On January 13, 2017, the FCA published a guide on applications and notifications under MiFID and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation, together the MiFID II package. MiFID II will apply from January 3, 2018. It will introduce, among other things, new processes and forms for authorizing investment firms and new activities, such as operating an Organised Trading Facility. It will also require notifications to be made to the FCA. The FCA's guide covers applications for investment firm authorizations, new data reporting service providers authorizations, recognition of investment exchanges and variation permission as well as the notifications required by authorized firms and exchanges, including passporting notifications.
In particular, investment firms should note that the FCA will be using new forms for authorizations and variation of permission for investment services and activities from January 30, 2017, and the new passporting notifications from July 31, 2017. All applications for authorization of investment firms and DRSPs or variation of permission must be submitted by July 3, 2017 to allow the FCA time to assess the applications before the MiFID II implementation date. Passporting notifications must be submitted by December 2, 2017 so that the FCA can send them to other EU regulators before January 3, 2018.
The information in the guide is currently up to date. The FCA intends to provide updates on processes for applications and notifications, where necessary, through its website.
The guide is available at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/documents/mifid-ii-application-notification-guide.pdf.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
