The Exchange has responded to FSA's Consultation Paper 07/10 which details FSA's proposed implementation of the Investment Exchange and Clearing Houses Act 2006 ("the Act") via FSA's Handbook.
The Consultation Paper seeks to codify within the Handbook the terms of the Act relating to those "regulatory provisions" made by Recognised Bodies which are notifiable to the FSA and which FSA may then subsequently decide to "call-in" for market-wide consultation . The Exchange has made a limited number of comments as CP 07/10 seeks merely to codify the current position under the Act. Our main concern however is the potentially lengthy consultation timetable available to the FSA once it has decided to call-in a regulatory provision. The Exchange has requested that the need for market certainty be considered within the circumstances of the specific "regulatory provision" in question and that working to the maximum available timetable be avoided.
The Exchange has also requested that in order to minimise any additional regulatory burden on Recognised Bodies, as far as possible, pre-existing notification arrangements and documentation can be used to satisfy the form and content of notifications. In addition, the Exchange has also suggested that guidance on the concept of "materiality" would be helpful to Recognised Bodies as the notification regime develops.