On 19th November 2020, in the context of Brexit, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asked the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) to channel to Luxembourg-based entities the following communication regarding the UK Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR). 

The following text is a literal transcription of the FCA’s communication: 

The TPR will enable relevant firms and funds which passport into the UK from the concerned jurisdictions to continue operating in the UK from the end of the transition period. The regime will allow firms and investment funds time to obtain authorisation or recognition in the UK, if required. Firms and funds need to notify the FCA of their desire to benefit from the regime, and any solo-regulated firms that have already notified the FCA are now receiving communications about how they should prepare, including the below. 

  1. For firms that passport into the UK, the notification window for the TPR reopened on 30 September. This will allow any solo-regulated firms and fund managers that have not yet notified to do so. The reopening of the notification window also provides an opportunity for fund managers to update their previously submitted notifications, if necessary. The FCA’s passporting team will be in touch shortly to check that all firms fromthe concernedjurisdictions that have notified for TPR remain authorised. 
  2. If firms hold a passport and have already notified to be in the TPR, but do not require a UK authorisation because, for example, they are not doing any UK business, they should withdraw their TPR notification and, if they have no existing contracts, also cancel their passport. 
  3. Any firms with a passport to the UK that do not enter the TPR, and that require permission to perform an existing contract, will automatically enter the UK’s Financial Services Contracts Regime (FSCR), to allow them to wind down their UK business in an orderly fashion. Firms in the FSCR will not be able to write new business in the UK. 

On 23 September the FCA published a consultation paper on general expectations for international firms that require FCA authorisation, which will be needed if they wish to undertake regulated activities in the UK on an on-going basis. It sets out more information on the expectations for that authorisation. All firms seeking a UK authorisation will be expected to have an active place of business in the UK. The consultation closes on 27 November 2020.