Changes To UK PRIIPs Rules

The transitional period for the implementation of new scope rules and amendments to regulatory technical standards for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products ("PRIIPs") came to an end on 31 December 2022, meaning that the new rules and guidance set out in Policy Statement PS22/2 by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") are now in force. PRIIPs rules, guidance and technical standards are aimed at protecting retail investors in these packaged products, largely through the prescription of the content and form of pre-investment disclosures, which has proved problematic for product providers and distributors.

The changes chiefly address:

• a perceived lack of clarity of scope as to what is and is not a PRIIP − in particular, to make it clearer that certain features of corporate bonds make it unlikely that they will amount to PRIIPs;