Obtaining a Financial Licence in the UK

Most companies that provide financial services will need an FCA licence to operate in the UK. This is issued by the Financial Conduct Authority and the authorization process is subject to certain rules.

If you want to open a company in the UK, our team can help you with the setup process and the licensing requirements if you will be offering financial services. Please read below to find out more about the financial licence, and ask our lawyer in London any questions that might be important in your situation.

Types of activities that require an FCA licence in the UK

You will need to obtain a licence from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) depending on the type of activity or activities your company will be engaging in.

Our lawyer in England lists some of the types of firms that need to apply for the FCA licence in the UK:

• banks and insurance companies;
• credit and mortgage brokers;
• secondary credit brokers;
• authorized and recognised funds;
• general insurance intermediaries;
• credit unions;
• lenders;
• consumer investment firms;
• crypto-asset companies and those involved in e-money transactions.

The application process for the FCA licence in the UK depends on the type of business. You can read more about this process below.

How to obtain a financial licence in the UK

Companies apply for a financial licence via the FCA’s system. The first step is the initial registration of the firm.

The company will need to show that:

• It complies with the FCA principles of business;
• It meets the relevant rules included in the FCA Handbook;
• The company followed the minimum standards in its business sector at all times;
• It meets other obligations, such as those related to consumer duty, disclosing information or trading names and sensitive business names.

It is important to note that the application process differs from one type of firm to another. For example, e-money companies will need to comply with certain standards, while companies licenced under the Financial Services and Markets Act will follow different rules.

The application process for an FCA licence in the UK can last as much as six months, however, three months is more likely for e-money companies. Firms that do not provide all the needed documents and information will lengthen this process and could expect it to take as much as one year in some cases.

Successful applications result in the automatic registration of the company in the Financial Services Register. Once this takes place, the firm receives a unique firm reference number and, if applicable, a product reference number (used as a unique identifier in the case of funds).

If you want to set up a company in the UK that will need to obtain a licence from the Financial Conduct Authority, our team can guide you through the authorization process so that your application is submitted accordingly.  We can also assist those who have made an unsuccessful application and wish to reapply.

FCA application fees

We remind those interested that their firm licenced by the FCA needs to comply with the application fee requirements according to its type:

• banks and insurance firms pay a £54,380 application fee;
• consumer credit firms pay a fee of £540 for a limited permission application;
• companies that register as a cryptoasset firm pay a fee of £10,880.

Our team can explain the pricing categories that apply according to the type of activity upon request. Please note that the list above is not exhaustive. More activities are licenced by the FCA and the firm needs to pay a registration fee according to its type.

The FCA changes the fees from time to time and we recommend getting in touch with our lawyer in London for updated information.

Contact us for more information about the FCA licence in the UK and other details about the services offered by our lawyers in England.