Reverse Solicitation If You Live Outside UK
Published / Last Updated on 21/05/2021
We are a UK registered business, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. We are fully insured for advice that we give from the UK to clients all over the world. That said, we are not authorised outside the United Kingdom and as such, new products and services are usually only available for UK residents. We are also no longer authorised in the European Union under financial services ‘passporting’ given Brexit.
That said, there are many British Expats and Foreign Nationals living all over the world that have pensions, investments, financial or tax interests in the UK. Your local adviser, where you live, is unlikely to be authorised in the UK meaning they cannot advise on your UK interests and likewise, we are not authorised to give advice on pensions and investments where you live.
The basic principle of ‘Reverse Solicitation’ is that you approach us for help with your UK pensions and investments, we did not approach you or market any services to you. You approach us i.e. reverse solicitation. Many countries and their regulators will allow residents in their country to seek advice in the UK on UK based pensions, investments and mortgages. Some have stricter rules than others.
EU Residents:
The Brexit Trade Agreement did include financial services passporting. Negotiations are ongoing with regard to ‘Equivalency’ on financial services with an Agreement in Principle (AIP) or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expected in mid 2021. Technically, this means we are no longer authorised in EU (for the time being). Fish, wine, cheese and cars are no problem but finance is a ‘no’ at present. We do not ‘solicit’ or promote services to EU residents but we will accept ‘Reverse Solicitation’ i.e. you approaching us to help you with existing UK taxes, investments or pensions only. We will not advise on or arrange 'new money' investments for you but we will advise on existing UK arrangements that are then actioned/transferred/amended within the UK. Given this, and until an agreement is reached on Equivalency, we will offer the technical advice from the UK on your UK pensions, investments and tax with our requirement that you also take advice locally in the EU to oversee any actions at 'your end' to ensure tax compliance and reporting requirements with EU authorities.
Resident Outside Europe:
As we are not authorised where you live and your local advisers are unlikely to be authorised in the UK, we operate a similar option to EU residents with 'Reverse Solicitation'. We do not ‘solicit’ or promote financial services to non-UK residents but we will accept ‘Reverse Solicitation’ i.e. you approaching us to help you with existing UK taxes, investments or pensions only. We will not advise on or arrange 'new/additional money' investments for you but we will advise on existing UK arrangements that are then actioned/transferred/amended within the UK. Given this, we will offer the technical advice from the UK on your UK pensions, investments and tax with our requirement that you also take advice locally in the country that you live to oversee any actions at 'your end' and ensure tax compliance and reporting requirements with your local finance and tax authorities.
All advice is offered from the United Kingdom with the explicit agreement and understanding that any fee for services is offered under the laws of England and Wales and the UK Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction and no other country’s regulatory or legal systems have any judicial powers over any dealings between us in connection with your UK affairs. Your local adviser must take responsibility for tax compliance and reporting requirements in your country of residence.
