Related provisions for PERG 8.14.1
1 - 20 of 40 items.
11A local authority (in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) is exempt from the financial promotion restriction (that is, the restriction in section 21 of the Act) for a communication which is a non-real time financial promotion or a solicited real time financial promotion. However, this exemption does not apply to a communication which relates to a regulated credit agreement, where entering into the agreement or exercising, or having the right to exercise, the lender’s rights and
Article 39 of the Financial Promotion Order exempts a financial promotion that:(1) is communicated by one participator or potential participator in a joint enterprise to another; and(2) is in connection with or for the purposes of that enterprise.A joint enterprise means, in general terms, arrangements entered into by two or more persons for commercial purposes related to a business that they carry on. The business must not involve a controlled activity. The term ‘participant’
This exemption disapplies the restriction in section 21 of the Act from non-real time financial promotions or solicited real time financial promotions which are made to a person who the communicator believes on reasonable grounds to be a certified high net worth individual and which relate to certain investments. These investments must be either:7(1) shares in or debentures or alternative debentures7 of an unlisted company; or(2) warrants,certificates representing certain securities,
A certified high net worth individual is an individual who has signed a statement in the form prescribed in Part I (Statement for certified high net worth individuals) of Schedule 5 to the Financial Promotion Order. This requires the individual to certify that he has earned at least £100,000 or have held net assets to the value of more than £250,000 throughout the financial year before the date of the certificate. Where the financial promotion is an outgoing electronic commerce
11The financial promotion restriction (that is, the restriction in section 21 of the Act) does not apply to a communication which is a non-real time financial promotion or a solicited real time financial promotion by an insolvency practitioner who acts in that capacity (see the definition of “acting as an insolvency practitioner” in article 3 of the Regulated Activities Order). The exemption only applies where the communication is made in the course of carrying on an activity
9Article 72F exempts any financial promotion which is made to an employee by or on behalf of a person in relation to an exempt staff loan. An exempt staff loan is defined as a credit agreement which is:(1) offered by a lender to a borrower as an incident of employment with the lender, or with an undertaking in the same group as the lender11; and(2) an exempt agreement under a provision of article 60G (exempt agreements: exemptions relating to the total charge for credit) of the
Financial promotions made only to or directed only at certain types of person who are sophisticated enough to understand the risks involved are exempt. These are:(1) authorised persons;(2) exempt persons (where the financial promotion relates to a controlled activity which is a regulated activity for which the person is exempt);(3) governments and local authorities; and(4) persons whose ordinary business involves carrying on a controlled activity of the kind to which the financial
The Treasury, in making the Financial Promotion Order, noted that financial journalism has an important part to play in increasing consumer awareness of financial services and products. It further observed the need to strike the right balance between protecting consumers and ensuring that the level of regulation is as light as possible, while respecting the principle of the freedom of the press.
With this objective in mind, the exemption in article 20 applies to any non-real time financial promotion the contents of which are devised by a person acting as a journalist where the financial promotion is in:1(1) a newspaper, journal, magazine or other periodical publication;(2) a regularly updated news or information service (such as a website or teletext service); or(3) a television or radio broadcast or transmission.In addition, the publication, service or broadcast must
Article 20A provides a further exemption for certain financial promotionscommunicated by means of a service or broadcast which satisfies the principal purpose test in article 54 of the Regulated Activity Order (see PERG 8.12.25 G and PERG 7). Readers of this section should also refer to the guidance on company statements in PERG 8.21.1
The ordinary business of a publisher or broadcaster can involve him in publishing or broadcasting financial promotions (for example, advertisements) on behalf of authorised or exempt persons. Journalists who write about investments or financial services may promote the services of an authorised or exempt person. In the FCA's opinion, such persons would not normally be regarded as making arrangements under article 25(2). This is the case even if any arrangements they may have made
The Regulated Activities Order contains an exclusion (article 27: Enabling parties to communicate) to bring a degree of certainty to this area. This applies to arrangements which might otherwise fall within article 25(2) merely because they provide the means by which one party to a transaction (or potential transaction) is able to communicate with other parties. In the FCA's view, the crucial element of the exclusion is the inclusion of the word ‘merely’. So that, where a publisher,
For example, in the FCA's view a publisher or broadcaster would be likely to be making arrangements within the meaning of article 25(2) and be unable to make use of the exclusion in article 27 if:(1) he enters into an agreement with a provider of investment services such as a broker or product provider for the purpose of carrying their financial promotion; and(2) as part of the arrangements, the publisher or broadcaster does one or more of the following:(a) brands the investment
It would also be an indicator that a publisher or broadcaster might be making arrangements falling within article 25(2) if he receives a commission or other form of reward based on the amount of regulated business done as a result of his carrying the promotion. This would be on the basis that the existence of the financial interest will inevitably have a bearing on the purpose for which the arrangements are viewed as having been made by him. However, the article 27 exclusion will
The mere provision by a website operator of a bulletin board or chat room ought not to amount to making arrangements under article 25(2) unless making such arrangements is the specific purpose of the facility. However, operators of websites with such facilities will clearly need to be aware of potential implications (such as the service being used by unauthorised persons to give advice or make financial promotions or to make misleading statements with a view to manipulating market
(1) Introductions may take many forms but typically involve an offer to make an introduction or action taken in response to an unsolicited request. An introduction may be an inducement if the introducer is actively seeking to persuade or incite the person he is introducing to do business with the person to whom the introduction is made. So it may fall under section 21 if its purpose is to lead to investment activity. For example, if a person answers the question ‘do you or can
A personal illustration (for instance, of the costs of and benefits under a particular investment product) may or may not be an invitation or inducement. This will depend on the extent to which it seeks to persuade or incite the recipient to invest as opposed to merely providing him with information. A personal illustration may, however, be accompanied by an invitation or inducement to buy the investment in which case the exemptions for one-off financial promotions in articles
Employers and their contracted service providers 6may communicate with employees on matters which involve controlled investments. For example, work-related insurance, staff mortgages,6personal pension schemes (including stakeholder schemes) and other employee benefit schemes other than occupational pension schemes. Interests under the trusts of an occupational pension scheme are not a controlled investment (see paragraph 27 (2) of Schedule 1 to the Financial Promotion Order).In
The article 55 exemption also requires that:(1) the financial promotion relates to an activity to which the Part XX exemption applies or which would be a regulated activity but for the exclusion in article 67 of the Regulated Activities Order (Activities carried on in the course of a profession or non-investment business) which concerns activities which are a necessary part of professional services; and(2) the activity to which the financial promotion relates would be undertaken
One of the effects of the requirements in PERG 8.15.2 G concerns financial promotions which relate to an activity which is not a regulated activity as the result of an exclusion in the Regulated Activities Order. In this case, a professional firm using the Part XX exemption cannot make a real time financial promotion relying on article 55 of the Financial Promotion Order unless the exclusion is provided by article 67 of the Regulated Activities Order. Neither can a professional
The article 55A exemption should enable professional firms to issue brochures, websites and other non-real time financial promotions without any need for approval by an authorised person. This is provided the financial promotion does not also contain an invitation or inducement relating to regulated activities other than those covered by the Part XX exemption. In this respect, it should be noted that, unlike article 55, the article 55A exemption does not extend to activities which
This section applies:(1) to a financial promotion in relation to consumer credit lending;(2) to a financial promotion in relation to credit broking in relation to regulated credit agreements;(3) to a financial promotion in relation to activities specified in article 36A(1)(a) or (c) of the Regulated Activities Order in relation to what would be regulated credit agreements but for a relevant provision, but only where the firm also carries on such activities in relation to regulated
Under the Act and the Regulated Activities Order, the activities of effecting and carrying out contracts of insurance are treated as being carried on in the United Kingdom on the basis of legal tests under which the location of the risk is only one factor. If the risk is located in the United Kingdom, then (other relevant factors being taken into account) the activity will, in the vast majority of cases, also be viewed as carried on in the United Kingdom. There are exceptions,
Articles 53,1 53A, 53B,3 53C1 and 53D 3and 53E 5of the Regulated Activities Order contain a number of elements, all of which must be present before a person will require authorisation. For guidance on whether a person is carrying on these regulated activities, see PERG 8 (Financial promotion and related activities),1PERG 4 (Guidance on regulated activities connected with mortgages), PERG 12.6 (Advising on conversion or transfer of pension benefits), 5, 3PERG 14.3, 3PERG 14.4
Some software services involve the generation of specific buy, sell or hold signals relating to particular investments. These signals are liable, as a general rule, to be advice for the purposes of article 53 (as well as financial promotions) given by the person responsible for the provision of the software. The exception to this is where the user of the software is required to use enough control over the setting of parameters and inputting of information for the signals to be
The regulated activities which are likely to be conducted in the circumstances referred to in PERG 8.23.2 G are:(1) giving advice on certain investments (articles 53 (Advising on investments), 53A (Advising on regulated mortgage contracts), 53B (Advising on regulated home reversion plans), 53C (Advising on regulated home purchase plans), 53D (Advising on regulated sale and rent back agreements)2 and 56 (Advice on syndicate participation at Lloyd’s) of the Regulated Activities
As respects article 53, the main exclusion relates to advice given in periodical publications, regularly updated news and information services and broadcasts (article 54: Advice given in newspapers etc). The exclusion applies if the principal purpose of any of these is not to give advice covered in article 53 or to lead or enable persons to acquire or dispose of securities or contractually based investments. This is explained in greater detail, together with the provisions on
Controlled activity and controlled investment are defined in Schedule 1 to the Financial Promotion Order and are listed in PERG 8.36.3 G and PERG 8.36.4 G. Broadly speaking, controlled activities and controlled investments are similar to regulated activities and specified investments under the Regulated Activities Order. However, with controlled activities, the exclusions set out in the Regulated Activities Order do not, in most cases, apply. It is important to note, however,