Consumer investments firms, including financial advisers and investment platforms, have to be authorised by us. Find out how to apply for authorisation.
Read everything listed below
Start with our main 'how to apply' page for all firms
Prepare your application
Include your business plan and supporting material
Pay the application fee
You must pay this in order to apply
Submit your application
You'll do this on our Connect system, so please register first
Types of consumer investments firm
Consumer investments firms include:
- financial advisers
- wealth management or stockbroking firms
- investment platforms
- self-invested personal pension (SIPP) operators
- crowdfunders
What to read first
Senior management functions (SMFs)
If you're applying to be approved as an SMF16 or SMF17, make sure you understand our expectations.
We'll assess you based on your training, experience, capacity and third-party support. Consider how your roles and responsibilities align with the risks and controls that apply to your firm’s business model – including, but not limited to, skills gap analysis and statement of responsibilities.
Redress liabilities – the polluter pays
We have major concerns about the harm, and potential for harm, caused by firms or individuals leaving liabilities behind. This includes arrangements where a firm (or anyone closely associated with it) restarts or continues the business elsewhere (or benefits from it being restarted or continued elsewhere), leaving behind unresolved liabilities.
If a firm can’t meet its liabilities and accountable individuals leave them behind, to the detriment of consumers, we seriously question their fitness and propriety to hold another role that requires our approval.
Prepare your application
You must submit your application through Connect.
Along with your application form, you'll need to include:
- a regulatory business plan and all the required forms
- financial forecasts – learn how to prepare your your firm’s financial information
- the supporting material you'll rely on to meet the requirements of our Consumer Duty
Wealth management and stockbroking firms
Find out how our pre-application support service (PASS) can provide extra support before you apply to us for authorisation.Using compliance consultants
If a compliance consultant is helping you prepare your application, we still expect you to be familiar with, able to explain and accountable for everything in your application.
Your responses need to be specific to your business, not generic, and we expect to deal with you during the application process, not your consultant.
Application fee
You have to pay a fee to submit your application. The fee will fall into one of our pricing categories and is non-refundable.
Find out more about our authorisation fees, including our pricing categories and how to pay.
Final check and submit
Before you submit everything on Connect, give it one more check to be sure you've included everything.
Our how to apply page has 3 top tips to ensure your application goes smoothly, and explains what happens after you've submitted it.
If you need more help
Please contact us on 0300 500 0597. We're open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9am to 5pm, and Thursday 9.45am to 5pm.
