The Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) has issued Circular No.1 of 2023 drawing the attention of all Representatives accredited with Investment Advisors and Securities Dealers licensed under the Securities Act 2007 (“the Act”) to the provisions of the Act under Section 53 (3) (b) which states that:
“If a licensee or representative notifies the Securities Authority in writing that the accreditation of the representative has been terminated –
(b) the representative shall return his licence to the Securities Authority within 7 days of the Securities Authority requiring him to do so.”
The above provision implies that, once a Representative ceases its accreditation, it must “surrender” its licence.
The FSA thus, taking into context this interpretation, denotes that a Representative, during the course of business whilst having a licence, should be accredited to only one licensee undertaking the same business activity.
This provision and interpretation is also supported through the provisions of the Securities (Forms and Fees) Regulations 2008, under section 12, which states that:
“A representative shall not change the employer in relation to which the licence was issued unless a notice in accordance with Form 9 set out in Schedule 1 is lodged with the Authority”
In light of applications received, whereby licensed Representatives are requesting to be accredited with multiple licensees undertaking the same business activity and in view of the present legal framework, the FSA is thus issuing this Circular to clarify that:
“a Representative should be accredited to only one licensee undertaking the same business activity at any particular time during the course and conduct of business of the licensee”.