Regulated activities—exclusions and exemptions

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This Overview is a guide to the Lexis+® UK Financial Services content within the regulated activities—exclusions and exemptions subtopic, with links to the appropriate materials.

The general prohibition

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000) governs the regulation of financial services and markets in the UK. The general prohibition is central to FSMA 2000. It states that no person may carry on a regulated activity in the UK, or purport to do so, unless they are:

  1. •

    an authorised person (ie authorised by the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA)/Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as relevant), or

  2. •

    an exempt person

This is known as the general prohibition (FSMA 2000, s 19).

The inclusion of the phrase 'or purport to do so' means that a person will breach the general prohibition even where they do not carry out a regulated activity but they represent that they do or attempt to carry it out.

Businesses, firms and individuals coming fresh to the financial services market or engaging in new activities need to be clear about the restrictions and the consequences of not

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