Is anyone here FCA authorised?

[Kerwin]

I'm just wondering if there are any people here who the Financial Conduct Authority authorises? What was the application process like? Do you need a team of lawyers to get through it, or can you do it with a lot of reading and a willingness to learn? I've been reading the FCA handbook, and I'm starting to get to grips with things. I wanted a bit of advice from people.

 

[tony84]

I was authorised in 2017, it took about 6 months but I basically filled out the paperwork and supplied the information they asked for and then it sat on someones desk for 5 months. The last month was a few questions and then was approved.

I did pay a company to help me though, they charged about £700.
You also need to pay for the application which I think was about a grand or so from memory (not refundable if they decline you).

 

[Kerwin]

I was authorised in 2017, it took about 6 months but I basically filled out the paperwork and supplied the information they asked for and then it sat on someones desk for 5 months. The last month was a few questions and then was approved.

I did pay a company to help me though, they charged about £700.
You also need to pay for the application which I think was about a grand or so from memory (not refundable if they decline you).

Thank you for your reply. That was most useful. I'll look into this a bit more in that case and try and find a company to help with the process. I'm not really doing anything massively original so I don't expect many problems. It is basically a stockbroker with some unique add-ons.

 

[ImranR]

I did all the legwork and paid a company £500 to check over. Mine took over a year due to high levels of applications at the time.

You could get companies to do the paperwork for you but frankly their information is coming from you anyway and I was being quoted £6000-£8000 which as a new start up, I wanted to avoid.

 

[Kerwin]

I did all the legwork and paid a company £500 to check over. Mine took over a year due to high levels of applications at the time.

You could get companies to do the paperwork for you but frankly their information is coming from you anyway and I was being quoted £6000-£8000 which as a new start up, I wanted to avoid.

Thank you for your reply. £500 to £700 to check things over seems like a reasonable price plus the application fee means this plan might well be workable.

 

[Mark T Jones]

What are you applying for?

I have limited authorisation as a finance broker who does only occasional regulated deal (actually I haven't done one in the 4 years since FCA took over). It took about 3 months but was very straight forward, other than dealing with outsourced workers who had literally no idea what a finance broker was.

My broker friends who do a lot of regulated deals had similar experience but have to pay far closer attention to marketing and to complaints processes.

meanwhile, lender have to be authorised for debt-adjustemt & collections, where the process is far more closely examined - I've been told it can take over a year to get authorisation.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

There is a massive difference in compliance between being an Appointed Representative for a regulated business, and regulating that business.

It is basically a stockbroker with some unique add-ons.

You could be in for a shock; reading the handbook and paying £500 for a form to be filled in may not be enough for you to start a stockbroking business! I guess you would need closer to GBP500k.

 

[Kerwin]

You could be in for a shock; reading the handbook and paying £500 for a form to be filled in may not be enough for you to start a stockbroking business! I guess you would need closer to GBP500k.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but do you have a link saying something about that? I mean, my idea could work even if I just had a real-time data feed (or even a delayed data feed) from the LSE and NYSE (and NASDAQ and all the other major stock exchanges). So if the actual stockbroking was out of the question, I could still do the plan. It just wouldn't be quite as good.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

You're clearly rather confused!

Whilst reading the handbook, did you determine that you actually want to conduct a regulated activity? Do you understand what a stockbroker is?

I suspect that whatever you want to do will require no authorisation, and probably no registration, which in a ciruitous way is a good thing for you.

 

[Kerwin]

You're clearly rather confused!

Whilst reading the handbook, did you determine that you actually want to conduct a regulated activity? Do you understand what a stockbroker is?

I suspect that whatever you want to do will require no authorisation, and probably no registration, which in a ciruitous way is a good thing for you.

Sorry. I'm not very good at explaining myself. Basically, the best part of the plan would combine real-time data and the ability to sell stocks and shares to clients (possibly also derivatives) with a few unique features. The second best option would have real-time data to show clients, and finally, the third-best option would be to use delayed data.

For instance, one of the things I want to do is buy a share myself and then sell parts of that share to clients, so they own a percentage of one share rather than being forced into buying a complete share.

 

[ImranR]

Kervin - Financial Modeller makes a good point. My application was considered 'simple' as my business in claims consulting is considered 'low risk' compared to what you are doing. Consequently your application fee may fall into a higher bracket which is £5,000 from memory. If you are unlucky, it may fall into the £25,000 bracket for complex applications.

Your consultant's fee could therefore easily be £10k plus.

I recommend you call the FCA for guidance. They will never give you answers but are really helpful guiding you to find the answer yourself in their handbook.

 

[Kerwin]

Kervin - Financial Modeller makes a good point. My application was considered 'simple' as my business in claims consulting is considered 'low risk' compared to what you are doing. Consequently your application fee may fall into a higher bracket which is £5,000 from memory. If you are unlucky, it may fall into the £25,000 bracket for complex applications.

Your consultant's fee could therefore easily be £10k plus.

I recommend you call the FCA for guidance. They will never give you answers but are really helpful guiding you to find the answer yourself in their handbook.

Thank you for your reply. I did actually email them because I was a bit confused about something, and they pointed me to the correct sections in the handbook, which was very helpful. I now have a much better understanding of what I am getting involved in.