Fortnightly bulletin 20th september 2017

20th September 2017

PIMFA Bulletin is a fortnightly e-newsletter delivering a snapshot of the latest news and current affairs from within the industry and PIMFA*. *APFA and WMA merged to become PIMFA (the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association) on 1st June.

WHAT IS PIMFA WORKING ON? MiFID II for Financial Advisers - Guide for Members PIMFA has now produced a MiFID II guide for financial advisers, please find it here*. *Please note you need to be logged in to the PIMFA website first to be able to view this members only document.

If you have forgotten your details please email enquires@pimfa.co.uk for a reminder.

The guide sets out the changes affecting Article 3 firms relating to their MiFID and non-MiFID scope business so they can prepare and comply with their new obligations in January 2018.

If you have any comments or feedback please email Alexandra Roberts.

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MiFID II Updates PIMFA recently met with FCA to raise a number of issues as noted below: Suitability We will update the suitability ‘bible’ in the MiFID II area of our website upon receipt of FCA's response to our latest queries.

Product Governance A meeting with FCA is scheduled for the end of the month and we will publish our version 1 bible on Product Governance after this meeting.

MIFID Conference: 'MIFID II - The final run in!'

We have published our agenda for our second MiFID II conference which will be held on 24th October. View the event details here.

Senior Mangers Regime and Competence (SMRC) The initial meeting of the PIMFA SMRC working group has now been held and we are currently drafting our response to CP17/25: 'Individual accountability - extending the Senior Managers and Certification Regime to all FCA firms'.

If you have any feedback please contact us. Following the submission of the response we will be reviewing with our working group the material we can produce to help firms prepare for SMRC. FCA's Live and local Events Details of the FCA's live and local events can be found on their website, the current events are interactive workshops on assessing suitability.

MS 16/1.2 Retirement Outcomes Review (ROR) - Consultation Response The FCA published the interim findings of the Retirement Outcomes Review (ROR) at the end of July. The ROR looked at how the retirement income market is evolving since the pension freedoms were introduced in April 2015.

While the FCA focussed on those consumers that did not receive advice, some of their proposals will have a potential impact on the market for advice at retirement.

The PIMFA response can be found here.

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Transfers and Re-Registration Industry Group (TRIG) update Following the publication of the TRIG’s Progress Update in August, the group (of which PIMFA are a member) hosted four stakeholder workshops, covering the definition of a step, exemptions from the 48-hour standard and data requirements.

The workshops generated useful feedback on these questions, and mixed responses from different parts of industry on related points, including strong feedback that DB transfers should be dealt with outside this process, and that an end-to-end timeline was preferable in some situations specifically pension cash transfers where there are two counter-parties.

These four workshops informed a discussion with DWP and the FCA in September at which they noted the group’s progress and took away our request that they collect data. We will now look to engage with relevant stakeholders about further exploring end-to-end timelines for certain pension cash transfers and intend to publish the project's output before the end of 2017.

WHAT'S COMING UP IN PIMFA? MiFID II Conference With just over 3 months to go until the MiFID II implementation deadline, it is now more important than ever for firms to stay on top of key MiFID II developments and requirements.

This one day conference will focus on the current state of play of MiFID II and will identify actions firms can be taking now. Topics to be covered by respected industry professionals include:

View the Agenda

· Transaction Reporting including LEIs · Product Governance

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· Best Execution · Costs & Charges · Suitability

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PIMFA Women in Wealth Forum When: 4th October 2017, 09:00 to 13:00 Where: RBS, 250 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4AA CPD hrs: 3.5 Tickets: Free for PIMFA Members Our final PIMFA ‘Women in Wealth’ event for 2017 brings together colleagues from across the industry for peer-to-peer debate, networking and inspiration.

View the Agenda

Speakers for the event are: · Sarah Pennells, Personal finance journalist, Broadcaster,

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Author and creator of Savvywoman.co.uk · Jan Carrington, Personal Branding and Impact Consultant, J C Corporate and Personal Image Consultancy · Jules Chappell OBE, Partner, Hawthorn Advisors · Jane Sydenham, Investment Director, Rathbone

PIMFA Annual Summit

When: 8th November 2017, 09:00 - 20:00 Where: The Grange Hotel Tower Bridge, 45 Prescot Street, London E1 8GP CPD hrs: 6 Tickets: £349 +VAT (Members), £699 +VAT (Non Members) Group Discount: For discount on group member ticket rate, please click here

View the Agenda Closing speaker announced: Lord Michael Dobbs, bestselling author of House of Cards which has been

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successfully adapted for TV in both the UK and US; the latter still running on Netflix, featuring Kevin Spacey.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR INDUSTRY? Latest Industry Events View the latest Industry Events on our website here.

If your firm has an event that you would like to post on this area please let us know here.

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Applications for LEIs We have been in contact with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) regarding applications for LEIs required for 3rd January 2018.

The latest update from the LSE is as follows:

“A number of PIMFA members have been working with us in submitting bulk LEI applications on behalf of their clients and this process has been working well so far.

We have had a few instances where firms have asked their clients (mainly trustees) to obtain their LEIs direct from the LSE. For those firms who are not applying on their clients’ behalf and who plan to send a communication to clients recommending they apply direct to the LSE, would they please contact the LSE’s LEI team first – the email address is LEI@Lseg.com.

This enables the LSE to work with firms to prepare a tailored communication that will ensure an efficient LEI application process.

The LSE is currently developing a user guide for Trusts which we will share with firms once it is complete.

Regarding the timing of LEI applications, please apply as soon as possible to meet the LEI requirement. If the application is delayed, the LSE cannot guarantee to issue an LEI in time for 3/1/18.”

Failure to prevent facilitation of tax evasion – Financial Service industry guidance draft The industry working group responsible for producing guidance on failure to prevent the criminal facilitation of tax evasion has now produced a draft document which has been submitted to HMRC for review.

Members can view the document here - please note this is still in draft form.

You are receiving this email because your firm is a member of the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) , or you have individually requested to join the PIMFA mailing list.

For more information on many of the articles above visit the PIMFA website.

If you have queries you can also contact the relevant PIMFA Staff Member.

If you are unsure of your PIMFA log in details, please contact us at enquiries@pimfa.co.uk.

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