The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2023 were recently published on legislation.gov.uk, the official UK website for the publication of legal documents. The regulations revoke numerous retained EU regulations, implement various provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, and provide transitional phases for differing provisions of the Act and other regulatory measures.
#### Revocation of EU-law
In detail, the Act revokes the following EU-retained legislation (REUL) in accordance with the outlined revocation dates. For those clients not able to view the presented pdf files, please refer to the attached xls file which contains a list of all REULs being revoked with the corresponding revocation dates.
Table 1 – Regulations or Articles and Provisions thereunder revoked as of December 14, 2023
Table 2 – Regulations or Articles and Provisions thereunder revoked as of January 1, 2024
Table 3 – Regulations or Articles and Provisions thereunder revoked as of April 5, 2024
Table 4 – Regulations or Articles and Provisions thereunder revoked as of June 30, 2024
#### Implementation of various provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023
The new regulations bring into force certain provisions of the FSMA 2023 as follows:
– Sections regarding the implementation of the Listing Authority Advisory Panel and the Insurance Practitioner Panel and the composition of Panels came into force on December 26, 2023;
– Provisions concerning central counterparties (CCPs) in financial difficulties and related schedules came into force on December 31, 2023;
– Several sections of the Act including sustainability disclosure requirements, rules affecting international trade obligations, and provisions as regards the Bank of England levy and some parts of Schedule 7 related to accountability of the Payment Systems Regulator came into force on January 1, 2024;
– Specific provisions regarding rules, requirements, directions to the Bank of England, and regulatory powers also came into force January 1, 2024;
– Sections related to Cost Benefit Analysis Panels and the application of certain sections of the FSMA 2000 relating to FMI functions will come into force on August 1, 2024;
– Various sections involving regulatory principles with regards to the environment, Payment Systems Regulator provisions, and insertions into the 2013 Act about sustainable growth will come into force on January 1, 2025; and
– A specific section (30I(2) into the Bank of England Act 1998) as inserted by section 48 of the Act comes into force.
#### Saving or transitional provisions and minor technical amendments
The following saving or transitional provisions are implemented to provide regulatory relief for certain financial market participants and the financial regulators themselves:
Saving Provision for Part 1 of the Banking Act 2009 (Regulation 14): If the Bank initiated resolution measures under the Banking Act 2009 before December 31, 2023 regarding a CCP, certain amendments related to central counterparties do not apply to that resolution. The Bank or Treasury can take further actions permitted under the Banking Act 2009 in connection with such resolution.
Transitional Provisions for FSMA 2000 and the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (Regulations 15 and 16): These provisions concern actions proposed by regulators or the Payment Systems Regulator after January 1, 2024, where a duty to consult applies. If a draft of the proposed rules or requirements was published before this date, the requirement for consultation must be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable under the respective acts.
Saving Provision for Sections 41, 42, and 46 of the Act (Regulation 17): Certain sections related to the composition of Panels and the regulator’s duty to consult do not apply to appointments made before December 26, 2023.
Amendment of Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Regulation 18): This amendment modifies the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2023. It includes adjustments concerning the effect of rules on international trade obligations and a change in subsection references within the regulations.