Find out what you need to do once your firm is authorised, from reporting to rules and fees.
Authorisation marks the beginning of your firm’s relationship with the FCA.
Once authorised, your firm must:
- Continue to meet the very high standards it has met at authorisation.
- Put customers at the heart of everything it does.
- Act in a way that leads to markets operating with integrity and effective competition.
As a fully authorised firm, you have regulatory obligations to:
- Report to us regularly (via RegData).
- Tell us about any changes in your details or your control (via Connect).
- Pay us the correct fees.
- Keep up to date with rules and regulations (via the FCA Handbook).
- Tell us about potential problems.
Checklist for consumer credit firms
Now you are FCA authorised, register on:
- RegData, our online reporting system
- Connect
- our Online Invoicing portal
Sign up to our newsletter for firms, Regulatory Round Up.
1. Report to us regularly
All firms need to report to us accurately and on time.
Information you submit helps us to:
- Identify trends and emerging risks in the market.
- Monitor compliance.
- Inform our approach to supervision.
What your firm needs to report to us depends on:
- Your permissions.
- How much business you are doing.
Contact us if you have any questions.
Sign up for RegData
Newly authorised consumer credit firms must register on RegData, our system for online regulatory reporting.
An appropriate individual at the firm, who is approved by us as an Approved Person, can register for RegData via the website.
Alternatively, you can use the registration key emailed to the firm when it became authorised.
Once you’re registered, log in to RegData to check what reports are due for your firm and their deadlines.
Regular reporting
Find out what reports are due in your reporting schedule on RegData.
How often and what you need to report depends on:
- The type of firm: limited permission or full permission
- The nature of your consumer credit activities
We’ll use the data you give us in your report, to:
- Work out what fees you need to pay.
- See how often you use your permissions.
- Check your firm’s income.
Failing to report to us regularly can lead to:
- A £250 fee.
- The removal of your permission (in serious cases).
2. Tell us about changes to your business
We need to know about material changes to your business, such as any change in control in your company.
Use our Connect system to tell us something (notifications) or apply for something, such as:
- Tell us about a change of address.
- Apply for a new approved person if someone leaves your firm.
- Apply for a change of permissions.
If in doubt, call the contact centre.
3. Pay the correct fees
Most authorised firms must pay us an annual fee.
How much your firm needs to pay will depend on:
- If you are a limited or full permission firm.
- What income you generate from your consumer credit activities.
Our fees year runs from April to March.
Check our consumer credit annual fees to see how much you can expect to pay for the relevant financial year.
It's important to give us the correct figure in your reports because that will help us work out what your fees are going to be.
Consumer credit income is a common area for confusion.
If you cancel your authorisation or registration before 31 March, you won’t need to pay the annual fee for the following financial year.
Find out about fees for cancelling your authorisation or registration
Invoicing
Use our online invoicing portal to:
- View fees, invoices and statements.
- Pay fees online (by card).
- Set up Direct Debit instruction.
- Submit fee tariff data (if requested).
4. Keep up with our rules and principles for business
To find a particular rule or guidance on an area of your business, see our Consumer Credit Sourcebook (CONC).
The principles for business underpin CONC. For example, we expect firms to:
- Be open and cooperative with us as a regulator (Principle 11).
- Act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers (Principle 12).
Approved persons within your firm need to keep up to date with the rules that apply to the firm.
We update our Handbook from time to time, so it's important to keep up to date:
- Sign up to regulatory roundups or our other email alerts.
- Check the website regularly.
- Save the Handbook on your favourite toolbar.
If you want to find out more about a certain topic:
- Start on our website.
- Check our Handbook.
- Contact us if you’re still unsure.
5. Problems
One of the principles of a regulated firm is to be open and honest with the regulator.
Reporting and notifying us of events helps make sure:
- Our financial system is working well as a whole.
- We are regulating firms within the market but also making sure there is fair competition.
We're here to help and we want to work through any issues with you.
Reporting significant events
Whether you need to report an event to us will be down primarily to a judgement call.
Think about:
- Is there a risk to your customers?
- Is there a risk to the business?
Tell us about events or issues that may cause harm to their customers or to the business. These are non-exhaustive examples:
- Loss of data.
- System failures.
- Any changes to their business portfolio, such as taking on a new portfolio of customers.
- Entering administration or liquidation.
- Engaging with another regulator or law enforcement agency.
If you feel there's something you need to tell us, complete a SUP15 notification form.
If you’re in doubt, it’s best to talk to us first. We can help work out your firm’s next steps.
