On 17 November 2025, The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2025 was made together with an explanatory memorandum.

The Order amends the ancillary activities exemption set out in The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO). The amendment provides for two options for determining whether a person carrying out specified activities is excluded from the need for authorisation. The first option is whether the activity is ancillary to a person’s main business at group level. The second option is whether the activity is below an annual threshold determined by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Order also gives the FCA the power to make rules to specify the criteria in relation to the application of both options. It also makes consequential amendments to give effect to the revised ancillary activities exemption.

The Order comes into force on 10 December 2025.

As part of giving the FCA rule-making powers to implement a new regime, HM Treasury (HMT) also commences the revocation of the current legislative regime via The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No. 11 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2025. This includes revoking Article 72J of the RAO, which was designed to remove the need for firms to perform the market share test if they were unable to access the relevant data from an official source. This will not be required under the new regime, but HMT will retain certain paragraphs of Article 72J until 1 January 2027 and 1 January 2028, providing a transitional period to firms.

The FCA will follow up on its earlier consultation paper and publish a Policy Statement setting out its final rules in due course.