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[Name Removed] 9 August 2021We couldn’t load the mail server logs for this message.
Dear The Financial Conduct Authority,
Can please provide a copy of you investigation into the failed company Direct Market Touch Ltd .
Please provide how many complaints were logged against Direct market Touch Ltd
Freedom of Information, The Financial Conduct Authority 9 August 2021Thank you for e-mailing the Financial Conduct Authority's Information
Disclosure Team.This is an automatic acknowledgement to tell you that we have received
your email safely.Please do not reply to this email.
We will be in touch in due course.
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(https://www.psr.org.uk/cookies-privacy-a. ).This communication and any attachments contain information which is
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of our communications may contain confidential information which it could
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communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional
standards.This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal
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Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United KingdomThe Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square,
Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United KingdomSwitchboard 020 7066 1000
Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment
Freedom of Information, The Financial Conduct Authority 6 October 2021
Systems Regulator Limited)1 Attachment
Dear [name removed]
Freedom of Information: Right to know request
Thank you for your email of 9 August 2021, in which you asked for:
- A copy of your investigation into the failed company Direct Market Touch Ltd.
- Please provide how many complaints were logged against Direct Market Touch Ltd.We have processed your email in line with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and our response is below. Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding.
As explained in our response to request reference FOI7324, we are unable to disclose a copy of the investigation report, as it is considered confidential information that the FCA has received in the course of carrying out its public functions under section 348 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).
Further, information contained in the report could prejudice the commercial interests of the firm and any person. We are therefore exempted from disclosing it under section 43 (commercial interests) of FOIA. For a detailed explanation on why the above exemptions apply, please see the below Annex A.
An anonymised copy of our previous response reference FOI7324 is also attached in Annex B, for reference.
Regarding how many complaints were logged against Direct Market Touch Ltd, we would like to clarify that we as an organisation do not deal with complaints unless they are complaints directly against the FCA and which meet the requirements of the FCA’s complaints scheme, “Complaints against the regulators”. Any complainant or enquirer who expresses dissatisfaction in relation to firms or individuals within the financial services sector is generally referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You may find it helpful to visit the FOS website at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk for more information.
Whilst it may be possible that we hold a record of such enquiries, we are unable to confirm or deny whether we hold information relevant to this point of your request, as section 44 (prohibitions on disclosure) of FOIA applies. This is because such confirmation or denial would result in the disclosure of information which relates to the business affairs of the firm in question, and which (if held) the FCA would have received in the discharge of its functions under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). For a detailed explanation as to why this exemption applies, please also refer to Annex A.
Your right to complain under FOIA
If you are unhappy with this response, you have the right to request an internal review. To do so, please contact us within 40 working days of the date of this response at [email address].
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you also have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner by phone or on their website at:
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerelyInformation Disclosure Team
Financial Conduct Authority• General right of access to information held by public authorities
Anyone requesting information from a public authority is entitled to be informed in writing whether it holds the information described (this is under section 1(1)(a) of FOIA). If the public authority does hold it, the person requesting it is entitled to have the information communicated to them, under section 1(1)(b). However, there are exclusions and exemptions to these rights.
• Section 44 (Prohibitions on Disclosure)
Section 44(1)(a) of FOIA states that information is absolutely exempt from disclosure if this is prohibited by law. Section 348 of FSMA restricts the FCA from disclosing ‘confidential information’ it has received in the course of carrying out its public function. FSMA allows exceptions to this in a few specific circumstances, but none of these apply to this request.
Confidential information here is defined as non-public and non-anonymised information involving a person’s business or other affairs, which the FCA received in the course of carrying out its public function.
The information contained in the report you refer to is confidential information under this provision. If we disclosed this information, without the provider’s consent or the consent of the person the information is about, we would breach section 348 of FSMA. This would be a criminal offence.
Furthermore, a public authority does not have to confirm or deny whether it holds the information requested if doing so is prohibited under another Act from FOIA.
If we held information falling within the scope of the second point of your request (which we do not confirm or deny), it would be ‘confidential information’ which was received by the FCA in the discharge of its functions under FSMA. Disclosing such ‘confidential information’, without the consent of the provider of the information – and, if different, the consent of the person the information relates to – would breach section 348 of FSMA and would be a criminal offence.
In many requests for information under FOIA we have to judge different factors to decide whether disclosing the requested information would be in the public interest or not. For this request, we have an ‘absolute’ exemption against supplying the information, and so we do not need to make this kind of judgement.
• Section 43 (Commercial Interests)
This section of FOIA states that we are exempt from providing the information contained in the report your refer to if disclosing it would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person, including the public authority that holds the information.
As this exemption is subject to the public interest test, we have considered relevant factors in favour, and against, disclosing information as required by FOIA.
• Disclosing the information might reassure the public about the effectiveness of the FCA’s regulatory approach and demonstrate how we respond to supervisory matters in the sector we regulate.
• Disclosure could also give consumers information to help them in making decisions about their dealings or potential dealings with firms and individuals that are, or may be, operating in the financial services industry.
• Disclosure would be likely to lead to widespread speculation affecting the firm’s brand and reputation in the market in which it operates, without due process having been followed – i.e. without any formal public announcement and without the relevant markets and/or entities having had the opportunity to comment.
• It is strongly in the public interest that the FCA is able to have open and candid exchanges of information with the firms it regulates, regardless of the commercial sensitivity of the information. Disclosing the information could lead to firms being less willing to cooperate with us on similar work.
On this occasion, and for these reasons, we have concluded that the balance of the public interest is in favour of not disclosing the information.
This communication and any attachments may contain personal information. For more information about how and why we use personal information and who to contact with any queries about this, please see our privacy notices: FCA Privacy Notice (https://www.fca.org.uk/data-protection) and PSR Privacy Notice (https://www.psr.org.uk/cookies-privacy-a. ).
This communication and any attachments contain information which is confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy, distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some of our communications may contain confidential information which it could be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you have received this email in error please notify [email address] immediately and delete the email from your computer. Further information on the classification and handling of FCA information can be found on the FCA website (http://www.fca.org.uk/site-info/legal/fc. ).
The FCA (or, if this email originates from the Payment Systems Regulator Limited, the FCA on behalf of the Payment Systems Regulator Limited / the Payment Systems Regulator Limited) reserves the right to monitor all email communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional standards.
This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the Payment Systems Regulator Limited.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square, Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 12 Endeavour Square, Stratford, London, E20 1JN, United Kingdom
Switchboard 020 7066 1000
