DISC 2A.1 Cooperation and information-sharing duties

1. (1) Firms involved in the manufacture or distribution of a consumer composite investment must take reasonable steps to cooperate and share information with each other on a timely and appropriate basis so as to enable each firm to meet the information needs of retail investors and otherwise discharge its regulatory obligations in connection with the consumer composite investment.
2. (2) The obligation in (1) includes, in particular, a firm sharing information proactively or on reasonable request in the context of preparing or updating the product summary, such as a manufacturer sharing information about the consumer composite investment with a distributor or a distributor sharing information with a manufacturer about the characteristics and information needs of the retail investors in the consumer composite investment's target market.

1. (1) The regulatory obligations in DISC 2A.1.1R include, for an authorised person, relevant obligations under rules in DISC as well as other FCA rules– for example, under COBS, the Product Intervention and Product Governance sourcebook, COLL and Principle 12 and PRIN 2A (the Consumer Duty), as applicable.
2. (2) For the avoidance of doubt, a firm is not required to act in a way that may amount to a breach of its legal obligations. For example, the duty in DISC 2A.1.1R does not require a firm to disclose or receive commercially sensitive information which may be in breach of competition law, or the unnecessary sharing of customers’ personal data in contravention of data privacy law.

1. (1) The duty to share information in DISC 2A.1.1R should be interpreted in light of what is reasonably required by each firm to meet their regulatory obligations in connection with the consumer composite investment.
2. (2) In particular, where a distributor shares with a manufacturer information about the characteristics and information needs of retail investors in the consumer composite investment's target market, the level and quantity of that information should be proportionate and need not be fully comprehensive where, in the sharing firm's reasonable judgement, a representative sample provides sufficient information.

1. In complying with its obligations in DISC, a firm must:
2. (1) ensure that the information it provides to another firm involved in the manufacture or distribution of a consumer composite investment is accurate, clear, fair, and not misleading; and
3. (2) take reasonable care to avoid causing another firm involved in the manufacture or distribution of the consumer composite investment to be misled, or cause it to mislead retail investors, via the omission of information relevant to that firm's regulatory obligations.

In this chapter, references to a manufacturer and to manufacturing a consumer composite investment include, respectively, a firm that makes a material contribution to the manufacture of a consumer composite investment in collaboration with other manufacturers and the making of such a contribution.

Where firms collaborate in manufacturing a consumer composite investment, they must set out in a written agreement their respective roles and responsibilities in relation to the obligations under DISC.

Where more than one firm is involved in manufacturing a consumer composite investment, the written agreement in DISC 2A.1.6R may set out that one of the manufacturers is solely responsible for preparing and updating the product summary and for preparing and providing to distributors the underlying core information disclosures, provided this is reasonable in the circumstances.