FCA Handbook—introduction

On 1 April 2013 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) Handbook was split between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to form two handbooks, one for the PRA and one for the FCA. Most provisions in the FSA Handbook were incorporated into the PRA’s Handbook (replaced by the PRA Rulebook on 29 August 2015), the FCA’s Handbook, or both, in line with each regulator’s set of responsibilities and objectives. Other provisions were deleted (for example, chapter 1 of the FSA’s Supervision Manual has been replaced by chapter 1A of the FCA’s Supervision Manual).

While the FCA Handbook 'designates' or 'adopts' provisions formerly found in the FSA Handbook, substantive changes were made to reflect the FCA’s role and powers. This includes such aspects as the processes for applying for authorisation, passporting, controlled functions, threshold conditions and enforcement powers. A number of substantive changes were consulted on before the FCA acquired its legal powers. For example, FSA Consultation Paper CP 12/34 proposed numerous updates to the FCA Handbook relating to supervision and threshold conditions.

As of 29 August 2015, the FCA Handbook does not include the PRA's rules. The PRA Rulebook can be accessed here.