COBS 10.5 Assessing appropriateness: guidance

A service should be considered to be provided at the initiative of a client (see COBS 10.4.1 R (1)(a)1) unless the client demands it in response to a personalised communication from or on behalf of the firm to that particular client which contains an invitation or is intended to influence the client in respect of a specific financial instrument or specific transaction.

A service can be considered to be provided at the initiative of a client notwithstanding that the client demands it on the basis of any communication containing a promotion or offer of investments2 made by any means that by its very nature is general and addressed to the public or a larger group or category of clients.

1. (1)

   Communications to the world at large, such as those in newspapers or on billboards, are likely to be by their very nature general and therefore not personalised communications.

2. (2)

   Communications addressed to a client (such as, for example, an email,2 telephone call or2 letter), may or may not be personalised depending on the content.

3. (3)

   A communication is not personalised solely because it contains the name and address of the client or because a mailing list has been filtered.

4. (4)

   If a firm is satisfied that a communication does not contain any personalised content, it may wish to make clear that it does not intend the communication to be personalised and that the personal circumstances of the recipient have not been taken into account.

The circumstances in which valuation systems will be independent of the issuer (see COBS 10.4.1 R (3)(b)) include where they are overseen by a depositary that is regulated as a provider of depositary services in a the United Kingdom3.