Prudential Regulation Authority Rulebook

The FSA Handbook of Rules and Guidance is an essential document. It sets out the FSA's legislative and other provisions made under powers given to it by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). Firms are required to follow these rules in order to meet their regulatory responsibilities. We consider it important to make the Handbook as accessible as possible so firms and individuals are in no doubt about what is required of them.

The Guide directs firms to those parts of the Handbook that will usually be relevant to a typical small firm carrying on financial advisory business relating to investments. It does not cover mortgage and general insurance business as there are other specialist guides on our website for firms doing that business.

The Guide is intended for small firms of investment intermediaries that do not hold client money or other assets. In the Handbook such firms are called small personal investment firms. It includes firms who advise on packaged products based on a selection from the whole market or a limited number of product providers or a single company. It does not include firms that are networks or have 26 or more advisers or representatives.

The purpose of the Guide is to help smaller investment intermediaries to find the rules they need in the FSA Handbook. The Guide refers to, and contains extracts from, various parts of the FSA Handbook. You should consult the FSA Handbook to determine the precise wording and effect of the rules. The links to the Handbook and the pointers to other sections within the Guide are not exhaustive.

The Guide is not formal guidance and does not have the status of guidance in the Handbook. You cannot use the Guide to counter a charge of breaking the FSA rules. If there is any conflict between the Guide and the Handbook, the Handbook takes precedence.

All references to 'the Guide' are references to 'Using the FSA Handbook: a Guide for smaller investment intermediaries'.

The Guide uses terms that are consistent with those defined in the FSA Handbook Glossary. These terms are in italics in the Handbook (though not in the Guide). For ease of reference, there are brief definitions of some of the more frequently used terms at Appendix A. For the full definition you should consult the FSA Handbook Glossary.

The Guide is current as at 31 May 2005. The Guide does not remove the need for firms to keep up to date with regulatory developments and to consider the potential impact on its business of proposed changes to the Handbook. Although we will regularly update the Guide, we will not update it each time the Handbook changes.

Over the next few years our priority will be to reduce the length of the Handbook text and make it easier to navigate and understand. We plan to introduce further tailored handbooks alongside those for mortgage and general insurance intermediaries already available. Tailored handbooks include only those requirements in the FSA Handbook relevant to a particular activity. You can access the tailored handbooks from 'Handbook online' on the FSA website. We will also provide a facility for firms to build a personal Handbook and other improvements to the electronic Handbook to make it easier to use.

We welcome your feedback on the content and presentation of the Guide and whether you find it helpful. Please send your comments to SmallFirmsCommunications@fsa.gov.uk.