FCA urges firms to hurry up with submission of passporting requests
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today published the latest edition of the Primary Market Bulletin, with a big part of the document dedicated to Brexit.
The UK regulator previously clarified that prospectuses passported in to the UK before the end of the transition period will remain valid in the UK until their expiry (that is, 1 year from the date of the original approval of the prospectus). However, it will not be possible to passport prospectuses into an EEA country after the end of the transition period.
Additionally, the launch of ESMA’s new prospectus register systems will change the way that National Competent Authorities (NCAs) send and receive passported prospectuses. The FCA stresses the new procedures, the fact that the end of the transition period occurs during a holiday period, as well as the potential for an increased number of requested passports in the period up to 31 December.
That is why, the FCA strongly encourages issuers and their advisors to arrange their passporting request with the relevant EU NCAs well in advance of 31 December.
The FCA says it will endeavour to process incoming passports received within 24 hours and publish the details on its website. But it is possible that this may be delayed if the UK regulator receives large numbers of requests at the end of December. This will not affect the validity of prospectuses passported into the UK before the end of the TP for use in the UK.
Let’s note that the FCA has recently published more information on the Temporary Transitional Power (TTP). For areas where the TTP will not apply, firms and other regulated persons will need to prepare to comply with key requirements ready for the end of 2020. Where TTP applies, firms and other regulated persons do not generally need to prepare now to meet the changes to their UK regulatory obligations brought about by onshoring.