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Applying for Passporting Rights

What does passporting allow?

A UK authorised firm that wishes to carry on its permitted business in another EEA State may do so if it has “passporting rights” and an entitlement under a relevant single market directive.  

The relevant directives are:

• Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (for investment firms),
• UCITS Directive (for UCITS management companies),
• Capital Requirement Directive (for credit institutions and financial institutions),
• Payment Services Directive (for Authorised Payment Institutions only).
• Electronic Money Directive (Electronic Money Institutions only)
• Insurance Mediation Directive (for insurance and reinsurance intermediaries)
• Third Non-Life Insurance and Consolidated Life Assurance Directives (for insurers)
• Reinsurance Directive (for pure reinsurers only).

In order to exercise this right, the firm must notify the FCA of its intention to do so by applying for a Passport. Once granted, passporting allows you to offer financial advice to clients that are based in any of the states that make up the European Economic Area, which is called a cross border services passport. This means that the firm is able to give advice overseas without having to get a separate authorisation in that country.

Which countries can be passported into?

Not including the UK, there are 29 EEA States that a firm can apply for passporting rights:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus (EU legislation and passporting rights only applies to the Republic of Cyprus, the Southern part of the island)
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Liechenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden

Passportable activities are set out in the relevant single market directives and any that are not covered by the single market directives are not passportable and thus a firm would need to seek direct authorisation to carry on such activities from the host EEA State.

Passports are specific to both the country and the advice a firm wants to offer.

Help with Applying for a Passport

To apply for a passport, the FCA needs to be notified by completing the relevant form for your firm.

If you would like any assistance in applying for Passporting Rights, or in varying your firm’s current permissions from the FCA, get in touch with our support team.