We may take enforcement action for failure to comply with directions given or requirements imposed under FSBRA or failures to comply with the provisions of other legislation such as the IFR or PSD2. We may also take enforcement action for failure to comply with the Competition Act 1998 and Articles 101/102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Certain decisions relating to these enforcement actions may need to be taken by the Enforcement Decisions Committee or the Competition Decisions Committee.
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Document our enforcement decisions
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Explain the purpose of the Enforcement Decisions Committee and the Competition Decisions Committee and how they work
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Provide further information about their membership
Enforcement decisions
The Enforcement Decisions Committee
The Enforcement Decisions Committee, or EDC, is a committee of the Board. Its purpose is to take regulatory enforcement decisions for the PSR when a settlement cannot be reached.
The EDC currently has a pool of ten members, including the Chair and several Deputy Chairs, from which three-person panels can be drawn to consider cases.
Members of the EDC may be called upon to act as Settlement Decision Makers in enforcement cases. In the event that settlement is not reached, any EDC member who has acted as a Settlement Decision Maker is then be precluded from membership of the EDC panel considering the case.
Referral to the EDC
From time to time, when standards fall below what we expect, we may take enforcement action against a payment systems participant that has failed to comply with relevant legal requirements.
Where we have found that there is a compliance failure, and we consider that it should be sanctioned, but settlement (if appropriate in the circumstances of the particular case) cannot be reached, we will make a referral to the EDC. The EDC will determine whether to issue a warning notice in relation to the compliance failure and the appropriate sanction to be imposed. The payment systems participant has the opportunity to make representations to the EDC about the warning notice and proposed sanction.
Having considered any representations, the EDC will determine whether to issue a decision notice, in which it will set out its decision in relation to the compliance failure and appropriate sanction. The sanction may be to publish details of the compliance failure and/or impose a financial penalty.
While it is a committee of the Board, the EDC is separate from staff at the PSR who have investigated whether a compliance failure has occurred.
The Competition Decisions Committee
The purpose of the Competition Decisions Committee, or CDC, is linked to the competition powers we have under the Competition Act 1998 (CA98) and under Articles 101/102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
The CDC currently has seven members from which three-person panels can be drawn.
How the CDC works
If we think that the behaviour of one or more parties in payment systems amounts to a breach of the CA98 (or the corresponding EU law provisions), we will issue a Statement of Objections.
Once a Statement of Objections has been issued, the CDC will consider whether or not the party or parties have breached the CA98. The party or parties who are addressees of any Statement of Objections will have an opportunity to make representations to the CDC.
If, having considered the addressees’ representations on the Statement of Objections, the CDC is minded to reach an infringement decision and impose a penalty, we will provide the parties with a draft penalty statement.
The CDC will have the final say whether an infringement decision is adopted, and whether any financial penalty and/or any directions are imposed on the party or parties concerned.
So, in summary, the CDC is a group of experts appointed to act as the decision-maker on whether, based on the facts and evidence before it, the legal test for establishing an infringement of competition law has been met and, where appropriate, on the level of the financial penalty to be imposed.
Like the EDC, the CDC is a committee of our Board, and its members will not have been involved in the investigation or in the decision to issue a Statement of Objections.
Membership of the EDC and CDC
The biographies of the current members of the EDC and CDC are shown below.
Tim Parkes is Chair of the RDC and EDC. He has been a partner at global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills LLP for more than 28 years, after serving 10 years as an associate and articled clerk.
Margaret Obi joined the EDC as a Deputy Chair in May 2023.
Margaret is a former partner in a leading criminal defence practice. In 2014 she left private practice to become an independent legal consultant. She is currently a member of The Pensions Regulator’s Determinations Panel and in February 2023 she was appointed as the first Commissioner for Service Police Complaints. Margaret also sits as a Deputy High Court Judge.
Margaret’s other work includes advising lawyers in relation to investigations undertaken by the Serious Fraud Office and the National Crime Agency. She advises international legal teams defending allegations of war crimes in the International Criminal Court and advises on disputes between states in the International Court of Justice. She is an independent Legal Assessor and Legally Qualified Chair for various statutory bodies. She is also a trustee/director of Appeal, a charity and law practice dedicated to fighting miscarriages of justice and advocating for reform of the criminal justice system.
Margaret is also Deputy Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulatory Decisions Committee.
Edward joined the EDC as Deputy Chair in May 2023.
Before that he was a partner and consultant in the Disputes practice at Ashurst LLP. In his 48 years at the firm, he filled several roles including Head of Litigation and a member of the Board. His disputes practice involved acting for major corporate and financial institutions in challenging and complex situations; most recently focussing on regulatory investigations and proceedings involving financial institutions and their employees.
Edward is also a member of the Bank of England's Enforcement Decision Making Committee and, until the end of 2022, served as Chair of the City of London Law Society. He has a number of roles for charities.
Edward is also Deputy Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulatory Decisions Committee.
Philip Marsden joined the EDC & CDC in February 2016.
Ulrike Hotopp was appointed to the CDC Panel in October 2023.
Ulrike has more than 25 years of experience as an economist working in Government and the private sector. For 16 years Ulrike was a member of the Government Economic Service. Her last role was as Director for Analysis and Chief Economist in DEFRA. In 2017 Ulrike founded LIVE Economics ltd, an economic consultancy company. Ulrike is a member of the Competition and Markets Authority’s merger panel, OfGEM’s Enforcement Decision Panel, and the Code Change Committee of the Market Operator for the non-household water market, MOSL. Ulrike teaches Economic Policy Analysis at the University of Kent.
Ulrike is also a member of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Competition Decisions Committee.
Claire Whyley was appointed to the CDC Panel in October 2023.
Claire is a highly experienced consumer research and policy professional. She specialises in consumer needs, decision-making and outcomes across a wide range of markets including financial and payment services, energy, water, retail, aviation, road and rail, and advertising. She brings particular expertise in outcomes-focussed regulation and consumer vulnerability. Claire is a member of the CMA Panel, Pay.UK’s End User Advisory Council, the FLA Lending Code Board, the Board of PHIN, and SSE’s Strategic Stakeholder Panel. Previous non-executive roles include membership of the FSA Consumer Panel, the Heathrow Consumer Challenge Board and Deputy Chair (South) of SGN’s Consumer Engagement Board. She was also Senior Fellow at the Personal Finance Research Centre, Head of Research and Policy at the Welsh Consumer Council and Deputy Director of Policy/Head of Consumer Futures at the National Consumer Council.
Claire is also a member of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Competition Decisions Committee.