On 22 October 2018, HM Treasury published explanatory information on the draft Financial Conglomerates and Other Financial Groups (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (the draft Regulations).

The draft Regulations will form part of a series of draft statutory instruments that HM Treasury is publishing as part of its contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit. The statutory instruments are made by HM Treasury in exercise of its powers conferred by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

The explanatory note explains that the draft Regulations are still in development and will be published in due course. Essentially, the draft Regulations will identify and amend deficiencies within the text of the Financial Conglomerates Directive to ensure that the Financial Conglomerates and Other Financial Groups Regulations 2004 remain operative in a UK-only context post-exit. For example, the draft Regulations will amend the geographical restriction in the Directive’s definition of financial conglomerate so that one entity must be located within the UK, rather than the EEA, while the other(s) may be located anywhere in the world.