The FCA recently consulted on changes to protect consumers and address harms across all the sectors where principals and ARs operate. These changes, set out in policy statement PS22/11 ; Improvements to Appointed Representatives Regime came into effect on 8th December 2022.
Principal firms are now required to provide more information on their Appointed Representatives (ARs). As a result the FCA issued Section 165 data requests to principals between 8 and 12 December 2022.
In addition, responsibilities and expectations of principal firms have also been both clarified and strengthened.
The changes will impact the following firms:
All firms that currently have ARs
Firms that intend to have ARs in the future
ARs themselves
Principal firms have until 28th February 2023 to respond to Section 165 data requests in respect of each of their existing ARs, and all firms should now read the updated rules and expectations and take necessary steps to ensure they comply.