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The FSA’s new simplified regime for the conduct of investment business, the Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS), came info force on 1st November.
COBS moves away from reliance on detailed prescriptive rules and will be about half the length of the old rulebook. The new rulebook incorporates the implementation of the relevant conduct of business provisions of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), but also covers firms and business outside MiFID scope.
"Our emphasis on more principles-based regulation means focusing on the outcomes that matter, rather than processes and procedures”, Dan Waters, Director of the Retail Policy and Themes Division at the FSA, said.
"Although the introduction of COBS is being co-ordinated with MiFID implementation, COBS covers non-MiFID firms as well, and it is vital that all firms subject to the regime implement the necessary changes", he added.