On March 25, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its webpage on the temporary permissions regime (TPR) to announce that it intends to extend the notification window for European Economic Area (EEA) firms and fund managers wishing to enter the TPR to the end of April 11. On March 26, the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) also updated its webpage on the TPR to make an equivalent announcement. (For more information on the TPR, please see the Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest edition of January 11, 2019.)

The FCA’s and the PRA’s decisions follow the European Council’s decision to agree to a short extension to the Article 50 period to April 12 if the UK government’s Withdrawal Agreement is not approved by the House of Commons (and May 22, if it is).

The FCA also announced the publication of supplementary directions to provide guidance on how a firm can withdraw its notification. Firms that withdraw their notification in writing to the FCA before exit day will not enter the TPR. The PRA published an equivalent supplementary direction on withdrawals of notifications before exit day on March 22.

The updated FCA webpage is available here.

The updated PRA webpage is available here.