Wealth Managers and Financial Advisers and change of control requests 2017-2021

Reference Case Number: FOI9022

Freedom of Information: Right to know request:

Please only include data for Wealth Managers and Financial Advisers.

Could you confirm the number of "change of control requests" (section 178 notices) received by month from Jan 2017 to Dec 2021, or as far back as you hold records if less than this time period?
Please could you also confirm the average time taken to respond to such requests? If this is not possible, please provide the time, in days, from "received" to "closed" or the dates "received" and "closed".
Please can you provide details of how many are rejected and how many are approved, by month, from Jan 2017 to Dec 2021, or as far back as you hold records if less than this time period?

FCA response:

Before considering our response, please note the following:

In order to meet your specification of ‘Wealth Managers and Financial Advisers’, figures throughout are provided where the target firm impacted by a transaction has as its primary portfolio allocation ‘Wealth Management’ or ‘Advisers and Intermediaries’. In addition, please note the following important factors:

Firms may have both primary and secondary portfolio allocations; only the primary portfolio allocation is considered here.
The primary portfolio allocation used is that at the date the data was extracted (14 February 2022) and not necessarily at the date that the change in control (CIC) case occurred. In other words, firms that are now in the two relevant portfolios may have been in different portfolios at the time of the CIC.
Where firms are no longer authorised, the primary portfolio allocation used is that at the date that the firm ceased to be authorised. That may not be the same as at the time of the change in control case.

1. Could you confirm the number of "change of control requests" (section 178 notices) received by month from Jan 2017 to Dec 2021, or as far back as you hold records if less than this time period?

Important factors to note:

A single change in control case may include multiple s178 notifications and may impact more than one authorised firm (target firm). For example, a corporate structure of five limited companies and one ultimate beneficial owner (an individual) intending to acquire a group containing two wealth managers and one financial adviser, will submit six separate s178 notifications, impacting three authorised firms. The notifications will be assessed by the FCA as a single case. For the purposes of this response, this example would be reported as two notifications impacting wealth managers and one impacting a financial adviser. Most of the FCA’s published data around volumes for CIC cases would refer to this example as a single case only and so it is essential that the figures given in this response are not wrongly viewed as a percentage of a whole (where that whole is calculated on a different basis).

The figures include both pre-notifications (where prior approval is sought, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA)) and post-notifications (which are submitted in respect of transactions which have already taken place without prior approval and which, in effect, seek approval with retrospective effect).

	Wealth Management	Advisers and Intermediaries
Jan-17	4	20
Feb-17	9	22
Mar-17	14	32
Apr-17	4	24
May-17	20	35
Jun-17	12	19
Jul-17	9	18
Aug-17	4	18
Sep-17	8	19
Oct-17	4	32
Nov-17	6	25
Dec-17	7	23
Jan-18	4	19
Feb-18	5	19
Mar-18	7	20
Apr-18	12	25
May-18	6	18
Jun-18	7	20
Jul-18	10	30
Aug-18	15	26
Sep-18	8	29
Oct-18	8	25
Nov-18	3	16
Dec-18	2	27
Jan-19	16	19
Feb-19	12	17
Mar-19	4	18
Apr-19	5	19
May-19	12	30
Jun-19	3	17
Jul-19	10	33
Aug-19	7	30
Sep-19	19	30
Oct-19	9	30
Nov-19	6	27
Dec-19	8	15
Jan-20	6	24
Feb-20	8	38
Mar-20	6	28
Apr-20	6	23
May-20	18	36
Jun-20	15	30
Jul-20	7	39
Aug-20	3	20
Sep-20	10	20
Oct-20	6	20
Nov-20	6	34
Dec-20	15	55
Jan-21	9	29
Feb-21	21	52
Mar-21	14	51
Apr-21	3	26
May-21	6	23
Jun-21	9	29
Jul-21	6	18
Aug-21	5	38
Sep-21	14	30
Oct-21	9	39
Nov-21	8	21
Dec-21	7	38

2. Please could you also confirm the average time taken to respond to such requests? If this is not possible please provide the time, in days, from "received" to "closed" or the dates "received" and "closed".

Information is not readily reportable on the time taken to “respond to” requests. As a result, the figures given here are the working days elapsed between the application receipt date and the case closure date. (If the case was closed on the date of receipt it has the value 0, if it was closed the following day it has the value 1, and so on). Cases are grouped by the month of receipt. Where cases in a monthly cohort remain open (at the point that the data was extracted on 14 February 2022), their eventual closure will alter that month’s average value.

Wealth Management

	Average time taken to close case (whole working days)	Cases still open (number)
Jan-17	23	0
Feb-17	13	0
Mar-17	54	0
Apr-17	28	0
May-17	15	0
Jun-17	13	0
Jul-17	44	0
Aug-17	42	0
Sep-17	36	0
Oct-17	27	0
Nov-17	23	0
Dec-17	14	0
Jan-18	15	0
Feb-18	24	0
Mar-18	29	0
Apr-18	36	0
May-18	34	0
Jun-18	31	0
Jul-18	19	0
Aug-18	31	0
Sep-18	75	0
Oct-18	18	0
Nov-18	49	0
Dec-18	37	0
Jan-19	19	0
Feb-19	27	0
Mar-19	36	0
Apr-19	48	0
May-19	29	0
Jun-19	34	0
Jul-19	58	0
Aug-19	31	0
Sep-19	48	0
Oct-19	43	0
Nov-19	34	0
Dec-19	54	0
Jan-20	41	0
Feb-20	24	0
Mar-20	37	0
Apr-20	15	0
May-20	37	1
Jun-20	29	0
Jul-20	40	0
Aug-20	46	0
Sep-20	52	0
Oct-20	14	0
Nov-20	18	0
Dec-20	36	0
Jan-21	52	1
Feb-21	40	0
Mar-21	85	0
Apr-21	113	0
May-21	39	1
Jun-21	49	1
Jul-21	90	1
Aug-21	86	0
Sep-21	45	7
Oct-21	63	3
Nov-21	43	6
Dec-21	n/a	7

Advisers and Intermediaries

	Average time taken to close case (whole working days)	Cases still open (number)
Jan-17	21	0
Feb-17	23	0
Mar-17	17	0
Apr-17	24	0
May-17	22	0
Jun-17	21	0
Jul-17	25	0
Aug-17	34	0
Sep-17	20	0
Oct-17	16	0
Nov-17	16	0
Dec-17	14	0
Jan-18	16	0
Feb-18	17	0
Mar-18	15	0
Apr-18	20	0
May-18	46	0
Jun-18	14	0
Jul-18	30	0
Aug-18	26	0
Sep-18	26	0
Oct-18	28	0
Nov-18	25	0
Dec-18	31	0
Jan-19	15	0
Feb-19	34	0
Mar-19	30	0
Apr-19	37	0
May-19	29	0
Jun-19	27	0
Jul-19	38	0
Aug-19	38	0
Sep-19	40	0
Oct-19	40	0
Nov-19	33	0
Dec-19	29	0
Jan-20	25	0
Feb-20	21	0
Mar-20	15	0
Apr-20	26	0
May-20	58	0
Jun-20	37	1
Jul-20	39	1
Aug-20	30	0
Sep-20	28	0
Oct-20	35	0
Nov-20	30	0
Dec-20	46	4
Jan-21	50	2
Feb-21	46	0
Mar-21	49	8
Apr-21	65	4
May-21	52	2
Jun-21	76	4
Jul-21	67	1
Aug-21	59	9
Sep-21	67	9
Oct-21	78	15
Nov-21	54	18
Dec-21	n/a	38

3. Please can you provide details of how many are rejected and how many are approved, by month, from Jan 2017 to Dec 2021, or as far back as you hold records if less than this time period?

In the interests of consistency, cases continue to be grouped by the month of receipt and not the month of closure. The decisions detailed comprise:

Approved: Notifications that the FCA has approved

Do not object: Post-notifications (notifications which relate to transactions which have already taken place without the FCA’s prior approval) in respect of which the FCA has decided not to exercise its powers at this time

No decision: Post-notifications (as above) in respect of which the FCA has made no decision about whether to exercise its powers

Object / rejected: Notifications that are rejected / to which the FCA has objected following the issue of a Decision Notice

Withdrawn: Notifications that are withdrawn by the notice-giver (often in response to concerns raised by the change in control team, or where the change in control team has indicated that it is minded to recommend that a warning notice be issued, or where a warning notice has been issued)

Wealth Management

	Approved	Do not object	Object / rejected	Withdrawn
Jan-17	4	0	0	0
Feb-17	8	0	0	1
Mar-17	13	0	0	1
Apr-17	3	0	0	1
May-17	19	1	0	0
Jun-17	12	0	0	0
Jul-17	7	1	0	1
Aug-17	2	1	0	1
Sep-17	7	0	0	1
Oct-17	4	0	0	0
Nov-17	6	0	0	0
Dec-17	7	0	0	0
Jan-18	4	0	0	0
Feb-18	4	1	0	0
Mar-18	6	0	0	1
Apr-18	9	1	0	2
May-18	4	1	0	1
Jun-18	6	0	0	1
Jul-18	8	2	0	0
Aug-18	10	4	0	1
Sep-18	6	1	0	1
Oct-18	7	1	0	0
Nov-18	2	1	0	0
Dec-18	2	0	0	0
Jan-19	11	4	0	1
Feb-19	12	0	0	0
Mar-19	4	0	0	0
Apr-19	5	0	0	0
May-19	12	0	0	0
Jun-19	2	0	0	1
Jul-19	10	0	0	0
Aug-19	7	0	0	0
Sep-19	13	1	0	5
Oct-19	8	0	0	1
Nov-19	3	3	0	0
Dec-19	5	2	0	1
Jan-20	5	0	0	1
Feb-20	5	3	0	0
Mar-20	5	0	0	1
Apr-20	6	0	0	0
May-20	13	3	0	1
Jun-20	15	0	0	0
Jul-20	6	1	0	0
Aug-20	1	2	0	0
Sep-20	6	2	0	2
Oct-20	5	0	0	1
Nov-20	6	0	0	0
Dec-20	10	3	0	2
Jan-21	7	1	0	0
Feb-21	19	2	0	0
Mar-21	10	1	1	2
Apr-21	2	0	0	1
May-21	5	0	0	0
Jun-21	7	1	0	0
Jul-21	4	1	0	0
Aug-21	5	0	0	0
Sep-21	6	0	0	1
Oct-21	6	0	0	0
Nov-21	2	0	0	0
Dec-21	0	0	0	0

Advisers and Intermediaries

	Approved	Do not object	No decision	Object / rejected	Withdrawn
Jan-17	20	0	0	0	0
Feb-17	20	0	0	0	2
Mar-17	29	2	0	0	1
Apr-17	22	0	0	0	2
May-17	29	1	0	0	5
Jun-17	17	2	0	0	0
Jul-17	16	2	0	0	0
Aug-17	11	7	0	0	0
Sep-17	15	4	0	0	0
Oct-17	28	3	0	0	1
Nov-17	24	1	0	0	1
Dec-17	20	2	1	0	0
Jan-18	15	3	0	0	0
Feb-18	17	2	0	0	0
Mar-18	18	2	0	0	0
Apr-18	20	5	0	0	1
May-18	16	1	1	0	3
Jun-18	15	4	0	0	0
Jul-18	24	3	0	0	2
Aug-18	17	9	0	0	0
Sep-18	24	2	0	1	1
Oct-18	21	4	0	0	3
Nov-18	12	3	0	0	1
Dec-18	19	3	1	1	0
Jan-19	15	3	0	0	1
Feb-19	14	3	0	0	0
Mar-19	17	1	0	0	0
Apr-19	16	1	0	0	2
May-19	18	9	0	0	2
Jun-19	15	2	0	0	0
Jul-19	28	5	0	0	0
Aug-19	25	2	0	0	3
Sep-19	27	2	0	0	1
Oct-19	26	3	0	0	1
Nov-19	21	6	0	0	0
Dec-19	13	2	0	0	0
Jan-20	20	4	0	0	0
Feb-20	29	6	0	0	2
Mar-20	18	7	0	0	3
Apr-20	15	8	0	0	0
May-20	26	8	0	0	2
Jun-20	25	4	0	0	0
Jul-20	34	4	0	0	0
Aug-20	17	3	0	0	0
Sep-20	14	2	0	0	4
Oct-20	19	1	0	0	0
Nov-20	31	3	0	0	0
Dec-20	43	5	0	0	3
Jan-21	27	0	0	0	0
Feb-21	43	3	0	0	6
Mar-21	38	3	0	0	2
Apr-21	18	1	0	0	3
May-21	19	1	0	0	1
Jun-21	20	4	0	0	1
Jul-21	10	4	0	0	3
Aug-21	23	3	0	0	3
Sep-21	20	0	0	0	1
Oct-21	24	0	0	0	0
Nov-21	2	0	0	0	1
Dec-21	0	0	0	0	0

Date of Release: 08/03/2022

Wealth Managers and Financial Advisers and change of control requests 2017-2021 - March 2022

Freedom of Information: Right to know request:

FCA response:

1. Could you confirm the number of "change of control requests" (section 178 notices) received by month from Jan 2017 to Dec 2021, or as far back as you hold records if less than this time period?

2. Please could you also confirm the average time taken to respond to such requests? If this is not possible please provide the time, in days, from "received" to "closed" or the dates "received" and "closed".

Wealth Management

Advisers and Intermediaries

3. Please can you provide details of how many are rejected and how many are approved, by month, from Jan 2017 to Dec 2021, or as far back as you hold records if less than this time period?

Wealth Management

Advisers and Intermediaries

More information

Data