Enforcement Review – the sequel

The decision making (DEC) and enforcement (ENF) manuals are scheduled for replacement by a new handbook module, DEPP, the FSA announced recently in CP07/2. Unlike DEC, which contains a general explanation of the FSA’s approach to decisions, DEPP would only set out procedures for taking statutory notice decisions under section 395 of the Financial Services and Markets Act . FSA staff who take decisions under executive procedures would be given a general discretion to refer them to the Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) if it was looking at a closely connected issue (DEPP 2.1.4); currently, this recourse is only available in change of control cases. The RDC would also no longer make the initial decision to refuse a listing (DEPP 2.5.9(1)), the aim being to avoid possible inconsistency if at the same time FSA staff approved a prospectus.