PERG 15.7 Transitional arrangements

Q47. We are a UK payment institution wishing to become an authorised payment institution - do we need to have applied for authorisation prior to 1 November 2009?

Not necessarily. Provided that you:

• are a body corporate; and
• lawfully provided payment services in the UK before 25 December 2007

you (and your UK agents including those appointed after 25 December 2007) can continue to provide those same payment services until 1 May 2011 (see regulation 122), without being either authorised or registered as an agent.

Your rights under the transitional arrangements in regulation 122 do not extend to passport rights. If you wish to exercise passport rights as a payment institution, you will first need to have applied for and been granted authorisation.

If you are also a "financial institution", you may be able to take advantage of the separate transitional arrangements for these bodies. If you do so, the transitional arrangements under regulation 122 will not apply to you.

Q48. We are a UK financial institution to which the regulations apply - do we need to have applied for authorisation or registration prior to 1 November 2009?

Not necessarily. From 1 November 2009 to 25 December 2009, you will be deemed to be an authorised payment institution provided that you:

• were carrying on payment services prior to 25 December 2007; and
• met the conditions in article 24(1)(e) BCD (so your parent undertaking will need to be subject to consolidated supervision).

If you wish to continue being deemed to be authorised after 25 December 2009, you will need to have submitted the requisite information to us before 25 December 2009, in accordance with regulation 121(2), before 25 December 2009. This comprises information in relation to Schedule 2 paragraphs 1, 4, 7 to 9 and 12 to the regulations, including your programme of operations, procedures relating to safeguarding of funds, controllers and evidence of good repute and competence of directors and management. If we are satisfied that you meet the required conditions in relation to these matters, you will be deemed to be an authorised payment institution and able to make passport notifications without the need to apply separately for authorisation.

An overview of the position of financial institutions and the transitional provisions in the PSD regulations is set out in PERG 15 Annex 1, Flowchart 2.

Q49. We are a UK payment institution which meets the conditions to be a "small payment institution" - do we need to have applied for registration prior to 1 November 2009?

Not necessarily. Provided that you were lawfully providing payment services in the UK before 25 December 2007 you do not need to be registered as a small payment institution, until 25 December 2010 (see regulation 123).

If you are also a "financial institution", you may be able to take advantage of the separate transitional arrangements for these bodies. Likewise, you may be able to take advantage of the transitional arrangements in regulation 122 (see Q47). If you qualify for the transitional arrangements for financial institutions or those in regulation 122, you will not fall within the transitional regime for small payment institutions under regulation 123.

An overview of the position of small payment institutions under the transitional provisions in the PSD regulations is set out in PERG 15 Annex 1, Flowchart 2.

Q50. Is there a transitional regime in relation to conduct of business requirements under the regulations?

No. The conduct of business requirements under the regulations will apply from 1 November 2009.