COVID-19 The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Order 2020
Regulatory Updates | 01/05/20
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Order 2020 (SI 2020/480) has been published on legislation.gov.uk, along with an explanatory note. The instrument removes from the scope of the consumer credit regulatory regime loans of £25,000 or less made by commercial lenders to sole traders, unincorporated associations and partnerships of fewer than four people under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).
These types of loans will be exempt credit agreements, and will not (with the exception of one type of activity) be subject to the detailed consumer credit regulatory regime set down in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (the CCA), the secondary legislation made under the CCA, and the relevant rules made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means that the activity of entering into loans under the BBLS falls outside the ambit of regulation under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The instrument makes an exception allowing for the existing regulatory regime to continue to apply to lenders who carry on the activity of debt collecting in relation to loans under the BBLS. The instrument comes into force on 4 May 2020.
