In December 2017, we published Our Approach to Authorisation consultation paper. This was the start of a formal consultation with our stakeholders about authorisation and how it fits into the FCA’s overall regulatory system and decision-making framework. The feedback we got during the consultation was supportive of our approach and we have used it to inform our Approach to Authorisation and feedback statement.
Update: 6 January 2021
The UK has now left the EU and references to the EU in these documents may no longer be relevant or correct. If you are a firm from outside the UK, you should also read our approach to international firms.
Our Approach to Authorisation (PDF)
The Approach to Authorisation and feedback statement, published today, explain the purpose of authorisation and our approach. We want to ensure that firms and individuals who apply to be authorised, or approved, understand how we test that they will comply with our regulations, which aim to serve the public interest.
In our revised Approach to Authorisation we have clarified and/or added further detail around:
- how we assess authorisation applications for individuals who hold key roles in solo-regulated and dual-regulated firms
- how we assess the drivers of behaviour that can create culture likely to cause harm
- examples of situations where the following actions may be taken: revoking authorisation, registration and approval
- the role of the Regulatory Decisions Committee
- how we are providing a range of support to firms to promote competition
- how we measure our operational performance and effectiveness of our approach
- an improved set of the public commitments we make to firms
The Approach to Authorisation is part of the series of documents that we committed to in Our Mission, providing transparency to our activities and explaining our approach in more depth.