Prudential Regulation Authority Rulebook

5.1

1. (1) If any PRA-authorised person (A):
1. (a) is considering issuing a certificate to, making a PRA senior management approval application in respect of, or appointing as a key function holder, a non-executive director, a notified non-executive director or a credit union non-executive director, a person (P);
2. (b) makes a request for a reference or other information in respect of P from a firm to which this Part applies (B), in B’s capacity as:
1. (i) P’s current or former employer; or
2. (ii) an organisation (not falling within (i)) at which P served as, or is currently, a senior manager, other approved person, non-executive director, notified non-executive director or credit union non-executive director, or performed, or is currently performing, a certification function or any other function; and
3. (iii) indicates to B the purpose of the request
2. B must, as soon as reasonably practicable, provide a reference and disclose to A in the reference all information of which B is aware that B reasonably considers to be relevant to A’s assessment of whether P is fit and proper.
3. (2) A firm (B) which is required to make a disclosure under (1) is required to disclose information on or relating to something which occurred or existed:
1. (i) in the six years before the request for a reference;
2. (ii) between the date of the request for a reference and the date B gives the reference; or
3. (iii) in the case of serious matters, at any time.
4. (3) When giving the reference referred to in 5.1(1), a firm must
1. (a) use the regulatory reference template; and
2. (b) include all the information set out in the regulatory reference template.
5. (4) A firm may make formatting modifications to the regulatory reference template when giving a reference under 5.1(1), provided the regulatory reference template as modified includes all substantive information required by (3)(b).

5.2

1. (1) If:
1. (a) a firm to whom this Part applies (B) has given a reference pursuant to 5.1 to any PRA-authorised person (A) about any person (P); and
2. (b) either
1. (i) B is or has become aware of matters or circumstances that mean that, if B was giving that reference now, this Part would require B to draft it differently; or
2. (ii) B has reached conclusions of the type described in item (E), or taken disciplinary action of the type described in item (F), of the regulatory reference template, and had B taken or reached those conclusions or actions in the six year period referred to in the regulatory reference template, this Part would require B to draft the reference differently; and
3. (c) it would be reasonable to consider the differences in (b) to be significant for an assessment by A of the fitness and propriety of P for the role at A for which the reference was given;
2. B must make reasonable enquiries as to the identity of P’s current employer and (subject to (3)), provide A with details of those differences in writing as soon as reasonably practicable.
3. (2) The obligation to update regulatory references applies in the following circumstances:
1. (a) if P is no longer employed by or in the service of B, the obligation to update references in (1) ends six years after P ceased to be employed by, or in the service of B;
2. (b) if P is no longer employed by or in the service of B and the matters or circumstances are not serious matters, B does not have to disclose something if it did not occur or exist in the six year period ending on the date B gave the original reference. This limitation is additional to that in (2) (a).
3. (c) if P is still employed by, or in the service of B, (1), applies throughout the period P remains employed by, or in the service of, B.
4. (3) B is not required to update a regulatory reference given to A if:
1. (a) A is no longer a full scope regulatory reference firm;
2. (b) P is no longer employed by, or in the service of, A;
3. (c) P is not yet employed by, or in the service of A, and it is no longer intended that P will be employed or serve at A: or
4. (d) despite making reasonable enquiries under (1) B does not know whether P is still employed by, or in the service of, A.
5. (4) (1) does not require B to update references provided prior to 7 March 2017.
6. (5) If a firm (B) has given a reference to another firm (A) under 2.7 in respect of a person (P) no more than six years ago and, B asks A if P is still an employee of, or serving at, A, A must answer that question as soon as reasonably possible, even if B does not tell A the reason for the enquiry.

5.3

A firm must not enter into any arrangements or agreements with any person that limit its ability to disclose information under this Part.

5.4

This Part does not require a firm to disclose information that has not been properly verified.

5.5

1. (1) A firm must arrange for orderly records to be kept that are sufficient to enable it to comply with the requirements of this Part in response to any requests for references referred to in that Part in relation to item (E) and item (F) in the regulatory reference template.
2. (2) A firm does not breach the requirements of this Part by failing to include information in a reference that it would otherwise have to include if:
1. (a) the reason for the omission is that the firm does not have the necessary records; and
2. (b) neither (1) nor any other requirement of or under the regulatory system requires the firm to have those records.