Licensing and approval proceedings - investment firms, investment intermediaries

Conditions for the licensing of investment firms are stipulated in Article 6 of Act No. 256/2004 Coll., the Capital Market Undertakings Act, as amended. Details concerning the application for an investment firm licence in connection with Article 7(4) and (5) of Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU (hereinafter “MiFID II”) are set out in

  • Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2017/1943 supplementing Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards on information and requirements for the authorisation of investment firms, and
  • Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2017/1945 of 19 June 2017 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to notifications by and to applicant and authorised investment firms according to Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Unlike Czech law, the Czech versions of EU legal acts use the term “investiční podnik” rather than “obchodník s cennými papíry” to mean “investment firm”. Both terms are interchangeable. The term “investiční podnik” must be distinguished from the term “investiční společnost” (“management company”) according to Act No. 240/2013 Coll., on Management Companies and Investment Funds, as amended.

The manner and prerequisites of, and annexes to, applications for registration of other business activities of an investment firm pursuant to Article 6a of the Capital Market Undertakings Act are governed by Decree No. 309/2017 Coll., on applications and notifications under the Capital Market Undertakings Act (see below). The same Decree also governs details concerning the prerequisites of applications for authorisation to act as an investment intermediary and accredited entity under the Capital Market Undertakings Act.

Pursuant to Articles 30b and 32g of the Capital Market Undertakings Act, an investment intermediary and tied agents shall pay an administrative fee for extending the validity of an authorisation. The CNB has published the method of payment of administrative fees for extending the validity of licences (available in Czech only, pdf, 296 kB).

The conditions for the licensing of investment firms, registration of investment intermediaries and entry of a tied agent in the register in the area of intermediation of supplementary pension savings are governed by Article 74 of Act No. 427/2011 Coll., on Supplementary Pension Savings, as amended. The prerequisites of applications are stipulated in Article 82 of the Act on Supplementary Pension Savings. The renewal of a licence, registration or entry in the register in the area of intermediation of supplementary pension savings (available in Czech only, pdf, 296 kB) is governed by Article 82 of the Act on Supplementary Pension Savings.

In connection with the launch of the basic registers system on 1 July 2012, some changes were made in licensing and approval proceedings, as described in the document entitled Information on planned changes in licensing and approval proceedings in connection with the basic registers (pdf, 203 kB, available in Czech only).

All the relevant legal rules and methodological documents are available in the section Legislation > Investment firms and investment intermediaries.

 

Selected EU regulations

Decrees

Official information, methodological documents

Application and notifications

A. Investment firm

    • application for registration for distribution of pension products pursuant to the Act on Supplementary Pension Savings and the Act on Retirement Savings by a non-bank investment firm, and other business activities (available in Czech only,) (doc 69 kB, pdf, 121 kB)
    • declaration of competence for the distribution of supplementary pension saving (available in Czech only) (doc, 44 kB, pdf, 60 kB
  • Method of payment of the administrative fee (available in Czech only) (pdf, 296 kB)

 B. Investment intermediary

  • authorisation to act as an investment intermediary (available in Czech only) (REGIS, doc, 35 kB, pdf, 269kB)
    • details of, and mandatory annexes to, the application pursuant to Articles 3 and 4 of Decree No. 309/2017 Coll.
    • document for the assessment of trustworthiness of a natural person (doc, 37 kB, pdf, 363 kB)
    • document for the assessment of trustworthiness of a legal entity (doc, 37 kB, pdf, 356 kB)
      • Regarding documents for the assessment of trustworthiness. Before filling in the docum1ent for the assessment of trustworthiness, it is necessary to become acquainted with the Official Information of the Czech National Bank regarding the interpretation of the terms trustworthiness and competence (pdf, 144 kB), particularly the criteria for the assessment of trustworthiness given on page 6 thereof. If the answer to any of the questions given in the document for the assessment of trustworthiness is yes, it is necessary to provide information and documents, or adduce other evidence, that will allow the CNB to make the assessment pursuant to page 6 of the Official Information.
    • declaration of competence for the distribution of supplementary pension savings (available in Czech only) (doc 44 kB, pdf 60 kB)
  • extension of the authorisation to act as an investment intermediary (REGIS)
    • method of payment of the administrative fee (available in Czech only) (pdf, 296 kB)

C. Tied agent

    • notification of tied agents, notification of changes in information on a tied agent, notification of termination of activity of a tied agent and registration of activities in the area of supplementary pension savings and retirement savings (REGIS) annex to the application for entry in the list of tied agents (xls, 194 kB)
    • methodology for filling in an application (pdf, 139 kB)
    • recommendations regarding the application for entry in the list of tied agents (xls, 244 kB)
    • scheme of the XML interface structure for the validation of applications for entry in the list of tied agents (zip, 5 kB)
  • extension of the authorisation to act as a tied agent (REGIS)
    • Method of payment of the administrative fee (available in Czech only, pdf, 296 kB)
    • user’s guide to the renewal process (available in Czech only, pdf, 673 kB)
    • description of the XML interface structure for submitting a multiple application (pdf, 408 kB)
    • scheme of the XML interface structure for the validation of a multiple application for renewal of authorisation (zip, 9 kB)
    • annex to the renewal notification (xls, 141 kB)
  • renewal of authorisation to offer or intermediate supplementary pension savings (REGIS)
    • method of payment of the administrative fee (available in Czech only, pdf, 296 kB)
    • user’s guide to the renewal process (available in Czech only, pdf, 673 kB)
    • description of the XML interface structure for submitting a multiple application (pdf, 408 kB)
    • scheme of the XML interface structure for the validation of a multiple application for renewal of authorisation (zip, 9 kB)
    • annex to the renewal notification (xls, 141 kB)

D. Accredited person

  • examinations under Act No. 256/2004 Coll., the Capital Market Undertakings Act, as amended (available in Czech only)
  • application for accreditation or extension of accreditation, notification of a change in the accreditation conditions (available in Czech only) (doc, 33 kB, pdf, 190 kB)
    • details of, and mandatory annexes to, the application pursuant to Articles 3 and 4 of Decree No. 309/2017 Coll.
    • document for the assessment of trustworthiness of a natural person (doc 37 kB, pdf, 363 kB)
    • document for the assessment of trustworthiness of a legal entity (doc 37 kB, pdf, 356 kB)
      • Regarding documents for the assessment of trustworthiness. Before filling in the document for the assessment of trustworthiness, it is necessary to become acquainted with the Official Information of the Czech National Bank regarding the interpretation of the terms trustworthiness and competence (pdf, 144 kB), particularly the criteria for the assessment of trustworthiness given on page 6 thereof. If the answer to any of the questions given in the document for the assessment of trustworthiness is yes, it is necessary to provide information and documents, or adduce other evidence, that will allow the CNB to make the assessment pursuant to page 6 of the Official Information.

 Recommended forms and prerequisites not governed by Decree No. 309/2017 Coll. and Decree No. 233/2009 Coll.