We previously advised that the FCA had proposed a delay to the deadline for the first assessment as fit and proper for individuals in a certificated role – for example financial advisers. That required the Treasury to issue a statutory instrument to enable the delay. As of 2 September, following a request from the FCA, the Treasury has made a statutory instrument to delay, from 9 December 2020 until 31 March 2021, the deadline for solo-regulated firms to have undertaken the first assessment of the fitness and propriety of their Certified Persons.
The FCA has also consulted to change to the same date in the FCA Handbook, the deadline for the following requirements:
- the date the Conduct Rules come into force, for staff who are not Senior Managers or Certification Staff;
- the deadline for submission of information about Directory Persons to the Register.
Confirmation of this is likely to be published in October 2020.
You can read the FCA statement in full here.



Pension Transfers – considering a workplace pension
Alistair MacDougall Compliance Defined Benefit, FCA, Pension, Pension Transfer, PI, Switch, transfer
We recently reviewed a pension transfer report where the client was recommended to transfer out of the defined benefit scheme into the client’s pre-existing SIPP. We considered that the recommendation to transfer appeared to be appropriate. However, the client had what the FCA calls an ‘available qualifying scheme’, more commonly referred to as a […]