A notification required from a firm under any notification rule must be given in writing, and in English, and must be submitted on the form specified for that notification rule, or if no form is specified, on the form inSUP 15 Ann 4 R (Notification form), and must give the firm's Firm Reference Number unless:
the notification rule states otherwise; or
the notification is provided solely in compliance with Principle 11 (see SUP 15.3.7 G).
A firm should have regard to the urgency and significance of a matter and, if appropriate, should also notify its usual supervisory contact at the FCA by telephone or by other prompt means of communication, before submitting a written notification. Oral notifications should be given directly to the firm's usual supervisory contact at the FCA. An oral notification left with another person or left on a voicemail or other automatic messaging service is unlikely to have been given appropriately.
The FCA is entitled to rely on any information it receives from a firm and to consider any notification received as being made by a person authorised by the firm to do so. A firm should therefore consider whether it needs to put procedures in place to ensure that only appropriate employees make notifications to the FCA on its behalf.
Unless stated in the notification rule, or on the relevant form (if specified), a written notification required from a firm under any notification rule must be:
given to or addressed for the attention of the firm's usual supervisory contact at the FCA and
delivered to the FCA by one of the methods in SUP 15.7.5AR.
Methods of notification
| Method of delivery | |
| 1. | Post to the appropriate address in SUP 15.7.6A G |
| 2. | Leaving the notification at the appropriate address in SUP 15.7.6A G and obtaining a time-stamped receipt |
| 3. | Electronic mail to an address for the firm's usual supervisory contact at the FCA and obtaining an electronic confirmation of receipt |
| 4. | Hand delivery to the firm's usual supervisory contact at the FCA |
| 5. | Fax to a fax number for the firm's usual supervisory contact at the FCA and receiving a successful transmission report for all pages of the notification |
| 6. | Online submission via the FCA's website at www.fca.org.uk. |
The current published address of the FCA for postal submission or hand delivery of notifications is:
If the firm or its group is subject to lead supervision arrangements by the FCA the firm or group may give or address a notice under SUP 15.7.4 R(1) to the supervisory contact at the FCA designated as lead supervisor, if the firm has chosen to make use of the lead supervisor as a central point of contact (see SUP 1.5).
If a firm is a member of a group which includes more than one firm, any one undertaking in the group may notify the FCA on behalf of all firms in the group to which the notification applies. In this way, that undertaking may satisfy the obligation of all relevant firms in the group to notify the FCA. Nevertheless, the obligation to make the notification remains the responsibility of the individual firm itself. See also SUP 15.7.3 G.
Firms wishing to communicate with the FCA by electronic mail or fax should obtain the appropriate address or number from the FCA appropriate regulator.
If a notification rule requires notification within a specified period:
the firm must give the notification so as to be received by the FCA no later than the end of that period; and
if the end of that period falls on a day which is not a business day, the notification must be given so as to be received by the FCA no later than the first business day after the end of that period.
If a notification rule does not require notification within a specified period, the firm should act reasonably in deciding when to notify.
The FCA has made arrangements with the Society of Lloyd's with respect to the monitoring of underwriting agents. Underwriting agents should check whether these arrangements provide for any notifications required under this chapter to be sent to the Society instead of to the FCA. [For further details see the FCA's website.]
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Service of Notices) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/1420) contain provisions relating to the service of documents on the FCA. They do not apply to notifications required under notification rules because of the specific rules in this section.
