The government has published a response to the consultation on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/financial-promotion-exemptions-for-high-net-worth-individuals-and-sophisticated-investors-a-consultation.
After carefully considering all responses, the government intends to update the exemptions by:
• raising the financial thresholds to qualify for the exemptions to account for inflation;
• tightening other eligibility criteria to reduce the risk of capturing ordinary consumers; and
• strengthening the statements that investors are required to complete when using the exemptions.
These measures aim to reduce the risk of consumer detriment while preserving the ability of SMEs to raise capital as a result of financial promotions made under these exemptions.
The draft SI can be found on legislation.gov.uk: The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2023 (legislation.gov.uk).
Subject to Parliamentary time and process, the government intends that the updates to the exemptions will come into force on 31 January 2024.
