In its September Board meeting, FCA made several changes to the Handbook:
 

  • the Handbook Administration (No 31) Instrument 2013 makes minor administrative changes throughout the Handbook, taking effect on various dates;
  • the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) (Training and Competence (TC)) Instrument 2013 takes effect on 26 April 2104 and amends TC to ensure the requirement for mortgage sellers to be appropriately qualified applies as FCA intended and does not capture staff not involved in the sales process. FCA has also confirmed staff who carry out straightforward execution-only contract variations do not need to meet the qualification requirement;
  • the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 Instrument 2013 took effect on 1 October and aligned the rules in the Insurance: Conduct of Business Sourcebook (ICOBS) with the 2012 Act in respect of duties and rights of consumers and insurers;
  • the MMR (Pipeline Business) (Transitional Provisions) Instrument 2013 takes effect on 26 April 2014 and will provide a further three months after that date for firms to continue to process applications for mortgages on a non-advised basis, where an application was submitted on that basis before 26 April 2014;
  • the Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) (Indirect Clearing) Instrument 2013 took effect on 1 October and makes changes to CASS to ensure it does not conflict with EMIR's Regulatory Technical Standards on indirect clearing arrangements; and
  • the Capital Resources Requirements for Personal Investment Firms (Amendment No 2) Instrument 2013 defers the start date for the planned phased implementation of new capital resources requirements for personal investment firms by two years. FCA has, for the time being, deferred the effective date of the changes to 31 December 2015 but says it is examining whether the approach it took in 2009, when it first consulted on the changes, is still appropriate.

FCA also formally confirmed the instruments it made on 1 August in relation to fees for interim permissions for consumer credit firms, and its decision on designating some CCA secondary legislation into FCA rules. (Source: FCA Handbook Notice 005)