Regulation

Guidance from OBIE to EEA Open Banking Participants regarding the Temporary Permissions Regime

02 April 2019

The uncertainty surrounding the UK’s withdrawal from Europe is having repercussions for some firms operating within the Open Banking ecosystem. In order to remain part of Open Banking these EEA participants will need to ensure that they have made a Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) notification to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by 11 April 2019.

In the event of a no implementation period when the UK withdraws from the EU, the UK will be deemed a ‘third-country’ by the latter, meaning EEA firms will no longer be able to passport into the UK. The TPR was created in 2018 by the FCA to help firms that passport into the UK (including banks, payment and e-money institutions) to continue operating if the passporting regime falls away abruptly during this period.

What you need to do

As an EEA firm, you will need to notify the FCA of your intention to apply under the TPR by the date specified above. This will give you permission on a temporary basis, reflecting your passporting permission pre-Brexit. This permission will be in place for a maximum of three years within which time you will be required to obtain authorisation or recognition in the UK.

Consumer Protection

Firms will be expected to comply with FCA requirements from Day 1 in order to maintain an adequate level of consumer protection. For more information please refer to the dedicated FCA page on the TPR .

How To Apply

A TPR application can be made via the FCA Connect service. The User Guide link is below:

https://www.openbanking.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/temporary-permission-notification-connect-guide-funds.pdf

NB: Treatment of Gibraltar-based firms is unchanged.

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For further information, please contact:

About Us

Open Banking is a new, secure way for customers to take control of their financial data and share it with organisations other than their banks. Open Banking has the power to revolutionise the way we move, manage and make more of our money. For businesses, it is about making the management of cashflow and receiving payments cheaper and easier. Open Banking will make things simpler, faster and more convenient.

Open Banking follows the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into the supply of personal current accounts (PCAs) and of banking services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Open Banking was created to enable innovation, transparency and competition in UK financial services. It is tasked with delivering the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures and security architectures that will enable developers to harness technology, making it easy and safe for individuals and SMEs to share the financial information held by their banks with third parties.

Open Banking will bring substantial benefits. It gives customers and SMEs greater market choice and greater control over their money and associated data, along with better and easier access to new financial services providers in a secure environment.

Notes to Editors:

1. Open Banking Ltd was set up by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) in September 2016 to fulfil one of the remedies mandated by the CMA following an investigation into UK retail banking.

2. The CMA’s investigation into the retail banking market (whose findings were published in August 2016) concluded that older and larger banks do not compete hard enough for customers’ business and that Open Banking should deliver a new, secure option for customers to be able to compare the deal they are getting from their bank.

3. Open Banking was created to enable innovation, transparency and competition to UK financial services. It is tasked with delivering the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures and security architectures that will make it easy and safe for customers to share their financial records by January 2018.

4. The data provided by Open Banking will enable developers to harness technology that allows individuals and businesses to share their financial records held by their banks with third parties.

5. Open Banking is a private body; its governance, composition and budget was determined by the CMA. It is funded by the UK’s nine largest current account providers and overseen by the CMA, the Financial Conduct Authority and Her Majesty’s Treasury.

6. The 9 mandated institutions (referred to as the CMA9) are: Barclays plc, Lloyds Banking Group plc, Santander, Danske, HSBC, RBS, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide and AIBG.