FCA authorisation status: what the check means
How Senserity checks whether a company is authorised or registered with the FCA, what the statuses mean, and why a lost authorisation matters.
- Severity
- Critical
- Category
- Compliance
- Plan
- Free and above
- Test code
- COM-100
What this test checks
Looks the company up on the Financial Conduct Authority's Financial Services Register and reads its status: authorised, registered, or regulated by both the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority. It also reads how the firm is permitted, for example directly authorised or as an appointed representative trading under another firm's authorisation.
It flags firms whose authorisation has been cancelled or which are no longer authorised.
What a fail looks like
The company was authorised but no longer is, or its authorisation has been cancelled. If it is still carrying on regulated financial activities, that may breach the general prohibition in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Harmless explanations
- Firms cancel their own authorisation when they stop doing regulated business, for example after a sale or restructuring.
- An appointed representative may move from one principal firm to another, briefly changing its record.
What to do
- Check the register entry yourself, including the permissions the firm holds and when its status changed.
- Make sure any firm offering you regulated services is authorised for those services, and check the FCA warning list for clones.
Related tests
Part of the test catalogue. Every check Senserity runs, with its severity and the plan it is available on.
Last reviewed .