The FCA charge 2,500 on submission, and about 2,500 per annum, and you need PII cover, which might cost 1,000 or so in year one.
You need capital adequacy i.e. share capital of 5k but that absolutely does NOT need to be cash in the bank, and for a new start is typically funds pledged.
The work involved is fairly straightforward for us, and we provide for you the following:
1. Document library via https://ifac.batsoftware.co.uk
2. Give you report templates 39 currently listed and updated regularly on the document library on BAT
3. AUTO-SUITABILITY report writer on BAT
4. Complete the back office tasks for all compliance related activities, from new biz book to turnover and T&C records. on BAT
5. PII is introduced for you
6. All the risk plans / compliance monitoring / compliance manual / procedure manual / T&C manual / TCF guide and manual are produced with you as part of this application, tailored to you within the same price.
7. We do ongoing checking of your files including pre-scrutiny on a 10 per cent basis or 1 per month, or as required after the licence is granted and an annual audit as well.
We effectively become your compliance manager and this will keep your firm on the straight and narrow.
We charge you NOTHING until you get authorised, and then the contract is for a minimum of 12 months. The fee includes our back office software system www.batsoftware.co.uk, which is a tool currently used by over 1,000 IFAs and mortgage brokers.
Here is a complete list of the services we do for MGI firms https://ifac.eu/pages/plans.php
After authorisation we will continue to act for you as your compliance manager.
We audit the process, are in contact with you regularly and keep you acting in accordance with FCA rules etc.
Our key is to satisfy and give comfort to the FCA that your activities are beyond reproach (which of course means that they must be so)
After authorisation we will submit FCA returns, regularly audit your process and give you a compliance management system BAT that will operate as your platform CRM. The system will not trade for you but will keep a record of activities in line with FCA requirements. The system will also record customer vulnerability online, and allow automatic sanction checks.
At some stage in your business life you may be able to afford a full time compliance director, and we can help recruit that role at that time, and we usually go on to support that individual with T&C and knowledge etc.
We can normally get the application submitted within a week of receiving all the relevant paperwork required from you.
We have a large number of template documents that will need adjusting for you.
The FCA can take six to twelve months, and you need a guide to help validate the standards the FCA expect.
The largest part of the delays is waiting for a FCA case officer to be appointed.
The FCA may have questions with regard to the firm and its application, which we will assist in answering with you.
NEXT STEPS
If you are keen to progress, please sign on the below link. We will be in touch with formal paperwork and start to build the application the following day - the first step would be a discussion to go through the soft facts to enable us to build the application.