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16th November 2016

Delay to PRIIPs Regulation Confirmed

It had been anticipated within the industry that the European Commission (EC) would defer the Packaged Retail Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation by 12 months.

This has now been made official since the EC issued a press release last week to defer the entry into force of the PRIIPs Regulation for a period of twelve months. This now moves the date of implementation to 1st January 2018.

• EC Press Release: PRIIPs KID Delayed

Why the delay to PRIIPs?

This shift follows the rejection of key elements of the PRIIPs draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) by the European Parliament in September 2016.

Whilst there had been fearful speculation within the market that the rules may still come into force without having fully approved regulatory technical standards, the published delay has alleviated this uncertainty.

The one year delay is intended to allow the relevant European Supervisory Authorities enough time to produce revised RTS that the European Parliament is willing to approve.

Following this anticipated approval, there should then also be sufficient time for firms to be able to make their own arrangements to ensure compliance with the new PRIIPs regime by 2018 implementation.

However, this does now mean that PRIIPs and MiFID II will become effective within days of each other since MiFID II is timetable to be implemented on 3rd January 2018.

Expected Revisions to PRIIPs

The European Commission has now asked for the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to make changes to particular areas of the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS), specifically in relation to:

• Comprehension alerts;
• multi-option products;
• Presentation of insurance related costs; and
• Performance scenarios

It is expected that the revised draft RTS will be submitted to the Commission by the ESAs by the end of December so that the revised PRIIPs framework can be finalised during the first half of next year (2017).

Next Step for Firms:

Firms affected by the PRIIPs Regulation should continue with their PRIIPs compliance planning with the view of finalising their plans next year once the RTS has been approved.

PRIIPs Regulation Compliance Support

If your firm is currently reviewing how PRIIPs Regulation will impact your business and require support or assistance in planning for PRIIPs implementation such as what to include within your PRIIPs KID then please contact our experienced regulatory & compliance support team, who would be happy to help.

PRIIPs Related Reading:

• Preparation for PRIIPs KID Regulation
• EC Press Release: PRIIPs KID Delayed

PRIIPs Regulation Delayed to 2018