FCA Authorization Support

Your FCA authorization made simple: expert support from application to approval

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To carry out regulated activities in the UK, a firm must be either exempt or authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). If you are seeking authorization from the FCA for the first time, or are an established regulated firm looking to move into a new line of business, preparing the necessary application or drafting a variation of permission can be a complex and onerous task.

The process involves the FCA’s assessment of whether a firm, its owners, and management meet specific threshold conditions. This spans across a broad range of areas, including their business model, ownership, risk control, governance arrangements, financial resources, experience, knowledge, and propriety.

Our experienced team can help you seek authorization and apply for your Part 4A Permission. We’ve supported hundreds of firms through the process, providing support before, during, and after the application, and can help you avoid unnecessary complications and delays.

Contact us to learn more about how we simplify and streamline this process, providing expert management and support, from application to post-approval.

Our Solutions

FCA Authorization Support

We work with you to draft your detailed FCA application pack and, where relevant, meet with the regulator before the formal submission of application material.

We will also provide guidance on regulatory expectations, licence type, and will draft technical and pragmatic responses to address the regulator’s due diligence throughout the process.

Global registration services

In addition to specific FCA authorisation support, our London-based team of U.S. consultants can support SEC, CFTC and FINRA registration.

This dedicated team provides regional U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory support to European investment managers and advisers doing business in the U.S. and attracting U.S. investors.

Back-office support

Once you are authorised, we offer a broad range of professional services and solutions to support your firm. These include:

Compliance advisory
ACA ComplianceAlpha® Regulatory technology
Managed services
Investment performance services
ESG advisory, data, & analytics

Cybersecurity, privacy & risk
Distribution services
Regulatory hosting

Why ACA?

With over 20 years’ experience of managing more than 500 FCA applications, our compliance authorisation team has a deep understanding of regulatory authorisation. This helps you avoid any necessary complications and delays as we manage the process and requirements before, during and after the application.