The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently devised a significant new mechanism to streamline approvals following a re-evaluation of the process for the authorisation of UK Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) after Brexit. This new process is hoped to be a major step towards more efficient processing of UK BCR applications.
The novel approach, which was initially suggested by Hogan Lovells in collaboration with Privacy Laws & Business through their memorandum “Building a common EU and UK BCR framework”, has been subsequently adopted by the ICO. This will allow organisations who have received EU BCR approval to construct and submit UK BCRs to the ICO.
This modification in the approval process intends to ease the transition for firms coping with the legal implications of Brexit, as it provides them with a more streamlined option for managing corporate rules across diverging jurisdictions. Prior to the introduction of this procedure, companies required a separate application for each territory. However, the new means will essentially permit organisations to duplicate their EU BCR for UK purposes, thus potentially saving time and reducing compliance costs.
This adoption of Hogan Lovells’ suggestions by the ICO suggests a willingness to adapt and streamline regulatory processes in the post-Brexit landscape, potentially easing some of the regulatory burdens for firms navigating this familiar yet also uncharted territory.
As well as facilitating the navigation of legal professionals through the post-Brexit complexities, the ICO’s new move reaffirms its proactivity in addressing the needs of organisations and securing an effective data protection infrastructure in the United Kingdom.
Legal professionals and organisations need to keep abreast of changes and be prepared to leverage any changes that may simplify their compliance processes. It will be interesting to see how the ICO’s simplification efforts will continue in the future, and what other measures will be adopted to facilitate the ongoing challenge of legal harmonisation post-Brexit.
For more detailed insight into the ICO’s new streamlined approach to UK BCR, this in-depth analysis by Hogan Lovells is recommended reading.