CP21/1 and the SRA
Simon Evans made this Freedom of Information request to The Financial Conduct Authority This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear The Financial Conduct Authority,
Could you please release all correspondence, from 1st January 2020 to present, between FCA officials and staff at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in relation to the work being undertaken on CP21/1 at the FCA and the SRA's own 'Discussion Paper' on Fees for financial claims management services which was published on the 7th July.
Yours faithfully,
Simon Evans
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Limited, the FCA on behalf of the Payment Systems Regulator Limited / the
Payment Systems Regulator Limited) reserves the right to monitor all email
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Limited.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
Switchboard 020 7066 1000
Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment
Systems Regulator Limited)
Our ref: FOI8487
Dear Mr Evans
Freedom of Information: Right to know request
Thank you for your email of 12 July 2021 asking for the following
information:
‘Could you please release all correspondence, from 1st January 2020 to
present, between FCA officials and staff at the Solicitors Regulation
Authority (SRA) in relation to the work being undertaken on CP21/1 at the
FCA and the SRA's own 'Discussion Paper' on Fees for financial claims
management services which was published on the 7th July.’
Your request has been processed in line with the provisions of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and our response is below:
Our decision on your request
We can confirm that we hold information that falls within the scope of
your request; however, we are unable to disclose it to you as disclosure
would, or would be likely to, harm the effective operation of the FCA.
Therefore, for the reasons set out in Annex A below, we consider that
section 31 (law enforcement) of FOIA applies.
In addition we are prohibited from disclosing some of the information
within scope because it is ‘confidential information’ that the FCA has
received in the course of carrying out its public functions, as defined
under section 348 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).
Section 44 of FOIA (Prohibitions on disclosure) therefore applies.
For a detailed explanation on why these exemptions apply, please see Annex
A below.
Your right to complain under FOIA
If you are unhappy with this response, you have the right to request an
internal review. To do so, please contact us within 40 working days of
the date of this response at [1][email address].
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you also
have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner by phone or on
their website at:
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: [2]www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely
Information Disclosure Team
[3]cid:image001.png@01D5F6F8.E90FD970
12 Endeavour Square
London
E20 1JN
Annex A
General right of access to information held by public authorities
Anyone requesting information from a public authority is entitled to be
informed in writing whether it holds the information described (this is
under section 1(1)(a) of FOIA). If the public authority does hold it, the
person requesting it is entitled to have the information communicated to
them, under section 1(1)(b). However, there are exclusions and exemptions
to these rights.
o Section 31 (Law enforcement)
This exemption applies to your request as disclosure would, or would be
likely to, harm our function of “ascertaining” or monitoring compliance
with our regulatory requirements over time (as opposed to during an
ongoing investigation). This exemption is qualified and we have balanced
the public interest for and against disclosure as required by FOIA.
· There is a strong public interest in favour of transparency
and in the public being reassured that we are taking all views into
consideration and making objective and clear policy decisions.
· Disclosure of the information would demonstrate how we
respond to matters arising within the sector we regulate and would enable
regulated firms and their senior management to better understand why and
how we make decisions on regulatory matters. This, in turn, will
facilitate comments on the FCA’s regulatory and supervisory approach.
Against disclosure
· There is a strong public interest in the FCA being able to
carry out its functions in the most effective manner possible. Disclosure
of the information could therefore prejudice any work we may currently be
undertaking and could affect the outcome of any such relevant policy.
· Disclosure of the information at this time would, or would
be likely to, have an inhibiting effect on any future recommendations made
to the FCA Board regarding the formulation of policy.
· In addition, disclosure would, or would be likely to affect
the way in which we interact with firms and counterparts which, in turn,
could seriously undermine the FCA’s regulatory function.
o Section 44 (Prohibitions on Disclosure)
Section 44(1)(a) of FOIA states that information is absolutely exempt from
disclosure if this is prohibited by law. Section 348 of FSMA restricts
the FCA from disclosing ‘confidential information’ it has received. FSMA
allows exceptions to this in a few specific circumstances, but none of
these apply to this request.
Confidential information here is defined as non-public and non-anonymised
information involving a person’s business or other affairs, which the FCA
received.
The information you requested is confidential information under this
provision. If we disclosed this information, without the provider’s
consent and the consent of the person the information is about, we would
be a breach of section 348 of FSMA. This would be a criminal offence.
In many requests for information under FOIA we have to judge different
factors to decide whether disclosing the requested information would be in
the public interest or not. For this request, we have an ‘absolute’
exemption against supplying the information, and so we do not need to make
this kind of judgement.
This communication and any attachments may contain personal information.
For more information about how and why we use personal information and who
to contact with any queries about this, please see our privacy notices:
FCA Privacy Notice (https://www.fca.org.uk/data-protection) and PSR
Privacy Notice
(https://www.psr.org.uk/cookies-privacy-a...).
This communication and any attachments contain information which is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended
recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some
of our communications may contain confidential information which it could
be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you
have received this email in error please notify [email address]
immediately and delete the email from your computer. Further information
on the classification and handling of FCA information can be found on the
FCA website
(http://www.fca.org.uk/site-info/legal/fc...).
The FCA (or, if this email originates from the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited, the FCA on behalf of the Payment Systems Regulator Limited / the
Payment Systems Regulator Limited) reserves the right to monitor all email
communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional
standards.
This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal
relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
Switchboard 020 7066 1000
Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment
Systems Regulator Limited)
References
Visible links
1. file:///C:/Users/sali3/AppData/Roaming/OTLocal/PRODRM/Workbin/3E7676D.0/[email address]
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
Dear The Financial Conduct Authority,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of The Financial Conduct Authority's handling of my FOI request 'CP21/1 and the SRA'.
Please review this decision, as there is no indication that a prejudice test has been conducted.
As you may be aware, I believe that the exemption you have applied requires you to conduct a prejudice test to demonstrate that there would be a "causal link" between the release of the requested information, and prejudice to one of the interests listed in this exemption. You must then go on to determine the likelihood of this prejudice arising were the information released.
You can find more information about prejudice tests in the ICO guidance at https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio....
Copy
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Simon Evans
Thank you for e-mailing the Financial Conduct Authority's Information
Disclosure Team.
This is an automatic acknowledgement to tell you that we have received
your email safely.
Please do not reply to this email.
We will be in touch in due course.
This communication and any attachments may contain personal information.
For more information about how and why we use personal information and who
to contact with any queries about this, please see our privacy notices:
FCA Privacy Notice (https://www.fca.org.uk/data-protection) and PSR
Privacy Notice
(https://www.psr.org.uk/cookies-privacy-a...).
This communication and any attachments contain information which is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended
recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some
of our communications may contain confidential information which it could
be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you
have received this email in error please notify [email address]
immediately and delete the email from your computer. Further information
on the classification and handling of FCA information can be found on the
FCA website
(http://www.fca.org.uk/site-info/legal/fc...).
The FCA (or, if this email originates from the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited, the FCA on behalf of the Payment Systems Regulator Limited / the
Payment Systems Regulator Limited) reserves the right to monitor all email
communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional
standards.
This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal
relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
Switchboard 020 7066 1000
Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment
Systems Regulator Limited)
Our Ref: FOI8487
Dear Mr Evans,
Freedom of Information: Right to know request
Thank you for your email of 10 August 2021. This is regarding the
information you have requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
with the above reference.
We are now considering the points you have raised and will contact you
again as soon as possible. If it is likely to take more than 20 working
days following the date of receiving your email to respond in full, we
will write to you again.
Thanking you.
Yours sincerely
Information Disclosure Team / Cyber and Information Resilience Department
/ Operations
[1]Description: cid:image001.png@01D2A7C9.64DDD390
12 Endeavour Square
London
E20 1JN
Tel: +44 (0)20 7066 1000
[2]www.fca.org.uk
Follow us:
[3]Description: https://g.twimg.com/Twitter_logo_blue.pn...
image003
This communication and any attachments may contain personal information.
For more information about how and why we use personal information and who
to contact with any queries about this, please see our privacy notices:
FCA Privacy Notice (https://www.fca.org.uk/data-protection) and PSR
Privacy Notice
(https://www.psr.org.uk/cookies-privacy-a...).
This communication and any attachments contain information which is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended
recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some
of our communications may contain confidential information which it could
be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you
have received this email in error please notify [email address]
immediately and delete the email from your computer. Further information
on the classification and handling of FCA information can be found on the
FCA website
(http://www.fca.org.uk/site-info/legal/fc...).
The FCA (or, if this email originates from the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited, the FCA on behalf of the Payment Systems Regulator Limited / the
Payment Systems Regulator Limited) reserves the right to monitor all email
communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional
standards.
This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal
relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
Switchboard 020 7066 1000
Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment
Systems Regulator Limited)
References
Visible links
2. http://www.fca.org.uk/
3. https://twitter.com/TheFCA
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/financi...
Our Ref: FOI8487
Dear Mr Evans,
Freedom of Information: Right to know request
We refer to your email of 10 August 2021 regarding the information you
have requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOI Act”), with
the above reference. Please accept our apologies for the delay in
contacting you for clarification of your request.
You indicate that you would like an internal review of our original
response dated 9 August 2021 to be undertaken. This is on the basis that
there is no evidence that a prejudice test has been conducted.
We attach a further copy of our original response and would draw your
attention to Annex A at the bottom of the email. This details the public
interest factors for and against disclosure which we have considered in
respect of the qualified exemption in section 31 (Law enforcement) of the
FOI Act.
We would therefore be grateful if you can please clarify whether you still
require an internal review to be undertaken and, if so, on what basis.
Once you provide this clarification, we aim to send a full response to
your request within 20 working days.
Your sincerely
Information Disclosure Team / Cyber and Information Resilience Department
/ Operations
[1]Description: cid:image001.png@01D2A7C9.64DDD390
12 Endeavour Square
London
E20 1JN
Tel: +44 (0)20 7066 1000
[2]www.fca.org.uk
Follow us:
[3]Description: https://g.twimg.com/Twitter_logo_blue.pn...
image003
This communication and any attachments may contain personal information.
For more information about how and why we use personal information and who
to contact with any queries about this, please see our privacy notices:
FCA Privacy Notice (https://www.fca.org.uk/data-protection) and PSR
Privacy Notice
(https://www.psr.org.uk/cookies-privacy-a...).
This communication and any attachments contain information which is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended
recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some
of our communications may contain confidential information which it could
be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you
have received this email in error please notify [email address]
immediately and delete the email from your computer. Further information
on the classification and handling of FCA information can be found on the
FCA website
(http://www.fca.org.uk/site-info/legal/fc...).
The FCA (or, if this email originates from the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited, the FCA on behalf of the Payment Systems Regulator Limited / the
Payment Systems Regulator Limited) reserves the right to monitor all email
communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional
standards.
This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal
relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
Switchboard 020 7066 1000
Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment
Systems Regulator Limited)
References
Visible links
2. http://www.fca.org.uk/
3. https://twitter.com/TheFCA
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/financi...
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