FCA issues first statement of objections to asset managers

 

FCA issues first statement of objections to asset managers

 

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on 29 November that it has issued a statement of objections to four asset management firms alleging infringements of the Chapter I prohibition and/ or Article 101 TFEU.

This is the first time that the FCA has issued a statement of objections in relation to suspected competition law breaches since it obtained concurrent competition enforcement powers in April 2015.  The FCA stated in the annual concurrency report (published in April 2017) that it had opened one Competition Act investigation in March 2016 and another in March 2017

The FCA takes the provisional view that four firms - Artemis Investment Management LLP, Hargreave Hale Ltd., Newton Investment Management Limited/The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and River and Mercantile Asset Management LLP/River and Mercantile Group PLC - exchanged sensitive information through disclosure of the price they intended to pay in relation to one or more Initial Public Offerings and one placing before the prices were set.  According to the FCA, these practices enabled firms to know each other’s strategies during the placing when they should have been acting in competition.

Any person who can materially assist the investigation may request a non-confidential version of the statement of objections by contacting the FCA no later than 12 January 2018, explaining how they can assist.