We have been assisting clients obtain FSA authorisation (known as Part IV Permission) since our earliest days and it remains one of our most sought-after services. We regularly advise start up businesses on structuring their proposed regulated activities and making the appropriate applications, and as the scope of regulation has widened to cover mortgage and other home finance business and insurance mediation we have helped many established businesses with the process of becoming authorised and setting up the associated systems and controls. Typically we assist over 40 firms a year - both large and small, from many different sectors - obtain FSA authorisation for a wide variety of regulated activities.
The authorisation process involves much more than just filling in FSA forms: firms seeking Part IV permission need to put in place the systems and controls and compliance procedures and documentation appropriate to the activities that they propose to undertake and the FSA may require to see some or all of this material as part of their review of the application. And the FSA are taking an increasing interest in the competence – not just the probity – of individuals proposed for senior management positions.
We can provide as much or as little help as you need: some clients ask us just to review material which they themselves have produced, but if required we can play a much larger part in helping you develop your procedures and drafting the appropriate documentation, preparing financial models for sign-off that demonstrate capital adequacy, and strong project management of the entire process. In all cases we aim to ensure that our clients' applications are as complete as possible at the submission stage and we maintain close links with the FSA's authorisation staff to ensure – as far as we are able - that any requests for further information are processed quickly and efficiently.