These Q&As relate to the Integrated Regulatory Reporting update issued on 2 December 2005

What is the reason for this statement?

In February 2005 we published a Discussion Paper (DP05/1)1 where we committed to give you further information on Integrated Regulatory Reporting (IRR).

Who is the public statement aimed at?

This update is principally aimed at firms who carry out regulated activities in addition to:

  • mortgage lending; or
  • mortgage administration; or
  • mortgage mediation; or
  • insurance mediation; and or
  • retail investment activities.

and are not currently submitting the Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR) and the Mortgage Lending and Administration Return (MLAR).

Why are these firms not currently submitting the RMAR and MLAR?

In October 2004 we suspended the requirement for the firms carrying on regulated activities – in addition to those covered by the new MLAR and RMAR returns – to submit the relevant sections to us. This suspension applied mainly to banks, building societies, insurers and investment firms (other than Personal Investment Firms). The relevant sections are primarily the "non-financial" reporting by these firms that is not covered by the returns they currently submit. We said at the time we would lift this suspension at a later date.

When was the decision made to lift this suspension?

The FSA Board met on 17 November and a decision was taken to lift the suspension. Details can be found in the FSA Handbook Instrument 2005/63.

Although this may lead to reduced costs for firms in the long run, surely there will be considerable one-off costs in introducing the new Phase 2 system?

There will be cost implications for firms and indeed to ourselves in making changes to reporting requirements. See Consultation Paper (CP1972) for more details.

Which types of firm are exempt from mandatory electronic reporting?

We are not proposing mandatory electronic reporting for credit unions taking into account the specialist, often charitable, nature of most credit unions. We expect that credit unions will not be over-burdened by the addition of new product types to the complaint return, since so few of these firms undertake mortgage related activities. All other firms will be subject to MER.

Which Insurance firms will be subject to MER and by when?

This change will apply to firms with financial years ending on or after 31 December 2005.
MER will not be applied to these firms before 1 July 2008 at the earliest. Discussions with the industry continue and we will confirm this date no later than July 2007, giving firms no less than 12 months' notice of a fixed start date.

Last year you indicated XBRL would be in place by July 2005 when the new returns start being sent in by firms, but now this has slipped and also you are now proposing XML instead?

The reasons why we have concluded that XML would be the most suitable technology for the FSA's business needs are set out in the IRR update.

When do you now expect system to system submissions to be available?

There is no set date but we are continuing to review the system-to-system solution and will provide a further update when more information is available.

1 Deposit takers, principal position takers and other investment firms subject to the Capital Requirements Directive.

2 Reporting requirements for mortgage, insurance and investment firms, and supplementary consultation on audit requirements.