Find out more about the repeal and replacement of retained EU law with our rules under the Financial Services & Markets Act 2023, including key documents, next steps and our core principles for managing this work.
On this page 
The Treasury will repeal the firm-facing requirements in retained EU law (REUL), and we will replace those provisions, where appropriate, with our rules. There is a significant amount of REUL, and the repeal and replacement work will have an impact on our Handbook.
To manage this, when replacing those repealed REUL provisions in our Handbook, we will generally do so in line with some core principles. These principles seek to support our overarching aim for the Handbook: to enhance the overall user experience by making it clear, accessible, and navigable, while reducing regulatory costs.
In some cases, we may need to take a different approach in the short term. For example, if we need to replace REUL to address an emerging harm, or to manage the overall pace of the process. But, over time, our approach to replacing REUL will be based on these principles. There is more information on these principles further down this page.
Repeal and replacement documents
| File | Description and output so far | Next steps |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) | The IDD ensured insurance distributors met certain business conduct standards and transparency requirements, such as information given to consumers before signing insurance contracts. Many requirements are already in our Handbook, but we are working with the Treasury to complete the replacement of REUL. | FCA Consultation Paper September 2023 |
| Markets in Financial Instruments Directive/ Regulation (MiFID/MiFIR) & Wholesale Markets Review (WMR) reforms |
UK Consolidated Tape Framework The FCA shares the Government’s ambition, as part of the Wholesale Markets Review, to have a regulatory regime for a consolidated tape in place by 2024. This replaces part of MiFID. July 2023: Treasury’s Data Reporting Services Regulations 2023 Draft SI and Policy Note |
FCA Consultation Paper July 2023 |
| Commodities derivatives | FCA Consultation Paper Q4 2023 | |
| Transparency reforms | FCA Consultation Paper Q4 2023 | |
| Money Market Funds Regulation (MMFR) |
May 2022: FCA DP22/1: Resilience of Money Market Funds We are working with Treasury and the Bank of England to improve MMF resilience, and to reduce the nature and extent of systemic risk and potential vulnerabilities in the market. |
FCA Consultation Paper Q4 2023 |
| Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation |
December 2022: FCA DP22/6: Future Disclosure Framework Treasury’s PRIIPs and UK Retail Disclosure: consultation We are working with Treasury to introduce a more targeted and proportionate disclosure regime once the PRIIPs Regulation is repealed. |
Forthcoming FCA Consultation Paper |
| Payment Accounts Regulations (PARS) |
We are working with Treasury on its plans to remove burdensome customer information requirements related to personal bank accounts. |
This file is being repealed and will not be replaced with FCA rules |
| Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) & e-Money Directive (EMD) & Regulations |
We want to improve the payments regime to enhance consumer protection and promote competition and innovation. December 2022: Treasury’s Draft Statutory Instrument - Payment Services and E-Money Regulations (safeguarding aspects) December 2022: Treasury’s FCA Rulemaking Power for Payments – Illustrative Statutory Instrument Policy Note (safeguarding aspects) We are working with the Treasury on a new safeguarding regime. We will follow this with further work on a new prudential regime, changes to agents’ oversight, and possible extension to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR). |
Forthcoming FCA Consultation Paper |
| Prospectus regime |
Lord Hill’s UK listing review recommended an overhaul of the UK’s listings regime. FCA engagement papers 2023. Treasury’s Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2023 draft SI and Policy Note We are working with the Treasury to replace the Prospectus Regulation and implement a new regime for offers of securities to the public and admissions of securities to trading on markets. |
FCA feedback on engagement Q4 2023 |
| Securitisation Regulation (SR) |
The Treasury’s 2021 review of the SR identified three areas for change: reporting/disclosure, due diligence, and risk retention. A fourth area that is relevant for us (non-UK Alternative Investment Fund Managers) remains in legislation. Treasury’s Securitisation Regulations 2023 Draft SI and Policy Note We are working with the Treasury and the Prudential Regulation Authority to implement the reforms identified. |
FCA Consultation Paper August 2023 16 October 2023: Addendum to CP23/17 |
| Short-Selling Regulation (SSR) |
December 2022: Treasury's Short Selling Regulation: Call for Evidence We are working with Treasury to ensure that the UK’s short selling regime mitigates risks, but not unnecessarily inhibits legitimate short selling that is beneficial to the market. |
FCA Consultation Paper in 2024 |
| European Long-Term Investment Fund Regulation (ELTIF) |
In July 2023, the Government laid legislation to repeal the European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) Regulation, which will come into force from 1 January 2024. This will not be replaced, because no ELTIFs have been established in the UK, and the new UK Long-Term Asset Fund (LTAF) regime provides an alternative fund structure better suited to the needs of the UK market. |
We will update and amend our Handbook once the repealing legislation comes into effect. |
Our principles for replacing retained EU law in our Handbook
- Consolidate requirements as far as possible so that, over time, the FCA Handbook becomes the ‘one stop shop’ for firm-facing regulatory requirements. Regulatory requirements are currently spread across multiple sources, including retained EU regulations, primary and secondary UK legislation, retained EU technical standards, and regulators’ rules. We will aim to consolidate and integrate, as far as possible, all regulatory provisions that we are responsible for, into the Handbook. Consolidation is likely to increase the length of the Handbook, but it will help reduce the regulatory burden because the relevant provision should be easier to find.
- Use the current Handbook structure, only creating new sourcebooks where necessary. The Handbook consists of different sourcebooks, including the Conduct of Business sourcebook (COBS) and the Systems and Controls sourcebook (SYSC). These sourcebooks are arranged into blocks, such as the Business Standards block, which includes COBS. To avoid disruption we will incorporate new rules into the existing structure. We will only create new sourcebooks where necessary: for example, where the requirements are sizable and self-contained enough to warrant a separate sourcebook.
- Rely on existing requirements in our Handbook, where relevant, and consider if it is necessary to reflect the repealed REUL provision in our Handbook. We will consider whether any existing Handbook rules sufficiently overlap with REUL provisions in scope and impact. If so, that REUL could be repealed without replacement. Otherwise, we could modify or extend the existing Handbook rules to adequately replicate REUL provisions without inserting entirely new rules or sections.
- Rely on outcomes rather than prescriptive requirements, where appropriate. We will consider whether it is necessary to recreate prescriptive REUL requirements, or if higher-level rules, like the Consumer Duty (possibly supported by guidance, to ensure predictability of application) can achieve the same outcome.
- Reduce complexity, both in drafting style and by seeking to align standards across sectors, where appropriate. Our aim is to draft rules using our Handbook drafting format and style, rather than keeping the language and structure of REUL. We will also aim to align standards when addressing similar thematic issues across different files.