Did you know that the FCA will soon have extended powers to cancel firms’ authorisations? - Thistle Initiatives

What has happened?

The Government is set to grant new powers to the FCA which will overhaul the way in which it can cancel the authorisation of firms that are not carrying out regulated activities.

In a policy paper published in July 2020, HM Treasury confirmed that it intends to streamline the way in which the FCA cancels firms’ authorisations. The Treasury is aware that under current rules the FCA spends significant time gathering evidence if it suspects a firm is not carrying out regulated activities, including attempting to contact the business and searching for alternative contact details. Under the new rules, the FCA would be able to serve a first notice by letter to the last address provided by the firm and, in the event the firm failed to respond within 28 days, could publish a notice on its website and register that warning action had commenced to remove the firm’s authorisation. After one month of the public notice, the FCA would be able to cancel the firm’s authorisation.

What do you need to do?

The FCA will be able to use its new powers in the following situations:

• • An FCA-authorised firm’s failure to pay fees that it is required to pay, file a return that it is required to submit or keep up to date its core information requirements
  • Repeated failure to respond to FCA correspondence sent to the last known physical or electronic address of the firm
  • Correspondence the FCA has sent to the firm using its last known physical or electronic address has been returned undelivered

According to the FCA’s calculations, at any one time, there are 300 to 400 firms not carrying out regulated activities which have not requested to cancel their authorisations, and this is seen to create a risk to consumers.

How can we help you?

If you’d like to know more about how we can help with your firm’s permissions or any other aspect of FCA compliance, our expert team is here to help. Contact us today on 0207 436 0630 – or email info@thistleinitiatives.co.uk.