BSOG 1A.6 Oral hearings
Should either the society or the applicant ask for an opportunity of being heard by the FCA, then it will invite both parties to attend a hearing. If neither party so requests, the FCA will normally decide the application on the basis of the written evidence available to it, including the application, the societys comments (paragraph BSOG 1A.5.3 G) and the applicants written comments (paragraphs BSOG 1A.5.4 G and BSOG 1A.5.5 G) together with the results of any enquiries the FCA itself may have made.
If there is an oral hearing this will normally be taken by one or more persons authorised by the FCA to act on its behalf.
The FCA will normally give the applicant and the society not less than 10 working days formal notice that there will be a hearing, including the place and time at which it will be held.
The hearing will normally be held in public. However, if either the applicant or the society requests that the hearing be held in private, the person(s) taking the hearing will listen to arguments from both parties before deciding whether to admit the public (which may include representatives of the media).
Whilst the proceedings will be comparatively informal, the applicant and the society may, if they wish, be legally represented. In any such case, the FCA must be notified at least 5 working days in advance of the hearing so that it may inform the other party. The applicant and the society may also be assisted by such other persons as the FCA considers reasonable in the circumstances.
The person(s) taking the hearing will introduce the proceedings and deal with any preliminary matters. The applicant and the society will then each be invited to present their cases, in that order. Each will have the opportunity to comment on the case presented by the other. The person(s) taking the hearing may ask such questions as they consider necessary, particularly to establish or elucidate matters of fact, but will not respond to questions from either of the parties. This procedure may be varied according to the circumstances of the particular case.