SIFA 17.1 Individual Guidance

A firm or an individual may ask us for individual guidance on how the rules and general guidance in the Handbook, FSMA or other regulatory requirements apply in their particular circumstances (SUP 9). Requests for individual guidance may be made orally or in writing addressed to your firm's usual supervisory contact at the FSA. For smaller investment intermediaries this will usually be the Firm Contact Centre. We will expect the firm or individual to have taken reasonable steps to research and analyse a topic before approaching us for individual guidance.

If a firm acts in line with current individual written guidance that we give to it, then we will proceed on the basis that the firm has complied with the aspects of the rule or other requirement to which the guidance relates.

SUP 9.4.2 G explains that the extent to which a firm can rely on individual guidance will depend on many factors such as the degree of formality of the original query and the guidance given and whether all relevant information was submitted with the request.

We may also give individual guidance to a firm on our own initiative (SUP 9.3). We may use this as a regulatory tool in response to our risk assessment of the firm.