Written by Ciara Davies

The FCA has published a press release about the regulatory changes firms face as the Brexit transition period ends.

The following changes were identified:

• The temporary permissions regime (TPR) has now come into effect for firms and funds that notified the FCA they wished to enter the regime. Passporting between the UK and EEA states has come to an end.
  
  
• The Financial Services Contracts Regime (FSCR) allows for EEA passporting firms not in the TPR to continue to service any UK contracts they have entered into prior to the end of the transition period or to conduct an orderly exist from the UK market, for a limited time. UK firms offering services to customers in EEA states will need to refer to local law and the local regulators’ expectations to determine the extent to which they can continue to do so.
  
  
• The FCA’s temporary transitional power (TTP) has been applied on a broad basis. Firms need to check the implications for their business.
  
  
• The FCA has become the UK regulator of UK-registered and certified credit rating agencies (CRAs). This means that if a UK legal entity wants to issue credit ratings, it will now need to be registered as a CRA with the FCA.
  
  
• The same is true for any trade repository (TR) wishing to offer its services in the UK after the end of the transition period, as it will require to be registered as a TR with the FCA. UK reporting counterparties and UK TRs can rely on the validation rules in the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, which has been retained in UK law.