MIGI 5.2 Statutory status disclosure
Our rules require firms to provide appropriate and adequate information about the identity of the firm's regulator, i.e. the FSA. The requirements regarding statutory status are in GEN 4.3 and GEN 4 Annex 1. These can be summarised as follows:
- (1)
Authorised firms must take reasonable care to ensure that every letter (or electronic equivalent) which it or its employees send to a private customer, with a view to or in connection with the firm carrying on a regulated activity, discloses that the firm is "Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority".
- (2)
Appointed representatives are required to disclose that "[name of Appointed Representative] is an appointed representative of [Firm] which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority".
- (3)
You should not abbreviate the Financial Services Authority to FSA in this context.
- (4)
You are likely to find it convenient to include the required disclosure on your firm's letterhead.
To allow mortgage and insurance intermediaries who are not currently authorised time to make the necessary changes to their stationary, we have introduced a transitional provision which means that firms do not have to amend their stationary to include disclosure of their statutory status until 15 July 2005.