Upper Tribunal: No implied undertaking in FCA references

Adam Temple acted for the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), led by Nicholas Peacock KC, in the Upper Tribunal in Ancean Limited v The Financial Conduct Authority [2025] UKUT 00404 (TCC). The Tribunal’s decision, handed down on 5 December 2025, concerns the scope of any restriction on the FCA’s use of documents provided to it in the course of reference proceedings under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”).

The FCA applied for a declaration that there is no common-law collateral use rule or implied undertaking applied to documents supplied by parties during its Upper Tribunal references of FCA decisions.

The Upper Tribunal agreed that the statutory framework contained in sections 348-349 FSMA, together with the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Disclosure of Confidential Information) Regulations 2001, provides a complete and comprehensive regime governing the use and disclosure of confidential information.

Accordingly, the FCA does not require the Tribunal’s permission to use documents provided to it in reference proceedings, when exercising its regulatory functions.

The full judgment is available here.