Passporting meaning

Checklist (Archived) This Checklist sets out key checks for facility and security documentation after the Brexit implementation period. ARCHIVED: This Checklist has been archived and is not maintained. When that period ended, EU law was transposed into UK law as retained EU law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), in most cases with only minor adjustments. See Practice Note: Retained EU law and assimilated law. Read this alongside Practice Notes: Brexit—documentary implications for facility agreements [Archived] and Brexit—impact on finance transactions [Archived]. The focus is on documentary issues and it does not capture every potential consideration for finance transactions following the end of the implementation period. For a fuller overview, see Practice Notes: What does IP completion day mean for lending lawyers? [Archived] and Brexit—impact on finance transactions [Archived]. Loss of passporting rights Issue: Loss of passporting rights Question: There is an EU27 borrower under the facilities agreement. What steps should be...

Significant regulatory overhauls remain on the horizon, and the country seems set to drift further from the EU’s rulebook in the near future. Practitioners in regulation argue that the break with Europe has opened the door for Britain to cement its role as a global centre for financial services. This reorientation from European to worldwide markets has, in turn, prompted forecasts that looser rules at home could turn Britain into a ‘new Bermuda’ for international insurance. According to Andrew Northage, a partner at Walker Morris LLP, the signal is unmistakable: the UK intends not only to maintain its status as a top-tier global insurance market, but to recast itself as an even more appealing venue for both domestic and overseas participants. 'Passporting' Rights One of the most consequential Brexit shifts was the end of so-called passporting for banks and insurers. Passporting informally described the freedom-of-services regime within the European Economic Area (EEA), under which UK-based insurers could underwrite business for clients across Europe, and European firms could do...

The policy statement set out the definitive rules and guidance to deliver the OFR, intended to streamline the ability to market certain investment funds formed outside the UK in the UK, including to retail clients. While the FCA handbook rules and guidance largely reflect the proposals in consultation paper 23/26, several notable changes have been introduced: removing the proposed 30-day interval between notifying the FCA of changes to OFR funds and the point at which those changes could take effect in the UK; and clarifying when the FCA should be informed about alterations to a fund's fundamental characteristics. This article explores the amendments, how the OFR will be rolled out, and what fund operators and their legal advisers should be doing now to meet the regime. Background Given Brexit ended so-called fund passporting rights, the FCA established a transitional arrangement allowing previously passported European Economic Area undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities, or UCITS, to continue to be marketed...

STOP PRESS: On 21 July 2019, Prospectus Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 became fully effective across EU member states, and the Prospectus Directive was repealed. The Regulation now sets out when a prospectus must be published for an offer of securities to the public in the UK, or for the admission of securities to trading on a regulated market in the UK. To reflect this, the FCA has brought the FCA Handbook into line with the Regulation by removing the Prospectus Rules in their entirety and substituting the Prospectus Regulation Rules sourcebook. For more detail, see Practice Note: The UK Prospectus Regulation—essentials [Archived] and The UK Prospectus Regulation—is a prospectus required? [Archived]. ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note is not maintained and is provided for background purposes only. Further information is available in Practice Note: The UK Prospectus Regulation—essentials [Archived]. This Practice Note examines, under the previous Prospectus Directive framework, when a prospectus had to be published for an offer of securities to the public in the UK or for admission...

This Practice Note outlines details of the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (EU) 909/2014 (EU CSDR). Development of the EU CSDR Central securities depositories (CSDs) safekeep securities in dematerialised form and deliver clearing and settlement services to market participants. They underpin infrastructure and are integral to smooth market functioning. Recognising their systemic role in securities markets, and in the wake of the financial crisis, the Commission tabled a draft Regulation in March 2012 to strengthen securities settlement and establish rules for CSDs. The proposal aimed to enhance settlement efficiency and bring CSDs under a clear regulatory framework throughout the Union. Building on that initiative, EU CSDR appeared in the Official Journal of the EU on 28 August 2014 and took effect on 17 September 2014. EU CSDR seeks to make sure that securities transactions are cleared and settled securely and within appropriate timeframes. It promotes consistency, reliability and punctuality in the processing of trades. The Commission observed that settlement failures are more common in cross-border...

This Practice Note outlines the passporting entitlements and associated notification obligations of insurance undertakings based in the EEA under Directive 2009/138/EC (the Solvency II Directive). The Treaty and Solvency II The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides the overarching framework for freedom of establishment and the free movement of services within the EU. In the financial services sphere, including insurance, these freedoms are further detailed by the Single Market Directives. The regulatory regime for EEA life and non-life insurers and reinsurers—covering supervision, solvency, risk management, governance, reporting and passporting—is set out in the Solvency II Directive, supported by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/35 (the Solvency II Delegated Regulation) together with applicable Implementing and Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS). Under Solvency II, an insurance undertaking that has secured authorisation from its home state regulator may exercise the right of establishment and/or provide cross-border services in other EEA Member States. The scope of passporting rights Passporting rights under Solvency II extend to those undertakings...

BREXIT At 11pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020—known as ‘IP completion day’—the transition/implementation period entered into following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU came to a close. From that point onwards, key transitional arrangements came to an end and wide‑ranging changes started to take effect across the UK’s legal regime. This document provides guidance on subjects affected by these changes. Before continuing your research, see: Brexit and financial services: materials on the post‑Brexit UK/EU regulatory regime [Archived]. This Q&A assesses the impact of Brexit on passporting in the insurance sector, outlines the options available to insurers to continue to access the European Economic Areas (EEA), and highlights the factors for insurers to take into account in their contingency planning. This Q&A is produced in partnership with Clare Swirski at Clifford Chance. What are the main aspects of passporting under Solvency II?...

Passporting provisions in the Prospectus Regulation Under the Prospectus Regulation, an issuer must publish a prospectus and have it approved by a competent authority when offering securities to the public in the EEA or when applying for admission of securities to a regulated market, where no relevant exemption applies. To streamline cross-border share offerings within the EEA, the EU prospectus regime provides passporting arrangements that permit companies to produce a single prospectus usable throughout the EEA, avoiding the preparation of multiple documents for separate jurisdictions. Articles 24 to 26 of the Prospectus Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 set out these passporting provisions, stating that a prospectus approved by the competent authority in one EEA state (the home member state) can be relied upon in another EEA state (the host member state) without requiring the prospectus to be approved again by the competent authority in the host member state. As a result, a UK issuer has been able to undertake a cross-border share offer across the EEA on the basis of...