Statutory notices issued by the RDC

For warning notices issued by the RDC, instead of making representations to the RDC, you can refer the matter directly to the Upper Tribunal, which is part of the courts system and independent from the FCA. This is called an expedited reference.

You must notify the RDC that you wish to make an expedited reference and that you waive, and will not exercise, any rights under section 387(2) of FSMA (which include the right to make representations). The RDC will then issue a decision notice, subject to the interests of any third parties.

If you need more time to make written representations, or to prepare to make oral representations, you should contact the DMC Secretariat before the deadline in the notice expires. You will need to explain why you need more time and how much more time you need. 

The DMC Secretariat will ask the Enforcement team to provide comments on your request. The RDC Chair (or a Deputy Chair) will decide whether to give you more time. They are unlikely to grant long extensions, unless the circumstances are exceptional. Extensions will generally be limited to a few days or weeks, and almost never more than 2 to 3 months, even in the largest and most complex cases.

The RDC is not a court or a tribunal. Our procedures are relatively informal and are designed for determining matters fairly and quickly.

We don’t normally expect a case to take more than 6 months from when we give you the warning notice to when we issue our final decision. We’ll usually try to tell you as early as possible how long the case will take.

It’s important that you stick to the case timetable we set out, unless you have good reason for not doing so. It’s important that you tell us quickly if you have difficulties in keeping to the timetable. If you fail to comply with the timetable without good reason, it may lead to the RDC making its decision without your further involvement or input.

We’ll generally try to take into account your and your representatives’ availability, health issues and other relevant matters, when setting dates and deadlines. However, it’s important for all parties that cases proceed quickly, so it may not always be possible to delay. If you'd like the RDC to consider making any reasonable adjustments to its procedures, for example, for medical reasons, please let us know promptly.

Sometimes you may think that the FCA should give you access to more documents than it has disclosed. Where that is the case, you must raise the issue promptly with the Enforcement team. If you’re not satisfied with their response, you may ask the RDC to consider the matter. The RDC will aim to avoid delays to the procedural timetable, while the matter is being resolved.

If the Enforcement team has brought your case together with related cases against other individuals or firms (sometimes called multi-party cases), we’ll usually make provision for the sharing of warning notices and representations among all the parties and for a joint oral representations meeting involving all parties. 

Your representations should respond to the facts and matters set out in the notice and set out your points clearly and succinctly. They must be sent to the DMC Secretariat by the deadline.

The RDC may determine the appropriate maximum length of written representations on a case-by-case basis, which will reflect the complexity of the matter. In most cases, no more than 20 to 50 pages of representations will be sufficient. Even in the most complex cases, written representations should total no more than 100 pages, including annexes.

If you consider that this is insufficient, you should raise the matter with the DMC Secretariat which will, if necessary, ask the RDC Chair (or a Deputy Chair) to decide.

The Enforcement team will have an opportunity to respond in writing to your written representations to the RDC. You’ll be sent a copy of their response, which will be subject to similar limits on length. Where the Enforcement team provides a single response to more than one set of representations in a multi-party case, the limit on length could be greater than it would otherwise be.

The RDC will consider your written representations, and any response made by the Enforcement teams, when making its decision.

If you choose to make oral representations, you (and/or your representatives), will meet with representatives from our Enforcement team and an RDC panel. It may be held either in person or virtually (by telephone or video link), at the RDC’s discretion. The panel will normally comprise the Chair (or a Deputy Chair) plus 2 other members. 

As well as those mentioned above, other people who may attend the meeting include:

• the RDC's legal advisers
• a case handler from the DMC Secretariat
• other FCA staff (as observers only)

Oral representations meetings are not like court hearings. They are relatively short; generally between 2 hours and a day in total, depending on the complexity of the matter and the number of parties involved. Before the meeting, you’ll be sent an agenda and information about the composition of the RDC panel.  

At the meeting, your oral representations should normally last about an hour, although you’ll also be given an opportunity to make any concluding remarks at the end of the meeting. If you need more time, you should ask before the meeting, explaining why. You should only submit further written submissions or documents before, at, or after the meeting in exceptional cases, with the prior permission of the Chair of the RDC panel. 

Before the meeting, the RDC panel will have considered the written material in detail, and your oral representations should take that into account.  

The meeting is your opportunity to explain your arguments against the FCA taking the action proposed in the notice. You can attend alone, or you may choose to bring legal or other professional representation, to help you to cover the points that you want to make, structure what you want to say and answer certain questions. You may also choose to bring someone, such as a friend or family member, with you for support. 

There is no cross-examination at the meeting. In other words, you (or your representatives) and the Enforcement team can’t question each other directly and you don’t have to answer questions asked of you at the meeting.

The RDC panel members may ask you (and the Enforcement team) questions. If you can’t answer a question, you should say so or, where appropriate, ask the Chair if you may respond in writing after the meeting. If the Chair allows this, you’ll be given a deadline to provide your written response.

At the end of the meeting, the Chair will explain the next steps.

The RDC won’t normally make a decision on the day of the meeting, but will usually let you know when you may expect to receive the decision.

After the meeting, the RDC will consider all your representations (both written and oral) together with the Enforcement team's responses and decide what action to take.  

Any decision notice given will set out the action we have decided to take and will explain why the RDC has made that decision. If the RDC decides not to issue a decision notice, it will tell you in writing.