On February 25, 2015, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2015 (SI 2015/369) was published with an explanatory memorandum.

The Order comes into force on April 1, 2015, and implements the recommendations of the Fair and Effective Markets Review (set out in a report dated August 2014) to extend the existing UK regulatory and legislative framework for benchmarks to include the additional benchmarks, which are used in the fixed income, commodity and currency markets .The order therefore amends:

• Schedule 5 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (SI 2001/544) by extending the existing UK regulatory and legislative framework, in addition to governing the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), to apply also to ISDAFIX, Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA), Repurchase Overnight Index Average (RONIA), WM/Reuters (WMR) 4pm London Closing Spot Rate, London Gold Fixing, LMBA Silver Price and ICE Brent Index; and
• The Financial Services Act 2012 (Misleading Statements and Impressions) Order 2013 (SI 2013/637), which specifies the relevant activities, investments and benchmarks for the purposes of a criminal offence in section 91 of the Financial Services Act 2012 (that is, making false or misleading statements in relation to benchmarks), to bring the additional benchmarks into its scope.

The FCA has consulted on bringing the additional benchmarks into its regulatory and supervisory regime and intends to publish a policy statement and final Handbook text in the first quarter of 2015 with a view to the relevant provisions being in force when the Order takes effect.