Reference Case Number: FOI12244
Freedom of Information: Right to know request:
Please provide information on the rejection, withdrawal, and refusal (RWR) rate for applications received for the Authorisation division for the last 5 years for retail banks and wholesale banks. Could these be provided as both a percentage RWRR, nominal RWRR and nominal rejection/withdrawal/refusal figures and presented in tabular format.
FCA response:
The following table sets out the rejection, withdrawal, and refusal (RWR) rate for applications received for the Authorisation division for the last 5 years for retail banks and wholesale banks.
| Year | Portfolio | Rejected | Withdrawn | Refused | Total RWR | Total Cases | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Retail Bank | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 57% |
| 2020 | Wholesale Bank | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 2021 | Retail Bank | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 64% |
| 2021 | Wholesale Bank | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 2022 | Retail Bank | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 40% |
| 2022 | Wholesale Bank | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| 2023 | Retail Bank | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 44% |
| 2023 | Wholesale Bank | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0% |
| 2024 | Retail Bank | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 50% |
| 2024 | Wholesale Bank | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Jan-Mar 2025 | Retail Bank | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Jan-Mar 2025 | Wholesale Bank | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
Annex A sets out information on the rejection, withdrawal and refusal (RWR) rate for applications received by the Authorisations Division, including the number of refusals, withdrawals and rejections for the last 12 months and the last 6 months (as of 31 March 2025) for the following regulatory transactions:
- new firm authorisations
- variations of permission
- approved persons (when it is an application to hold a senior management or controlled function)
Provided as both a percentage RWR rate, nominal RWR rate and nominal rejection/withdrawal/refusal figures for each of the above transactions.
Data is also provided for new firm authorisations only, over the last 12 months and the last 6 months for each of the FCA's portfolios and divided as above.