{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/financial-services-and-markets-act-2000-regulated-activities-amendment-order-2025/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/financial-services-and-markets-act-2000-regulated-activities-amendment-order-2025/note.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2025/1205",
  "legislation_title": "The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2025",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/financial-services-and-markets-act-2000-regulated-activities-amendment-order-2025",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Order)\nThis Order amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/544) (“the Regulated Activities Order”). The Regulated Activities Order specifies certain activities and investments which are to be regulated activities for the purposes of section 22(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8) (“the Act”). Section 19 of the Act prohibits persons from carrying on any regulated activity in the United Kingdom, unless they are either authorised or exempt.\nParagraph 1(k) in Part 1 of Schedule 3 to the Regulated Activities Order excludes persons dealing on their own account or providing investment services in commodity derivatives, emission allowances and derivatives from the definition of “investment firm”. Such persons are not required to be authorised, provided the activities are ancillary to their main business and the relevant exclusion criteria are met. This Order amends the exclusion to allow alternative exclusion criteria to apply.\nArticle 2 provides two options for assessing whether a person dealing on their own account or providing investment services in commodity derivatives, emission allowances and derivatives is excluded from the definition of “investment firm”. The first option is whether the activity is ancillary to a person’s main business. The second option is whether the activity is below an annual threshold as determined by the Financial Conduct Authority (“the FCA”). Article 2 provides the FCA with a power to make rules to specify the criteria for establishing when an activity is considered to be ancillary to the main business at group level, the annual threshold and the criteria for establishing when an activity is below that threshold.\nArticle 3 makes a consequential amendment to regulation 47(1)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/701). The FCA can direct the manner in which a person reports to the FCA either in relation to activities that are ancillary to the person’s main business or in relation to activities that are below the annual threshold.\nThe amendments made by this Order supersede provision made by the following legislation, which will consequently be revoked under section 1 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (c. 29) and The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No. 11 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1078) on 1st January 2027—\n(a) paragraph 19 of Schedule 3 to Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (this provision gives the FCA a power to make technical standards to specify the criteria for establishing when an activity is considered to be ancillary to a person’s main business);\n(b) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/592 of 1 December 2016 supplementing Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for the criteria to establish when an activity is considered to be ancillary to the main business (“the Delegated Regulation”); and\n(c) Article 72J(1)(a) and (b) of the Regulated Activities Order and relevant definitions (these provisions enable persons seeking to rely on the ancillary activities exemption to carry on their business without authorisation if there is no data available to enable them to perform the test establishing when an activity is ancillary).\nArticle 4 makes other consequential amendments to the Regulated Activities Order that are necessary as a result of the revocation of the Delegated Regulation.\nA full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1205/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T21:09:32.026782+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}