Contact TeX

The current categories of member are:

Asset Manager: any firm that is ultimately responsible for the maintenance of a fund’s register of unit holders and repurchase of units that are to be redeemed can become an ‘Asset Manager Member’.

Service Provider: any firm that is an:
(i) ISA manager;
(ii) a platform service provider (in each case as defined in the FCA Handbook from time to time);
(iii) falls within the definition of ‘product provider’ in the FCA Handbook (other than any firm that falls within paragraph (iii) of that definition (ie asset managers) or paragraph (iv) of that definition (operator of a personal pension scheme or stakeholder pension scheme)); or
(iv) intermediate unitholder (as defined in the FCA Handbook).

Pension Provider: any firm that is responsible for the provision and administration of a pension scheme established in the UK or, if one is appointed for the relevant pension scheme, the pension administrator.

Multi-Role: any firm that meets the criteria for more than one category of member (eg both a Service Provider Member and an Asset Manager Member) and will act in either capacity depending on the particular transfer scenario must join as a ‘Multi-Role Member’. This category is only relevant where one legal entity performs more than one role. For example, if a firm meets the criteria for both an Asset Manager Member and Service Provider Member and will act in the role of an asset manager or service provider depending on the transfer scenario, it will be a Multi-Role Member. If different entities within the same corporate group perform different roles, then each of those entities must join as a member in the relevant member class.

Please note a Pension Provider does not form part of the Multi-Role Member category. If you are a Pension Provider in addition to any of Service Provider, Asset Manager or Multi-Role Member then you would need to submit two applications.

There may be other categories of member in the future, as determined by the TeX Board from time to time.

Currently, unless a party falls within the category of asset manager, service provider, pension provider (which, as defined, includes a pension administrator appointed in respect of the pension scheme) or multi-role member it cannot become a member of the contract club. Other interested parties (such as technology providers) can participate in TeX by becoming an associate, but they do not become members of TeX and they will not be a party to the Membership Agreement.

As far as the Membership Agreement is concerned, technology providers and third party administrators will be the agents or sub-contractors of members, and each member will remain liable for the performance of its obligations by any agent or sub-contractor on its behalf. A member will have failed to comply with its obligations if its agent or sub-contractor has failed to create and send messages in accordance with the standards or comply with the timescales in the SLA.

No. A firm can become a member if it is established anywhere in the EEA and is regulated or recognised (as applicable) by the FCA.

The documents of the club are governed by English law and have been drafted under English law. Any disputes will be submitted to the jurisdiction of the English court and members based outside the UK will need to appoint an agent for service in the UK (although please note that all members will be subject to the dispute resolution procedure, which aims to resolve disputes without having to go to court).

Each entity within the group must apply to become a member (whether a service provider, asset manager, pension provider or multi-role member) in its own right. The multi-role membership is not a default category of membership for groups; however, there may be an entity within the group that performs the role of more than one category (eg both an asset manager and service provider) and therefore will sign up as a multi-role member.

Only one joining fee is payable per corporate group. Within a corporate group, the annual membership fee is payable per category of members in a marketing group (ie one annual membership fee for all the asset manager members in a marketing group, plus one fee for all the service provider members etc).

TeX will check only that the applicant:

(a) is established in the EEA; and
(b) is authorised or recognised (if established outside the UK) by the FCA; and
(c) has the necessary FCA permissions for its role.

For applicants to the pension provider member category who are pension administrators for UK pension schemes but are not FCA regulated, the firm is required to provide details of membership of any alternative body or affiliations, a reference from the Chairman of the trustees of any scheme for which the applicant acts as administrator and written confirmation from HMRC that it has no reason to believe the applicant is not a fit and proper person to be a scheme administrator (under the terms of the Finance Act 2004). Amongst other things, this is to guard against pensions liberators / scams. TeX may conduct additional checks and require the applicant to provide additional information to confirm that it meets the TeX criteria for a pension provider member.

When TeX was established there was much discussion regarding the extent of due diligence that TeX should carry out, including whether TeX should undertake any financial and technical due diligence on applicants. It was concluded that if TeX had to carry out extensive financial due diligence that could increase the running costs to members and create barriers to joining the club, which was undesirable when the main object of the club is to facilitate electronic re-registration amongst as many market players as possible. A member is entitled to carry out additional due diligence on another member where it has no pre-existing commercial relationship with that counter-party and its internal policies require additional due diligence to be satisfied. TeX will validate the authority of the person signing the form by contacting the MLRO listed on the FCA register. We will check the signatory is employed by and authorised to act on behalf of the company. The registration will not be processed until we receive confirmation from the MLRO (or deputy).

As there is no requirement currently for members to send and receive data electronically, it was decided that there is no need for TeX to carry out technical due diligence on applicants.

While TeX will carry out the due diligence on an applicant at the point of joining, each member has an on-going obligation to notify TeX of any change in its circumstances that means it no longer meets the membership criteria and ceases to be eligible as a member (eg it loses its FCA authorisation). Also, a member must notify TeX if it becomes aware of those changes in another member. The Whistle-Blowing Policy outlines the circumstances in which a member has to report its concerns about another member.

In applying for membership, each applicant:

(a) undertakes to TeX and each other member of the club from time to time to be bound by all terms of the Membership Agreement. See question 4.1 for the different documents that make up “the Membership Agreement”; and
(b) appoints TeX as its agent for the purpose of (and for this purpose only) agreeing the terms of the Membership Agreement with all other members from time to time. The appointment is irrevocable for so long as the applicant participates in the contract club.

When a firm is accepted as a member, a direct contractual relationship (governed by the terms of the Membership Agreement) is created:

(a) between that member and TeX, allowing the member to enforce the terms of the Membership Agreement against TeX; and
(b) between that member and each other member. This means that the terms of the Membership Agreement can be enforced directly between members if there is a dispute; members will not enforce compliance through TeX. It is most likely that a member will look to enforce the Contract Terms against another member, as that is the part of the Membership Agreement that sets out the obligations and liability of parties in relation to transfers.

The contractual relationship is created as follows:

(1) The Articles of Association will automatically create the necessary contract between the company (TeX) and each member, and between each of the members amongst themselves, under the Companies Act 2006.
(2) The other documents that make up the Membership Agreement will not (because they are not part of the Articles of Association) automatically bind every member under the Companies Act 2006. Each applicant will therefore agree these terms with TeX and appoint TeX as its agent to:
(i) make an offer on behalf of the applicant to each other club member from time to time to comply with the arrangements set out in the club documents; this offer should remain open for so long as the applicant participates in the club;
(ii) accept on behalf of the applicant the offer made by TeX on behalf of each other club member from time to time (whilst the applicant participates in the club) to comply with the arrangements set out in the club documents; and
(iii) agree on behalf of the applicant with each other contract club member from time to time any changes made to any of the contract club arrangements outside the Articles of Association which do not require the member’s express consent.

This appointment of TeX as each member’s agent is included in the registration form, so this appointment is included in an agreement which is not itself dependent upon the agency appointment to take effect. The appointment of TeX as agent is irrevocable whilst the member participates in the contract club.

The Articles of Association provide that membership is a personal right, not a property right, and therefore incapable of transfer to another party. If a member transfers all of its relevant business to another entity it will cease to be eligible to be a member of TeX. The transferee must apply to become a member of TeX in the usual way.

Associates are not members of TeX; they are firms that are appointed as an “Associate” of TeX at the discretion of the TeX Board and upon signing a letter of appointment. Associates include interested parties in the re-registration process, such as technology or standards providers and third party administrators to asset managers and platforms.

Associates do not become party to the terms of the Membership Agreement, and therefore do not have the same rights as members. For example, they do not have the right to appoint directors or vote on any matters which are to be determined by a vote of the membership.

Under the terms of the associate letter of appointment, associates will be able to:

(a) participate in an Advisory Council or working group(s) (see question 5.1);
(b) access the secure ‘member-only’ area of the TeX website, including the register of members;
(c) attend and speak (but not vote) at the TeX AGM and any extraordinary general meetings of TeX members. They may also be invited to attend and speak at other member meetings.

The benefits granted to an Associate are subject to the Associate’s compliance with its obligations under its letter of appointment.

The following documents, together with the joining fee and registration forms, make up “the Membership Agreement” that each member will enter into with TeX and each other member. These documents are listed in the order of precedence:

(1) Competition Policy: members will have to comply with the competition policy to ensure that no anti-competitive conduct is carried out under the auspices of the contract club. The policy deals with such things as the conduct of board meetings, meetings of the Advisory Council and any working groups, and member meetings. Compliance with this policy will not relieve any member, or TeX, of its individual legal obligations not to engage in anti-competitive conduct. Associates are also bound by the Competition Policy through the terms of their side letter with TeX.

(2) Articles of Association: the articles deal with basic membership issues and governance and objects of TeX. It is a public document (available at Companies House) on which third parties rely.

(3) Contract Terms: this document is the contractual framework for transfers and it deals with the interaction between members in their capacity as participants in an individual transfer. The contract terms set out the key responsibilities and liabilities of a member when taking part in a transfer scenario.

(4) By-laws: these are the standard terms that apply to every member (eg intellectual property rights, change control, dispute resolution). While the Contract Terms contain specific obligations that apply according to the role a member plays in a transfer, the By-laws apply to every member.

(5) Glossary: this is the glossary of defined terms used in the other contract documents. As the Articles of Association is a public document and needs to be self-contained, terms are also defined within that document.

(6) Service Level Agreement (SLA): this is the agreement that was produced and agreed by an industry working group and it sets out the service levels (ie the agreed response and turnaround times for re-registration) and standards that will apply to messages sent between members. The SLA incorporates by reference the UKFMPG’s market practice guidance for the interpretation and use of ISO 20022 messages for investment portfolio and fund transfers (as updated from time to time). Part A of the SLA sets out the service levels and standards and is binding on members, while Part B sets out non-binding guidance notes. The SLA is maintained by the TeX SLA & Operational Advisory Council.

(7) Whistle-Blowing Policy: this sets out the circumstances in which a member will report its concerns about a member to TeX. It mirrors the provisions of the By-laws relating to notification of “Relevant Circumstances” to TeX. Note that: (i) this does not replace members’ legal and regulatory obligations to report matters to, for example, the FCA, the Serious Fraud Office or to other authorities, and (ii) this does not require a member to disclose anything that would place it in breach of law and regulations (eg provisions against ‘tipping off’ in respect of suspicious transaction reporting).

(8) Privacy Policy: this deals with TeX’s use of personal data collected through the operation of the contract club (eg any personal data collected on the application form or obtained in the course of providing the club services about the relationship manager or the individuals who are 1st and 2nd tier escalation contacts). Data protection provisions in relation to customer data, as opposed to member data, are contained in the By-laws.

The terms of these documents are non-negotiable and applicants will be required to accept these terms ‘as is’ if they want to become a member of TeX. One of the TeX objectives is to maintain a visible standard across the industry, which cannot be achieved if individual participants are able to negotiate different terms. With this in mind, the terms were produced, debated and agreed by a Legal Working Group made up of representatives from asset managers and platforms, to ensure that the terms were balanced. The Legal Working Group also took into account feedback provided by other interested parties.

Once you become a member, terms can be changed through the change control procedure, and it will be open to members to recommend changes to the TeX board (or to an Advisory Council or working group set up for this purpose) for consideration.

No. Where rights and obligations apply to:

(a) a “Party”, they apply to each member and to TeX;
(b) a “Member”, they apply to members only and not to TeX – this is mostly the case in the Contract Terms; and
(c) a “Participant”, they apply to a member when it is involved in a transfer.

Associates do not sign up to the same terms as members of TeX. To become an Associate, an organisation enters into a standard associate letter of appointment with TeX and that letter sets out the terms that apply to the associate. The main obligations of an associate are:

(a) to pay the joining fee and annual associate fee;
(b) to comply with the Competition Policy; and
(c) to compy with the obligations of confidentiality in relation to the confidential information of members and other associates. There is an Associate Privacy Policy that applies to TeX’s use of any personal data supplied by associates.

The benefits granted to an associate are subject to the associate’s compliance with its obligations under the letter. A material breach by the associate (eg failure to comply with the Competition Policy) would give TeX the right to terminate the associate’s letter of appointment with immediate effect. Tex also has the right to terminate the letter of appointment at any time for any reason, but where this does not arise from any fault on the part of the associate the firm will continue to have rights as an associate until the end of that year of associateship.

Existing agreements (and any future agreements) will be superseded but only to the extent that they deal with electronic and manual re-registration. For example, if you have agreed service levels for re-registration that are of a lower standard than the service levels in the SLA, they will be superseded by the service levels in the SLA – if you have agreed better service levels, those will be unaffected. Any commercial arrangements will continue to apply, such as the payment of any fees between the parties in relation to a transfer.

The TeX board will set up Advisory Councils and working groups or other groups as needed from time to time to consider changes and make proposals to the Board. Members will be entitled to propose changes. It is expected that changes will generally be aggregated and implemented once each year, except in respect of the SLA, which is likely to be updated more frequently.

The change process that applies will depend on which part of the Membership Agreement is being amended.

• Any changes to the Articles of Association will need the consent of at least 75% of the voting members of TeX: this is a legal requirement under the Companies Act 2006.
• The following changes can be made only with the approval of 75% of the membership (the “Membership Approval Process”):
  • (a) Changing any part of the Contract Terms or the service levels.
  • (b) Changing the standards (ie a change from ISO 20022 to a new ISO standard, not an upgrade to the ISO 20022 standard).
  • (c) Introducing any new fees.
  • (d) Increasing the fees in any 12-month period above indexation (ie 10% more than any % increase in the Consumer Price Index).
  • (e) Changing the basis on which the joining fee or membership fee is calculated (fees are currently calculated on a flat-rate basis).
  • All other parts of the Membership Agreement can be amended using the “Membership Notification Process”, but the board always has the discretion to implement any proposed change via the Membership Approval Process instead, if it wants to ensure a change is supported by the majority of members.

If will only happen if the Board determines that a category of member is not affected by a proposed change and therefore that category of member is not entitled to vote on that change. While the Board has the right to do this, it is not expected to be used often and it is not a decision that the Board would exercise lightly. We anticipate that the board would seek external advice before excluding a category of member from voting.

The board will give members at least 3 months’ notice of a change, unless the board considers it necessary to invoke an accelerated change procedure with a shorter notice period for more urgent changes.

If a change is implemented, then that change will apply to all members. If you rejected the change and no longer want to be part of the club as a result of the change, you have the right to resign at any time by giving TeX at least 5 business days’ written notice. This will terminate your Membership Agreement and means that you will no longer have a contractual relationship with each of the other participants in the club: your firm would need to put in place its own agreements with the relevant other parties.

The TeX joining fee is a one-off fee of £6,000 (£5,000 plus £1,000 VAT) for all individual entities or corporate groups intending to register with TeX and move towards electronic messaging to facilitate transfers.

The joining fee is payable when a company submits a completed TeX joining form.

There are four types of annual membership fee for TeX for full TeX members.

Annual membership fees payable are dependent on the membership category of the firm registering with TeX:

• Service Provider £4,080 (£3,400 plus £680 VAT)
  • Product provider (exceptions)
  • ISA manager
  • Platform service provider (as defined by FCA)
• Asset Manager £2,724 (£2,270 plus £454 VAT)
  • A firm responsible for the maintenance of a fund’s register of holders and repurchasing of units that are to be redeemed
  • Fund manager offering an ISA wrapper including only their own funds
• Multi-Role Member £6,804 (£5,670 plus £1,134 VAT)
  • Both a service provider and an asset manager
• Pension Provider – This registration is free to all members who currently have an active membership under the above listed categories. If you are not currently registered the annual fee for this category is £2,724 (£2,270 plus £454 VAT).
  • A party responsible for the provision and administration of a Pension Scheme
  • If one is appointed for the relevant Pension Scheme, the Pension Administrator

The first annual membership fee is payable when a company submits a completed TeX registration form.

If a company has none of the appropriate permissions and does not have a contractual relationship with any underlying client, they can apply to be an associate.

If a company is not a service provider, asset manager, pension provider or multi-role member they would become Associates.

Associates do not sign up to the legal terms as the firm does not carry liability for the underlying client, but do sign up to a side letter which includes terms on Confidentiality, Liabilities and Termination, the glossary and Associate Privacy & Competition Policies.

Associates are able to join any of the Advisory Councils but do not have the right to vote on any issue.

The fees for Associates are a £2,400 (£2,000 plus £400 VAT) one-off joining fee and a £1,356 (£1,130 plus £226 VAT) annual membership fee payable when a company submits a completed appointment letter.

If multiple companies are registering with TeX under the same joining company, there is only one annual membership fee payable per member category, per marketing group.

The definition of a marketing group is taken from the FCA glossary definition:

a group of persons who:
(a) are allied together (either formally or informally) for the purposes of marketing packaged products of the marketing group; and
(b) each of whom, if it holds itself out in the United Kingdom as marketing packaged products to private customers, does so only as an investment manager or in relation to packaged products of the marketing group.

An example of this is shown below for one joining company with three marketing groups incorporating twelve companies registering with TeX over all four membership categories:

The TeX membership year runs from 1st July to 30th June.

Invoices will be issued annually on 1st May for the next membership year.

All invoices are payable by 30th June to ensure continued TeX membership, any invoices not paid in full by 30th June may result in termination of TeX membership.

For all TeX member companies transferring electronically, a business entity (participant) BIC and a SWIFT DN is required. This information is shown in a standard format within the TeX register for all relevant member companies.

Additional electronic systems address information may be shown as required along with any additional notes relevant to the transfer process.

This information is provided by SWIFT for direct SWIFT customers or an electronic solution provider such as Actuare, Calastone, Equisoft and Origo.

TeX member companies using a third party administrator may be able to obtain their electronic systems address information directly from them.

BIC stands for business identifier code and is an international standard for the identification of institutions within the financial services industry. BICs are used in automated processing.

The ISO 9362 standard specifies the elements and the structure of a BIC which consists of eight (BIC8) or eleven (BIC11) continuous characters. These characters comprise either the first three, or all four, of the following components: institution code, country code, location code, and branch code. The International Organization for Standardization has designated SWIFT as the BIC registration authority.

An electronic systems address required for electronic transfers is in 2 parts: a BIC8 or a BIC11 (participant address) and, in the case of SWIFT, a DN (technical address and communications method).

Participant Address – The identifier of the entity which is a party to the business transaction specific to UKFMPG and ISO 20022, but independent of the method of communication. The identifier is used in the message contents. The identifier can be a BIC8 or a BIC11, but preferably a BIC8 and it cannot be both. If a BIC11 is used, the BIC8 within the BIC11 would ideally be the same entity.

Technical Address and Communications Method – The method and communications address to which the message should be sent or received. In the case of SWIFT, this is a SWIFT DN (Distinguished Name) which includes the SWIFT member’s (the direct SWIFT user’s) BIC8 and possibly other details specific to the Participant but the DN does not need to be Participant specific i.e. the same communications address may be used for multiple participants.

Valid SWIFT examples include:

• ParticipantId=PLTAGB21, Method=SWIFT, Address=”ou=tex,o=syspgb22,o=swift”
  • i.e. own BIC8 + 3rd party shared DN
• ParticipantId=PLTAGB21, Method=SWIFT, Address=”cn=pta,ou=tex,o=syspgb22,o=swift”
  • i.e. own BIC8 + 3rd party DN possibly participant specific
• ParticipantId=PLTBGB22, Method=SWIFT, Address=”pltbgb22,o=swift”
  • i.e. own BIC8 (SWIFT connected) + own DN (not specific to re-registration)
• ParticipantId=SYSPGB22PTC, Method=SWIFT, Address=”cn=ptc,ou=tex,o=syspgb22,o=swift”
  • i.e. 3rd party BIC11 (with BIC8 of the BIC11 being 3rd party) + 3rd party DN possibly participant specific
• ParticipantId=SYSPGB22PTC, Method=SWIFT, Address=”o=syspgb22,o=swift”
  • i.e. 3rd party BIC11 (with BIC8 of the BIC11 being 3rd party) + 3rd party shared DN
• ParticipantId=PLTDGB22, Method=SWIFT, Address=”o=syspgb22,o=swift”
  • i.e. own BIC8 (SWIFT connected) + 3rd party shared DN (participant not using own SWIFT connection)

Notice authentication on SWIFT is only between the BIC8s in the DNs of the technical sender and receiver.

The TeX register can only be accessed by the designated contacts of TeX members who have completed the full membership process (both joined and registered).

As part of the membership process all designated contacts are given access and a register administrator is created who can control access for that TeX member firm.

If you are having problems with your permissions to access the TeX register, please contact your own register administrator in the first instance or alternatively contact tex@tisaexchange.co.uk

The TeX register sits alongside the TeX website and can be accessed here.

If you are having problems with your permissions to access the TeX register, please contact your own register administrator in the first instance. If you don’t know who this is, please contact tex@tisaexchange.co.uk

There are several mandatory fields and contacts that all TeX members are required to provide and other optional fields that contain useful information. A data dictionary is available here

The following contact role information is shown on the register:

Mandatory contacts

• First Tier Escalation Contact (Name/Role/Phone/E-mail)
• Second Tier Escalation Contact (Name/Role/Phone/E-mail)
• Relationship Manager (Name/Role/Phone/E-mail)
• BAU (Name/Role/Phone/E-mail)

Optional contacts

• Agent (Name/Role/Phone/E-mail)
• UK Agent (Name/Role/Phone/E-mail)

The majority of updates can (and should) be completed by your register administrator. This will update the TeX register in real time for all users.

Some core fields can only be updated by TeX as any changes have wider administrative or membership implications. For core field changes please visit the TeX register changes page to provide the required details to request a change. Please note there are specific notification periods required for some changes.

Please note any changes will require approval from your TeX relationship manager.

The TeX register contains an audit log for each registration (when viewing a firm in the TeX register click on the Audit log tab on the main window) which details any changes to register fields or register contacts.

TeX support will continue to issue bulletins for any new entrants and leavers, changes to company name or changes to electronic transfer details. Those bulletins will also be available to reference on the TeX website https://tisaexchange.co.uk/member-only-content/bulletins/

Yes, a XLSX download option is available to download all information for all companies shown on the TeX register. If required, this can be used to upload information into firms internal systems or to store securely for the use of relevant employees.

Initial and daily checks are completed for all companies registered with TeX against the required FCA permissions or equivalent EEA passported authority (with the exception of associates).

Any company who no longer has one of those permissions will have their TeX membership suspended or terminated as appropriate.

This will be indicated in the ‘Suspended’ field on the TeX register.

The company details will be removed from the TeX register.

Each individual TeX member (or their administrator) produces MI as a download through their internal or external systems and must submit this to TeX by the 10th working day of each month.

Where firms use a solution provider directly (such as Calastone, Equisoft or Origo) the TeX MI reports are typically downloaded by the firm through an option in their menu. Unfortunately TeX is unable to offer any assistance on this and firms will need to contact their own solution provider for help on this topic.

Where firms use a more integrated or direct system (e.g. a direct connection through SWIFT), their own IT providers should be able to offer any assistance required.

Manual intervention

Before submission to TeX a manual intervention is usually required to insert the TeX membership reference for all registrations MI is being provided for (if more than one please separate with commas). This is a firm’s unique identifier and it is vital it is added correctly to the file so that their MI submission is accounted for. The number of manual transfers completed in the month is also required to be added manually to the downloaded report against the VMI13 metric.

MI submitters need to be logged on to the TeX register and in the MI submission area to submit TeX MI.

Only certain individuals have access to do this and those permissions are controlled internally by your register administrator. If you need any change to your permissions you will need to contact your register administrator directly.

In order to compile MI reports, TeX must be in possession of all MI for all TeX members. We cannot begin the reporting process if any submission is not received.

A late MI submission will delay report production for all TeX members.

TeX compiles all MI received into overall reporting to identify trends, issues and areas of concern.

TeX members can access their reports in the Dashboards/Reports area of the TeX Register. The report provides details of their own submission against the average performance of all TeX members. TeX members may then receive requests for further information where their performance has been identified as an outlier.

TeX members can only see their individual report via the TeX Register.

Only aggregated and anonymised MI is discussed and shared with the TeX Advisory Councils and TeX Board.

There is currently no sharing or publication of TeX MI outside of TeX.

As the overall TeX MI report is anonymised, all control checking is currently performed by TeX where any outliers or poor performers will be contacted in advance of the next MI Peer Review Group meeting.

At MI Peer Review Group (for which participation is subject to a completed NDA), named MI is visible to all attendees to allow for open discussions on individual firm performance.