Scope of this Practice Note

The principal role of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000) was to establish and transfer power to the then Financial Services Authority (FSA) following the government’s decision to create a single regulator of financial services in the UK. It is intended to act as a general framework for financial services legislation and regulation in the UK.

FSMA 2000 came into force (and the FSA became the single regulator for the UK financial services industry) on 1 December 2001.

As part of government proposals to overhaul the UK financial services regulatory structure, the FSA was disbanded on 1 April 2013 and its functions were split between two new bodies: the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). FSMA 2000 was retained as the primary legislation for the UK financial services industry although the Financial Services Act 2012 (FSA 2012) made significant amendments to most of FSMA 2000.

Also, following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), the government established the Future Regulatory Framework