Power of attorney

External Power of Attorney

We need to see a Power of Attorney or a Court of Protection order authorising the attorney to deal with the financial affairs of the person whose account is held with us. We accept both internal and external Power of Attorney.

Types of Power of Attorney

Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) enables someone who’s still mentally capable to decide who can deal with their personal affairs after they become incapable of acting and making decisions for themselves. The LPA may be effective immediately after registration with the Office of the Public Guardian unless restrictions are specified.

We’ll need a Property and Financial Affairs LPA to allow attorneys to manage your account. This must be registered with the Office of Public Guardian (OPG).

Once we receive this, we’ll send it back to you and you can begin to manage the account.

General Power of Attorney

A General Power of Attorney enables someone to deal with all your financial affairs or only certain matters. A solicitor or experienced adviser will be able to grant you this.

If a person loses mental capacity, however, then a General Power of Attorney isn’t valid. Under these circumstances, it may be more appropriate to use a Lasting Power of Attorney or apply for a Court of Protection order.

Court of Protection

Once a person has lost their mental capacity, it’s no longer possible to create a Power of Attorney.

Representatives will need to apply to the Court of Protection for a decision to be made on their affairs. However, if there’s a continuing need to make decision on the person’s behalf, the representatives can ask the Court of Protection to appoint a deputy.

How it works

Once we receive the Court of Protection, we’ll:

  • Update the address on all accounts held by the donor
  • No longer allow online dealing so that we can make sure the customer isn’t making unwise investment decisions. This means that the attorney won’t be able to do any online dealing either, but they will be able to do so over the phone.

If the account-holder wants to keep decision-making, it’s up to the deputy to specify the circumstances under which the customer may do so, and it’s the deputy's responsibility to make these exceptions or restrictions known to the customer.

If we receive any dealing instructions directly from the customer, we’ll seek confirmation from the deputy.

What a Power of Attorney can and can’t do

A Power of Attorney can:

  • Provide dealing instruction on your account, like switching, adding money, and selling investments.
  • Discuss your accounts with us
  • Request copies of reporting documents, such as Statement & Valuations or Tax Vouchers
  • Provide online access to your account with your permission to use login details
    This is at your discretion and isn’t something we recommend (see online security). In the event of suspicious or fraudulent online activity on your account, there’s a risk we may not be able to determine the cause if both your Power of Attorney and yourself have been accessing the account online using shared details

But a Power of Attorney can’t:

We can’t accept an ISA application signed by a prospective client’s attorney unless it’s submitted with either:

  • An LPA which has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, and which doesn’t place any restriction on the attorney in regard to making the decision to open an ISA
  • An original sealed Court of Protection order
  • Where the applicant is physically incapable of signing the form, we may accept an application under a General Power of Attorney (provided the applicant has the required mental capacity). In such circumstances we would require a confirmation that the applicant is physically incapable of signing the required documents.

 

How to register

We’ll need to see an original or originally certified copy of the original document before registering Power of Attorney or a Court of Protection.

If you choose to send us a certified copy of the original, please make sure it’s clearly certified on each and every page.

We may also need identification documents for your nominated attorney; in which case, we’ll let you know.

We may need to contact you to ask for additional information before accepting any request to transact on an asset that is reportable under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (or MIFID II).

Send us your documents at:

Fidelity International
Oakhill House,
130 Tonbridge Road
Hildenborough
Tonbridge
Kent
TN11 9DZ

Attorney identification requirements

In order to comply with Money Laundering Regulations, we’re required to confirm the identity of all investors and their associated representatives controlling or funding investments on their behalf.

We may use an online referencing agency for this purpose (who will record an enquiry has been made) or request the submission of documentary evidence. Until the identities of all associated individuals have been verified, restrictions will be applied and will remain in place until outstanding verification has been obtained. These restrictions will not affect the value of the investment, but may prevent certain transactions from being completed.

Documentary evidence requested in order to complete verification of identity will be in the form of one document from each of the list below for each associated representative along with the submission of a completed ‘Identification Guidelines Form’:

Items we can accept as proof of name

  • Current Passport
  • *Photo card UK driving licence (counterpart only is unacceptable)

Items we can accept as proof of address

  • *Current UK Driving licence (Photo card or old version)
  • Bank/building society statement (not more than three months old)
  • Current year Council Tax bill
  • Current utility bill – with gas, electricity, water or home telephone (not more than three months old)
  • Current mortgage statement
  • Council rent card or tenancy agreement
  • Current year H M Revenue & Customs tax notification

* Photo card driving licences can only be submitted as proof of name OR proof of address, not both.

Please note that we only accept original or clearly certified copies of the original documents. If you choose to send in certified copies, please ensure that independent certification is obtained from the list of approved certifiers.

The certification process

Certification should be provided on each and every page, please make sure the following is provided with all certification:

  • The words "I have seen the original document and I certify this to be a true copy of the original"
  • The certifier's signature and printed name in full
  • The date of signing
  • Details of the certifier's professional capacity. The official/institution stamp should be applied as appropriate
  • The certifier’s full address and postcode
  • The certifier’s telephone number

List of approved certifiers

  • Lawyer
  • Judge/ Magistrate
  • Solicitor
  • Notary Public (they will need to be based in the UK)

The following can provide anti-money-laundering identity certification only:

  • Director, Officer or Manager or a regulated financial services business (e.g. Bank Manager)
  • Chartered Accountant
  • Police or Customs Officer
  • The Post Office