The Financial Conduct Authority has published information regarding landing slots under the incoming overseas funds regime for firms currently operating under the temporary marketing permissions regime. The landing slots specify the dates when overseas funds operating under the TMPR can apply for 'recognised scheme' status under the OFR. The OFR is a new gateway introduced as part of the U.K.'s post-Brexit reforms, granting access to the U.K. market for certain categories of investment funds.
The landing slots specify three-month windows during which firms can apply to become recognized under the OFR. The FCA will issue a binding direction eight weeks prior to the fund operator's landing slot opening, telling the fund operator how to apply. The FCA has set out on its website the specific dates for the landing slots, which are generally tied to the operator's name. The first landing slot, which covers stand-alone schemes operating within the TMPR, opens on October 1, 2024. Umbrella schemes with sub-funds currently in the TMPR will be allocated a landing slot based on the name of the fund operator. Applications for new schemes (i.e. those funds not currently operating with the TMPR) will begin on September 2, 2024—these firms will be able to apply at any time from that date without a landing slot.
Fund operators can apply any time during their three-month window. Funds that fail to submit an application or fail to notify that FCA that no application will be made during the designated landing slot, will lose their recognition under the TMPR immediately after the end of the landing slot, meaning the fund will no longer be a recognised scheme in the U.K. The FCA asks firms to consider the impact on U.K. investors, including any tax implications, if they wish to remove any funds from the TMPR. The FCA directs that the operators of funds within the TMPR must not apply for the fund to be a recognised scheme under section 271A of the FSMA 2000 (which implements the OFR) until the period when the FCA specifically directs it to do so.
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