In this Policy Statement we report on the main issues arising from Consultation Paper 15/01 FCA Competition Concurrency Guidance and Handbook amendments.
Why are we issuing this Policy Statement?
The FCA obtained concurrent competition powers on 1 April 2015. This means we have powers to enforce the prohibitions on anti-competitive behaviour in the Competition Act 1998 (CA98) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in relation to the provision of financial services.
We also have powers to carry out market studies, and make market investigation references to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) under the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA02), in relation to the provision of financial services in the UK.
These competition powers may also be exercised by the CMA with regard to financial services and other sectors of the economy. This means that, for financial services, the CMA and the FCA have ‘concurrent powers’ and the FCA is a ‘concurrent regulator’.
These powers are additional to our ability to use FSMA powers in pursuit of the FCA’s competition objective.
Earlier this year, we consulted on:
- draft guidance on our functions and procedures under CA98, to be issued under section 52 CA98
- draft guidance to be issued under section 139A FSMA on market studies under EA02 and the FSMA and making market investigation references, and
- a draft legislative instrument to introduce minor amendments to the FCA Handbook, to be adopted by the FCA Board.
In this policy statement, we set out the feedback received on our consultation and our response, along with (for transparency) comparisons of the final guidance and Handbook amendments adopted by the FCA against the drafts consulted on. The finalised guidance and Handbook amendments are available at the links below.
Policy Statement 15/18[1] [PDF]
FG15/8 - FCA’s powers and procedures under the Competition Act 1998[2]
FG15/9 - Market studies and market investigation references[3]
Who is this Policy Statement aimed at?
All businesses operating in financial services are affected by:
- our CA98 functions and procedures, and
- our market study and market investigation reference functions and procedures
The SUP 15 rules and guidance affect all authorised firms.
What are the next steps?
The finalised guidance represents our procedures in conducting investigations under CA98 and market studies and market investigation references under FSMA and EA02.
We will keep these procedures under regular review and will update them if our understanding of best practice changes.
The Handbook amendments have effect from 1 August 2015.
Want to find out more?
For more information: