorised firms with transaction reporting responsibilities, particularly those trading in derivatives. The document contains proposed guidance on transaction reporting for transactions on Turquoise Derivatives and derivative transactions conducted through clearing platforms of derivative markets where the reference data for these transactions is not made available to the FSA and ARMs.
Consultation period ended 22nd September.

Quarterly Consultation Paper No.30

Consultation Paper

7th September 2011
Ref: CP 11/18 – 102 pages

Various proposed changes, including amendments to the SYSC Sourcebook, the Training and Competence Sourcebook, liquidity rules in the Prudential sourcebook for BIPRU firms, the Collective Investment Schemes sourcebook, Perimeter Guidance manual, and Disclosure and Transparency Rules. Consultation period ends on 6th October for Chapters 3 and 9;
20th October for Chapter 2 and 6th November for other Chapters.

Transposition of the Revised UCITS Directive

Policy Statement

2nd September 2011
Ref: PS 11/10 – 295 pages

This Policy Statement reports on the main issues arising from the joint HM Treasury/FSA paper (Transposition of UCITS IV: consultation document) of December 2010 and publishes final rules. The driving issues, the FSA says, are that:

Key investor information will be shorter and clearer than the documents currently given to consumers before they make an investment decision. It should enable investors to compare funds more easily and make better- informed choices that meet their needs.
Changes to the scope of the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme will mean that investors in UK-authorised funds will be able to benefit from the increased competition generated by the UCITS management company passport, without any decrease in their rights of redress if something goes wrong.

Recovery and Resolution Plans

Consultation Paper

9th August 2011
Ref: CP 11/16 – 78 pages

Primarily intended for banks, building societies and insurers.

This Paper covers the proposed requirement for certain financial services firms to prepare and maintain Recovery and Resolution Plans (RRPs) and separately, for some of these firms, and others, to make additional preparations in relation to their investment client money and custody assets (CMA) holdings.

Recovery Plans require firms to identify options to recover financial strength and viability should a firm come under severe stress. Resolution planning requires firms to submit detailed information about their business and operational structure in the form of a Resolution Pack.

Consultation period ends on 9th November.

Remuneration Code (SYSC 19A)

Finalised Guidance

August 2011

Contains self-assessment templates for Tier 2, 3 and 4 firms, and also various information sheets on frequently asked questions.

Proposed ‘Dear CEO’ Letters Providing Guidance on Issues Relating to Remuneration

Guidance Consultation

5th August 2011
Ref: GC 11/19 – 10 pages

Of interest to FSA-authorised banks, building societies and Capital Adequacy Directive (CAD) investment firms. (This generally corresponds to firms subject to MiFID, although exempt CAD firms are not included.)

The revised Remuneration Code came into force on 1 January 2011, implementing the rules on remuneration contained in the EU Capital Requirements Directive (CRD3). These proposed ‘Dear CEO’ letters set out our plans for monitoring implementation of the Code during the coming remuneration round. An annexe alsocontains proposed guidance for consultation on certain policy issues.

Reporting Transactions in Derivatives Conducted Through Clearing Platforms

Finalised Guidance

September 2011
Ref: FG 11/12 – 10 pages

Guidance applies only to transactions in derivatives conducted through clearing platforms of ISIN derivative markets or of Aii derivative markets. This guidance will be effective from 31 March 2012. However, firms wishing to comply with guidance before this date may do so.

All the remaining transactions in derivatives executed on an ISIN derivative market (eg transactions in derivatives executed on the order book) continue to be reportable under SUP 17.1.4 (1) as currently.
All transactions in derivative instruments executed on the order book of an Aii derivative market are required to be reported from 13 November 2011.

FSA Regulation of Credit Unions in Northern Ireland

Consultation Paper

31st August 2011
Ref: CP 11/17 – 229 pages

Primarily intended for members, advisers and volunteers associated with credit unions in Northern Ireland.

An updated version of the dedicated section of the FSA Handbook of rules and guidance CRED, to be called CREDS, is due to apply by the time the transfer of regulation of credit unions in Northern Ireland takes place on 31 March 2012.

This Consultation Paper proposes a single regulatory regime which will apply, as far as is possible, the new CREDS rules to credit unions in Northern Ireland. However, it will not be possible to apply CREDS in its entirety and the FSA proposes tailoring the rules to reflect remaining legislative differences between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Consultation period ends on 31st October.

Platforms

Policy Statement

1st August 2011
Ref: PS 11/09 – 73 pages

This Policy Statement reports on the main issues arising from Consultation Paper 10/29 (Delivering the RDR and other issues for platforms and nominee related services) and publishes final rules.

Client Assets Sourcebook

Consultation Paper

29th July 2011
Ref: CP 11/15 – 42 pages

The document aims to seek views on the FSA’s proposals to amend the Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS). It covers two main topics:

Custody liens policy is being revised in the light of the 2008 banking crisis. Proposals have already been consulted upon in CP10/9, and rules were subsequently published in PS10/16. But one of the proposals included in CP10/9 involved prohibiting firms from granting inappropriate general liens over their clients’ assets and client money derived from those assets. A transitional period is due to expire on 1st October 2011, and interim arrangements need to be tidied up.

Title transfer collateral arrangements (TTCA) are also being amended, in line with the Consultation Paper (CP10/15) issued in July 2010.

Consultation period ends on 28th October.

Auctioning of Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowances

Consultation Paper

25th July 2011
Ref: CP 11/14 – 68 pages

The document proposes changes to the Handbook which complement the Treasury’s implementation of a new regulatory regime for platforms that will conduct auctions in emission allowances. The new regime is being put in place ahead of the start of EU procurement processes to select both a common EU auction platform and one or more national auction platforms.

Consultation period ends on 25th September.