On 12 May 2021, there was published on legislation.gov.uk The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Collective Investment Schemes) (Amendment) Order 2021 (the Order) together with an explanatory memorandum.

Paragraph 6A of the Schedule to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Collective Investment Schemes) Order 2001 (CIS Order) provides that regulated peer to peer lending platforms do not amount to a collective investment scheme and so are exempt from being authorised by the FCA for this particular activity. This is referred to as “the CIS exemption”.

The purpose of the Order is to clarify that a firm that takes over lending agreements operated via a peer to peer lending platform – specifically because the original firm is being wound up – also benefits from the CIS exemption.

The Order comes into force on 18 June 2021.