UK: FCA restrictions on the distribution of CoCos to retail investors

Section 138I of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, inserted by section 24 of the Financial Services Act 2012 - imposes obligations on the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of the exercise of its rule-making powers, including, for example, publishing a draft of the rules accompanied by a cost benefit analysis. An exception is provided by section 138M of the 2000 Act in respect of temporary product intervention rules, the first use of which was illustrated earlier this week when the FCA announced that it would impose restrictions on the distribution of contingent convertible securities (CoCos) to retail investors from 1 October: see here (pdf).

At European level, the risks associated with investment in CoCos were highlighted on 1 August in a statement published by the European Securities and Markets Authority: see here (pdf).