CASS meaning

Safeguarding customer funds Under the Payment Service Regulations 2017 and the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, FCA-registered payments firms and electronic money institutions—together, payments firms—must protect customers’ money by maintaining appropriate safeguarding arrangements. This safeguarding framework exists to prevent harm to customers, such as shortfalls or delays in redemption, and to reduce the risk of detriment. The need is acute during a wind-down or insolvency, particularly given that money held by payments firms is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The sums entrusted to such firms are significant and continue to grow: the FCA records that electronic money institutions alone held a combined £18bn of customer funds in 2023, up from £11bn in 2021. Nevertheless, the FCA considers there to be widespread failure across payments firms to implement suitably robust safeguarding practices, and it fears that this leaves customers’ funds at risk. The regulator also expresses concern about recent UK court judgments on how the safeguarding regime operates upon insolvency, including the 2022 decision of the Court of...

Financial services developments FCA publishes CP26/8: Quarterly consultation paper No. 51 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released CP26/8: Quarterly consultation paper No. 51. Response dates for the various elements are shown in brackets below. CP26/8 outlines the following proposals: introduce consequential changes to CASS 1, 7 and 8, following the proposed revision to the definition of designated investment business, to ensure the rules operate for cryptoasset activities and the broader new crypto regime (13 April 2026) move certain provisions in Article 17 of RTS 1 into the framework now provided by MAR 11A so that more equity transparency provisions are available and expressed more clearly in a single place (13 April 2026) disapply rights of action for private persons under s138D of FSMA for the remaining chapters in MAR that govern the mechanics and operation of secondary markets, where trading venue members are generally professional investors rather than consumers...

In this issue: Research and development Medical devices Pharmaceutical regulation Data protection and life sciences Commercialisation Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Research and development Autumn Budget 2024—key Life Sciences announcements On 30 October 2024, within the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, set out a £520m long‑term pledge for the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund and an increase to the National Institute for Health and Care Research budget. These sit within more than £2bn of R&D backing to bolster life sciences and medtech research and to enhance the UK clinical trials ecosystem, alongside over £2bn earmarked for NHS technology and digital transformation. In total, £20.4bn of R&D investment was outlined for 2025–26. The government also confirmed renewal of the Tobacco Duty escalator and the introduction of a Vaping Product Duty from 1 October 2026....

Scope of this Practice Note This Practice Note outlines the authority a firm may receive to handle a client’s assets, with or without transferring title to those assets. It focuses on the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) requirements in the Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS), specifically chapters 3 (Collateral) and 8 (Mandates). Where a client: authorises a firm, via a mandate, to act in relation to their assets without passing ownership provides a firm with an asset as security to secure an obligation owed to the firm, i.e. supplies collateral the firm is not subject to the client money rules or the custody rules. The applicable provisions in each scenario are uncomplicated, centring on accurate records and exercising the proper rights over the assets. Impact of Brexit on CASS and the FCA’s powers and requirements Following the decision to leave the EU, the UK government ‘onshored’ and retained most EU and EU-derived legislation as it existed immediately before the UK’s departure...

Definition 'Custody' (as it is commonly termed) is a regulated activity under article 40 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, SI 2001/544 (RAO). It comprises both of the following: the safeguarding of assets that belong to another person, and the administration of those assets. Arranging custody (for one or more other persons to carry on that activity) is itself a separate regulated activity under SI 2001/544, art 40. The activity applies to assets that are designated investments (ie securities or contractually-based investments). Administering an investment may, for example, include crediting income generated by an investment to the beneficiary's account; however, discretion must not be exercised when undertaking these functions, otherwise the conduct falls within another regulated activity (advising on investments, or managing investments), for which separate permission will be required. Safeguarding an investment means keeping it in safe custody, for instance holding a share certificate securely. The Client Assets Sourcebook The Client Assets Sourcebook...

Scope of this Practice Note This Practice Note sets out the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) custody requirements contained in the Client Assets sourcebook (CASS), a component of the FCA Handbook, that regulated firms must adhere to when safeguarding and administering investments. These provisions cover custody assets, encompassing safe custody investments (being designated investments that a firm accepts or holds for a client) and any additional assets kept within the same portfolio as those safe custody investments for that client. It therefore sets parameters for firms’ conduct whenever they hold or control a client’s designated investments and any associated assets within that client’s portfolio appropriately. What do the cover? The chapter 6 custody rules in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Client Assets sourcebook (CASS) explain the steps a firm must take when it undertakes the regulated activity of safeguarding and administering investments. For further detail on this activity, see Practice Note: Safeguarding and administering investments. Those rules extend to custody assets, comprising safe custody investments (that is,...

Frequently Asked Questions—clients, investors or trade creditors These FAQs are provided solely for guidance in relation to the Special Administration of [ insert company ] and the Investment Bank Special Administration (England and Wales) Rules 2011, SI 2011/1301. You should seek your own legal and other professional advisers for advice in relation to your claim. General FAQs What is a special administration? The Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011, SI 2011/245 were brought in to enhance the process when an investment bank collapses or fails. [ Set out the distinctions from ordinary administration, the statutory objectives underpinning a special administration, the possibility of forming a creditors' committee, together with how costs are to be met in practice, eg the costs and expenses of returning client assets are to be paid out of relevant client assets and other costs and expenses are to be paid out of the Company’s own/firm assets. ] Who are Special Administrators? Special...

Court Reference No:[ ENTER COURT REFERENCE...

[ company name ] Date of special administration [ date ] Creditor’s name and address [ name, address and registered number ] Gross amount due to creditor at date of special administration order [ inclusive of VAT ]: £ Where the figure above contains any outstanding, not capitalised interest, please specify the amount: Deduct: (a) any later payment on account (b) any later credit notes (c) the estimated worth of any security held (d) the estimated value of any retention of title rights...

Rule 5.1.7 of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) (CASS 5.1.7) confirms that the provisions within CASS 5.1 to CASS 5.6 also give effect, as required, to article 4.4 of the (EU) Insurance Mediation Directive (Directive 2002/92/EC), requiring that all necessary measures be taken to protect clients against the inability of an insurance intermediary to transfer premiums to an insurance undertaking, or to transfer the proceeds of a claim or a premium refund to the insured...