The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will replace its financial services register with an “enhanced” version on 27 July 2020.
Later this year, it will then add a directory of certified and assessed persons to it.
The “enhanced” register will have a new look and include improvements made in response to user feedback.
Updates
Firms will need to update any links they have to pages on the current financial services register, other than those to the homepage, once the revamped version is launched.
All current links will be redirected to the “enhanced” register’s homepage.
The existing register will cease to be available from 6pm on Friday 24 July so that work can take place over the weekend to make the enhanced one ready for the start of business on Monday 27 July.
Operational challenges
The FCA said in a statement: “Under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR), we committed to publishing and maintaining a directory of certified and assessed persons on the financial services register, so consumers and professionals can check details of key individuals working in financial services.
“We had planned to publish the directory persons information in March this year. Having already announced a delay to this, we now intend to publish it later this year.
“This is partly due to the impact of coronavirus and the additional burden this would have placed on firms.
“We’ve also experienced operational challenges when processing some bulk data file submissions from dual regulated firms at peak periods. We want to allow enough time for us to work with firms so that all data submitted is accurately represented when published.”
Contact firms
Banks, building societies, credit unions and insurance companies can continue to update the information on their past and present certified employees for inclusion in the directory when it launches later this year.
However, due to the delay, the FCA said that some firms may wish to wait to submit their data once it has confirmed a publication date.
The UK watchdog will “contact firms with any important updates” and “will provide them with advance notice” before it publishes the data.
The FCA recently announced the extension of the previous deadline of 9 December 2020 for solo-regulated firms to submit information about directory persons to the register to 31 March 2021.
Once submitted, the regulator will still publish details of certified employees of solo firms starting from 9 December 2020 on the register.
It has encouraged solo-regulated firms to provide this information before March 2021 if they can.
