Authority Change meaning

This checklist outlines matters a potential buyer (and its advisers) ought to weigh up when acquiring the share capital or business assets of a firm authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), or authorised or registered by the FCA under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, SI 2017/752 (PSRs 2017). It is designed to help purchasers compile a due diligence questionnaire and to flag other central elements of the transaction. It is not exhaustive and additional considerations may arise. Due diligence Authorisations and licences Review the Financial Services Register for the target’s FCA or PRA authorisation under FSMA 2000 and the scope of permissions attached to that authorisation, or for FCA authorisation or registration under the PSRs 2017; also confirm the authorisations and permissions of any group entities. Verify that activities undertaken by the target (and any group members) align with the permissions recorded on the Financial Services Register... ...

The requirement for planning use swaps can emerge when a planning proposal would diminish residential floor space and the local planning authority (LPA) insists that a linked application is lodged to secure a proportionate re-provision of residential space in a different location. This is ordinarily pursued to ensure an equivalent level of residential provision is secured elsewhere through a connected scheme. Frequently, two distinct developers are engaged in a use swap. One applicant seeks consent for works or a change of use that results in the loss of dwellings (Developer A), whilst another brings forward a connected application to deliver residential accommodation in another part of the area (Developer B). A planning use swap agreement records the basis on which the swap proceeds. For further details, see Practice Note: Planning use swaps. Does the planning use swap agreement include the relevant parties? As an agreement under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (section 106 agreement) is commonly needed before the LPA will...

Part XII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000) Under Part XII of FSMA 2000, controllers and prospective controllers must obtain approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) before acquiring or increasing control in a UK authorised firm, and must notify the relevant regulator when reducing or ceasing control in a firm. The FCA and PRA also require UK authorised firms to notify them when a person reduces or no longer has control in the firm. This Checklist outlines the practical steps that controllers and proposed controllers should consider when acquiring or increasing, or disposing of or decreasing, control. For more detail on the change of control regime, see the following Practice Notes: FSMA 2000 controllers regime—key concepts Obligations of controllers—acquiring and increasing control Obligations of controllers—reducing or ceasing control FSMA 2000 controllers regime—obligations for firms FSMA 2000 controllers regime—fund managers Enforcement of the FSMA 2000 controllers regime Authorised...

In this issue: Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing Renewable energy Conventional power, waste to energy, biomass, and CHP projects Hydrogen, CCUS and emerging technologies Energy disputes Air emissions, efficiency, and climate change International energy LexTalk®Energy: a Lexis®Nexis community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Energy resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing DESNZ confirms enduring governance for Smart Secure Electricity Systems DESNZ has issued its response to the 2025 consultation on enduring governance for the Smart Secure Electricity Systems (SSES) Programme, confirming that Elexon, through the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC), will establish new Technical and Security Governance Groups to guide the technical and security frameworks that enable consumer-led flexibility. Using powers in section 245 of the Energy Act 2023, the government will amend the BSC so Elexon can run these groups as BSC Panel sub-committees and...

In this issue: Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing Networks and grid connections Renewable energy Capacity Market, balancing services and system flexibility Air emissions, efficiency and climate change International energy Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Energy resources on Lexis+® Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing DESNZ has opened a consultation to strengthen Energy Ombudsman (EO) powers. It will concentrate on complaints from domestic energy suppliers, small enterprise complaints against non-domestic suppliers, and heat network complaints. Electricity and gas networks and third-party intermediaries will instead be consulted on separately. The plans include shortening the escalation period for complaints from eight to four weeks, allowing automatic compensation where EO decisions are not put into effect promptly, and granting the EO a statutory designation. DESNZ has also stated that Ofgem will regulate third‑party intermediaries, including energy brokers and price comparison sites, which have previously operated...

In this issue: Key developments and materials Electricity and gas market regulation, licensing and taxation Renewable energy Capacity Market, balancing services and energy system flexibility Hydrogen, CCUS and emerging technologies Nuclear energy Planning issues in energy projects Air emissions, efficiency, and climate change New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Energy resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Key developments and materials DESNZ announces accelerated measures to boost UK energy security DESNZ has unveiled a suite of actions to reinforce and speed up the UK’s energy security in light of events in the Middle East. For the first time, ‘plug-in solar’ will be permitted in the UK. The department plans to advance the next annual renewables auction to July 2026 and has confirmed that the government will adopt the Fingleton Review’s recommendations to hasten delivery of nuclear power stations. It has also moved to safeguard consumers, working...

This Resource Note spotlights commentary, analysis and materials to aid interpretation and give practical guidance on applying Chapters 1, 1A, 1B and 1C of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules: DTR 1, DTR 1A, DTR 1B and DTR 1C respectively. Materials referenced here include, where pertinent: the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook FCA Knowledge Base guidance—Procedural notes and Technical notes (constituting formal guidance and binding on the FCA) FCA consultation papers, discussion papers, policy statements, feedback statements and warnings Primary Market Bulletins and other FCA publications former UKLA technical and procedural notes and the UKLA newsletter List!, where still relevant to interpreting or applying a provision assimilated EU legislation EU Directives and EU Regulations, where relevant to interpreting a provision Lexis+ UK analysis and resources Setting the scene What it covers: DTR 1 sets out the Disclosure guidance, explaining its scope and purpose; DTR 1A sets out the transparency rules with their scope and purpose;...

Oil & Gas—UKCS licensing regime Regulatory body Up to 2016, oversight of the UK’s oil and gas resources chiefly sat with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), acting for the Secretary of State. Following Sir Ian Wood’s review of UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) oil and gas recovery (the Wood Review), government created an independent regulator—now the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA)—to assume DECC’s licensing and regulatory duties in respect of all oil and gas exploration and production activities on the UKCS. This restructuring transferred responsibility for those matters from DECC to the new body. Until 21 March 2022 the NSTA operated under the name Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), which remains the company’s formal legal name and continues to appear in some legislation. The NSTA began taking on these roles from DECC on 1 April 2015, at first as an executive agency within DECC. The Energy Act 2016 subsequently established the NSTA as a fully independent regulator, constituted as an independent Government company, and amended the...

The creation of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) in 2013 The establishment of the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) in 2013 coincided with an overhaul of a component of the criminal cartel offence that prosecutors had to prove to convict directors and officers. When the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (ERRA 2013) commenced on 1 April 2014, the dishonesty element of the cartel offence was scrapped, marking a radical change to what prosecutors had previously been required to establish. Under the revised regime, an individual commits the offence by agreeing, with one or more persons, that two or more undertakings will take part in specified prohibited cartel arrangements (price-fixing, market-sharing, bid-rigging, or limiting output), regardless of dishonesty. Any such arrangements must have occurred in the UK to be caught. As explained further below, this shift is partly offset by new exceptions, covering notification of customers, publication of arrangements, and compliance with a legal requirement, as well as defences, including that the accused did not intend to conceal...

This Agreement is entered into on [ insert date ] of [ insert month ] [ insert year ] by and between: [ insert name ], of [ insert address ] (' Council '); [ insert name ], of [ insert address ] (' County Council '); [ insert name ], a company duly incorporated and registered in [ insert details ] under number [ insert details ], whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (' Developer '); [ Additional parties as necessary eg owner, landlord, mortgagee, option holder etc. ] (' [ insert additional parties as necessary eg owner, landlord, mortgagee, option holder etc ] '). Recitals The Council is the local planning authority for the purposes of section 106 of the 1990 Act for the area within which the Land is situated and is the body by whom the obligations contained in this Deed are enforceable. The County Council is the local highway...

Date: [ insert date ] 1 Introduction The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) aims to bolster the UK’s response to economic wrongdoing. It is designed to strengthen the UK’s fight against economic crime. A standout change for commercial organisations is the broadened basis on which companies can be criminally liable for misconduct by senior managers, extending corporate responsibility for their actions. 1.1 What’s the issue? Since 1971, the courts’ identification doctrine has set the test for treating a natural person’s actions and state of mind as those of a legal person. It has been the principal route for attributing criminal responsibility to corporate bodies. Under this approach, only when the ‘directing mind and will’ of a company committed the offence could liability attach to the corporate itself; in practice, this largely captured the managing director or owner when actively running the business. That standard has long been a demanding hurdle for prosecutors, which the government has now materially lowered via ECCTA 2023....

Definitions Environment – any or all of the following media: (a) air, including air inside buildings or other structures and at levels below or above ground; (b) land, covering buildings and any other structures or erections upon, in or beneath it, together with soil and anything beneath the land's surface; and (c) water, including groundwater and surface water, plus any ecological systems or living organisms (humans included) sustained by those media. EHS Laws – all relevant legislation (whether civil, criminal or administrative), statutes, statutory instruments, directives, regulations, common law, codes of practice and guidance notes (having legal effect), and any instructions or decisions of any court or regulatory authority that concern EHS Matters. EHS Matters – any issues connected with the Environment, energy efficiency, climate change, or health and safety...