Quarterly consultation CP11/11 contains details of various proposed changes to the Handbook. Two particular changes will be relevant to most firms.
A change to the submission of written reports will mean that such items should be sent to the FSA’s Central Reporting team, which will also have a dedicated email address, fax number and telephone number (see Appendix 9 of CP 11/11).For the avoidance of doubt there are no changes in respect of online submissions.
The FSA proposes tightening up the ‘Fair, clear and not misleading communications’ section of the Handbook (COBS 4.2).A communication or financial promotion will not be allowed to describe a product etc. as “guaranteed”, “protected”, or “secure” (or similar term) unless the term is capable of being a fair, clear and not misleading description of it (Appendix 5).
Elsewhere, changes are proposed to: SYSC 6 where a firm is operating under a branch passport; Training and Competency sourcebook; liquidity regime; and adviser charging. The consultation period for the proposals ends 6 August save for TC where the period ends 6 July.
