Commission Directive 2006/73/ECShow full title

SECTION 3 U.K. Safeguarding of client assets

Article 16 U.K. (Article 13(7) and (8) of Directive 2004/39/EC)Safeguarding of client financial instruments and funds

1. Member States shall require that, for the purposes of safeguarding clients’ rights in relation to financial instruments and funds belonging to them, investment firms comply with the following requirements:

(a) they must keep such records and accounts as are necessary to enable them at any time and without delay to distinguish assets held for one client from assets held for any other client, and from their own assets;

(b) they must maintain their records and accounts in a way that ensures their accuracy, and in particular their correspondence to the financial instruments and funds held for clients;

(c) they must conduct, on a regular basis, reconciliations between their internal accounts and records and those of any third parties by whom those assets are held;

(d) they must take the necessary steps to ensure that any client financial instruments deposited with a third party, in accordance with Article 17, are identifiable separately from the financial instruments belonging to the investment firm and from financial instruments belonging to that third party, by means of differently titled accounts on the books of the third party or other equivalent measures that achieve the same level of protection;

(e) they must take the necessary steps to ensure that client funds deposited, in accordance with Article 18, in a central bank, a credit institution or a bank authorised in a third country or a qualifying money market fund are held in an account or accounts identified separately from any accounts used to hold funds belonging to the investment firm;

(f) they must introduce adequate organisational arrangements to minimise the risk of the loss or diminution of client assets, or of rights in connection with those assets, as a result of misuse of the assets, fraud, poor administration, inadequate record-keeping or negligence.

2. If, for reasons of the applicable law, including in particular the law relating to property or insolvency, the arrangements made by investment firms in compliance with paragraph 1 to safeguard clients’ rights are not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of Article 13(7) and (8) of Directive 2004/39/EC, Member States shall prescribe the measures that investment firms must take in order to comply with those obligations.

3. If the applicable law of the jurisdiction in which the client funds or financial instruments are held prevents investment firms from complying with points (d) or (e) of paragraph 1, Member States shall prescribe requirements which have an equivalent effect in terms of safeguarding clients’ rights.

Article 17 U.K. (Article 13(7) of Directive 2004/39/EC)Depositing client financial instruments

1. Member States shall permit investment firms to deposit financial instruments held by them on behalf of their clients into an account or accounts opened with a third party provided that the firms exercise all due skill, care and diligence in the selection, appointment and periodic review of the third party and of the arrangements for the holding and safekeeping of those financial instruments.

In particular, Member States shall require investment firms to take into account the expertise and market reputation of the third party as well as any legal requirements or market practices related to the holding of those financial instruments that could adversely affect clients’ rights.

2. Member States shall ensure that, if the safekeeping of financial instruments for the account of another person is subject to specific regulation and supervision in a jurisdiction where an investment firm proposes to deposit client financial instruments with a third party, the investment firm does not deposit those financial instruments in that jurisdiction with a third party which is not subject to such regulation and supervision.

3. Member States shall ensure that investment firms do not deposit financial instruments held on behalf of clients with a third party in a third country that does not regulate the holding and safekeeping of financial instruments for the account of another person unless one of the following conditions is met:

(a) the nature of the financial instruments or of the investment services connected with those instruments requires them to be deposited with a third party in that third country;

(b) where the financial instruments are held on behalf of a professional client, that client requests the firm in writing to deposit them with a third party in that third country.

Article 18 U.K. (Article 13(8) of Directive 2004/39/EC)Depositing client funds

1. Member States shall require investment firms, on receiving any client funds, promptly to place those funds into one or more accounts opened with any of the following:

(a) a central bank;

(b) a credit institution authorised in accordance with Directive 2000/12/EC;

(c) a bank authorised in a third country;

(d) a qualifying money market fund.

The first subparagraph shall not apply to a credit institution authorised under Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions (recast)(1) 0 in relation to deposits within the meaning of that Directive held by that institution.

2. For the purposes of point (d) of paragraph 1, and of Article 16(1)(e), a ‘qualifying money market fund’ means a collective investment undertaking authorised under Directive 85/611/EEC, or which is subject to supervision and, if applicable, authorised by an authority under the national law of a Member State, and which satisfies the following conditions:

(a) its primary investment objective must be to maintain the net asset value of the undertaking either constant at par (net of earnings), or at the value of the investors’ initial capital plus earnings;

(b) it must, with a view to achieving that primary investment objective, invest exclusively in high quality money market instruments with a maturity or residual maturity of no more than 397 days, or regular yield adjustments consistent with such a maturity, and with a weighted average maturity of 60 days. It may also achieve this objective by investing on an ancillary basis in deposits with credit institutions;

(c) it must provide liquidity through same day or next day settlement.

For the purposes of point (b), a money market instrument shall be considered to be of high quality if it has been awarded the highest available credit rating by each competent rating agency which has rated that instrument. An instrument that is not rated by any competent rating agency shall not be considered to be of high quality.

For the purposes of the second subparagraph, a rating agency shall be considered to be competent if it issues credit ratings in respect of money market funds regularly and on a professional basis and is an eligible ECAI within the meaning of Article 81(1) of Directive 2006/48/EC.

3. Member States shall require that, where investment firms do not deposit client funds with a central bank, they exercise all due skill, care and diligence in the selection, appointment and periodic review of the credit institution, bank or money market fund where the funds are placed and the arrangements for the holding of those funds.

Member States shall ensure, in particular, that investment firms take into account the expertise and market reputation of such institutions or money market funds with a view to ensuring the protection of clients’ rights, as well as any legal or regulatory requirements or market practices related to the holding of client funds that could adversely affect clients’ rights.

Member States shall ensure that clients have the right to oppose the placement of their funds in a qualifying money market fund.

Article 19 U.K. (Article 13(7) of Directive 2004/39/EC)Use of client financial instruments

1. Member States shall not allow investment firms to enter into arrangements for securities financing transactions in respect of financial instruments held by them on behalf of a client, or otherwise use such financial instruments for their own account or the account of another client of the firm, unless the following conditions are met:

(a) the client must have given his prior express consent to the use of the instruments on specified terms, as evidenced, in the case of a retail client, by his signature or equivalent alternative mechanism;

(b) the use of that client's financial instruments must be restricted to the specified terms to which the client consents.

2. Member States may not allow investment firms to enter into arrangements for securities financing transactions in respect of financial instruments which are held on behalf of a client in an omnibus account maintained by a third party, or otherwise use financial instruments held in such an account for their own account or for the account of another client unless, in addition to the conditions set out in paragraph 1, at least one of the following conditions is met:

(a) each client whose financial instruments are held together in an omnibus account must have given prior express consent in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 1;

(b) the investment firm must have in place systems and controls which ensure that only financial instruments belonging to clients who have given prior express consent in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 1 are so used.

The records of the investment firm shall include details of the client on whose instructions the use of the financial instruments has been effected, as well as the number of financial instruments used belonging to each client who has given his consent, so as to enable the correct allocation of any loss.

Article 20 U.K. (Article 13(7) and (8) of Directive 2004/39/EC)Reports by external auditors

Member States shall require investment firms to ensure that their external auditors report at least annually to the competent authority of the home Member State of the firm on the adequacy of the firm's arrangements under Articles 13(7) and (8) of Directive 2004/39/EC and this Section.

(1)

OJ L 177, 30.6.2006, p. 1.