The Financial Services Register is a public record of firms, individuals and other bodies that are, or have been, regulated by the PRA and/or FCA.
Using the Financial Services Register
In the UK, nearly all financial service activities must be authorised by the FCA. You can search the Financial Services Register (the Register) for firms and individuals, and the activities for which firms have permissions.
Always check the firm you’re dealing with is listed on the Register. It lists all the firms and current or previously approved individuals involved with regulated activities. It shows whether a firm you’re using, or plan to use, is regulated by the PRA and/or the FCA. You can find out what they’re regulated to do and your protections when doing business with them.
Make sure the firm you’re dealing with has permissions for the regulated activities you need. Always check that the permissions/activities of the firm match the service it’s providing for you.
Only use the contact details listed on the Register. Many scammers pretend to be a legitimate firm. Use the contact details on the Register to confirm you’re dealing with the genuine firm before doing business with them.
From later in 2020, under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR), we’ll begin publishing and maintaining a directory of certified and assessed persons on the Register, so consumers and professionals can check the details of key individuals working in financial services.
Firms can find out more about the addition of certified and approved persons data on the Register on our directory of certified and assessed persons page.
Unauthorised firms
Firms we have been told are providing regulated products or services without the correct authorisation – or deliberately running scams – are now included in the Register with prominent warnings.
Other information on unauthorised firms includes the different details they give out and whether they’re falsely claiming to be from a genuine, authorised firm.
If you deal with a firm (or individual) that’s not regulated, you may not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
Publication of Directory Persons data
Directory Persons data for firms regulated solely by the FCA and by both the FCA and PRA is now published on the FS Register. Solo regulated and dual regulated firms must ensure they comply with the Policy. Users of the FS Register should check the details of any individual being engaged to carry out regulated activities on their behalf, especially current roles and any disciplinary or regulatory action on their record.
Refer to Directory of certified and assessed persons page for more information.
Obtaining data extracts
If you’d like to use data from the Register, you can buy a regular subscription or a one-off data ‘cut’. We offer the data in either CD or web-based formats. Read more about our Register Extract Service (RES).
Alternatively, you can sign up to the FS Register API Developer Portal. This service, currently free of charge, enables users to generate a unique key to access the Register APIs, as well as providing self-help support materials.
Accessing the Register
Some webpages and web-based applications hosted by the FCA require web browsers to support Javascript and accept session-based cookies. By default, the major web browsers are configured to handle these requirements.
Webpages and web-based applications will work well with the 2 latest versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer and the current stable release and 1 previous release of Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
Please refer to Google’s minimum standards in relation to the reCaptcha challenge used on this site. Access to google.com domains is required.
Web browsers that are fully compatible with these and older versions of these browsers may also be suitable, but the FCA does not design, maintain or test for browsers not listed above.
Further information
The regulatory jurisdiction for the Register comes under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), Payment Services Regulations 2009, Electronic Money Regulations 2011 and Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.
If you have any problems or questions about using the Register, please contact us. Industry users can also email the Register team.