On August 13, 2015, the PRA and the FCA published near-final rules on the Senior Manager and Certification regime for UK branches of EEA and non-EEA banks and PRA-designated investment firms. The new rules for all UK firms and branches of non-UK firms come into effect on March 7, 2016. Firms must notify the regulators by February 8, 2016 as to which individuals will be senior managers under the new regime. The regulators cannot make final rules until related legislation has been passed later this year. However, to give non-UK firms as much time as possible to implement the required changes, the regulators have decided to publish the near-final rules now. Amongst the changes included in the near-final rules are: (i) replacement of the FCA Overseas Branch Senior Management function with a new Executive Director function and a new Other Local Responsibility function; (ii) revised FCA guidance on remote booking; and (iii) clarifications on when an individual located outside of the UK who is involved in the activities of the branch might need to become approved as a senior manager.
The PRA's Policy Statement is available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/pra/Documents/publications/ps/2015/ps2015.pdf and the FCA's Feedback Statement is available at: http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/feedback-statements/fs15-03.pdf.
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