The UK's conduct regulator is proposing to revoke rules and guidelines in its conduct-of-business sourcebook (COBS) that relate to certain disclosures and interactions between firms’ nominees and consumers who are beneficial owners, in respect of holdings of units in authorised investment funds (COBS 14.4.1R – 14.4.9R inclusive).

It is considering the effectiveness of disclosures in a discussion paper expected very shortly. It has also decided to begin to conduct a market study of asset management later this year. It intends to reconsider the substance of these rules in the light of feedback from the discussion paper and any issues emerging from the market study.

In 2011 the FCA's predecessor organisation, the Financial Services Authority of infamous memory, published rules and guidance (COBS 14.4) concerning investments in authorised funds and requiring certain nominee companies, defined as ‘intermediate unitholders’, to notify the underlying beneficial owners of units in those funds when the authorised fund manager or the depositary issues certain fund information, or notifications about general meetings of unitholders. The agency and its successor dithered twice about when to activate those rules and has now turned against them altogether.