The FCA’s new rules for Principals and Appointed Representatives (“ARs”) came into force on the 8th of December 2022. These new rules solidify the FCA’s expectations for Principal firms and how they monitor their ARs. Between the 8th and 12th of December, the FCA will begin to send Section 165 information requests to Principal firms, including firms with Introducer Appointed Representatives (“IARs”), which request information in line with the FCA’s new rules.
The latest Section 165 is a one-off request for information which firms will have until 28th February 2023 to respond and provide data about ARs and IARs which includes;
- The reason for any appointments
- The nature of regulated activity
- Whether any unregulated business is conducted and if so, the nature of the business.
- Anticipated revenue
- The nature of financial arrangements between the Principal and ARs
- Complaints information
Although, this request is a one-off Section 165, firms will report information on an ongoing basis through annual reporting and whenever the Principal firms submit a new notification when they onboard a new AR/IAR or whether the activities of an AR changes.
The Section 165 request is completed online and will be sent to firms via an email link to the Principal User details on the FCA’s Connect portal.