FCA Cracks Down on Regulatory Scofflaws

From June 2016 to June 2017, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has canceled the authorization of more than 200 firms for failure to comply with “basic regulatory requirements,” according to press reports.

Such failure could include failing to submit FCA returns or tardiness in paying fees to the regulator.

“Such action often results in the FCA canceling the statuses of those firms, which means that they cease to be able to conduct regulated business and may have to cease trading altogether,” an FCA spokesperson told International Investment.

Over the same period, the FCA’s Threshold Conditions Team accepted 1,387 referrals of firms who had failed to satisfy the minimum standards. Of those, approximately two-third of the firms, 824, managed to retain their authorization by submitting outstanding returns or paying overdue fees.

The FCA has reminded firms that once MiFID II goes into effect on January 3, 2018, they only can carry on activities that require authorization under the new regulatory regime if they have the required permission.

The regulator strongly recommends that any firm that needs to change their permissions should submit a complete application without delay or have a contingency plan in place once MiFID II goes into effect.