The SEC and UK Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") signed two Memoranda of Understanding ("MOU") to ensure continued cooperation with respect to the oversight of regulated entities across borders.
The first MOU is a supervisory arrangement covering regulated entities that "operate across the national borders." The MOU, which was originally signed in 2006, was updated to increase the scope of covered firms under the MOU to include firms that carry out derivatives, credit rating, and derivatives trading repository businesses.
The second MOU was originally signed in 2013, and provides a framework for "supervisory cooperation and exchange of information" for covered entities in the alternative investment fund industry. The updated MOU ensures that investment advisers, fund managers and private funds in the alternative investment fund industry will be able to operate on a "cross-border basis without interruption" in the event of Brexit.
These MOUs will come into force on the date EU legislation ceases to have direct effect in the United Kingdom, post-Brexit; their significance is in reaffirming the regulators' commitment to continue close cooperation and information sharing upon the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
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