The FCA says it has found that companies that have to apply for a change of legal status are often incomplete, resulting in delays in the assessment process. With these changes, the regulator intends to improve the process for companies changing their legal status and minimize delays in the assessment process. When it comes to treating a company`s customers, a company that needs a new license must contact and contact its customers, either to amend its existing contracts or to enter into new contracts to reflect the change in the company`s legal entity. If you plan to change the legal form of your company, you will need to apply for a new licence*. On 20 May 2021, the FCA updated its website regarding the change in legal status. Otherwise, you should inform your clients of the change of legal entity the next time you deal with them. When you file an application for the new legal entity, you must sign a declaration of notarial deed. This requires your company to handle all complaints from existing customers in the same way as customers from your new legal entity. We have this requirement to prevent companies from abandoning their obligations to their customers by changing their legal entity. Before your request is approved, we will ask you to revoke the permissions of the previous entity. The FCA has updated its website to indicate that as of June 1, 2021, firms will no longer be able to apply for a change in legal status. Instead, they must submit a new submission for approval for the new entity and revoke the permissions of the previous one.

The latest change to the FCA`s legal status can be found here. This change comes as the FCA, following a review, has determined that it is more efficient for firms to submit new applications in this scenario. Processing time The FCA processes most applications within the legal standards of 6 months for a complete application (when they do not require additional information) or 12 months for an incomplete application. The FCA will provide a new FCA reference number, and you will need to notify the suppliers of products you deal with so they can update their records. Companies wishing to undergo a change of legal status will find that the process has changed and will now have to submit a new full application for authorisation to the FCA. When filing an application for the new legal entity, companies must sign a declaration of vote of the act requiring the company to handle complaints from existing customers in the same way as customers of the new legal entity. Application Fee The application fee you must pay when submitting your application is half of the usual admission fee. For example, a „simple“ app costs £750 and a „moderately complex“ app costs £2,500. Most financial advisors, mortgage brokers and property and casualty insurance intermediaries will be simple applications. The cost of changing the legal status of a consumer credit company is 50% of the application fee previously paid for FCA approval. Visit our authorization pages for more information on how to request approval.

You must ensure that you have all the necessary information at hand so that we can assess it before submitting your application. When submitting an application for the new legal entity, a signed declaration (in the form of a notarial deed) accepting the rights and obligations of the regulated activities of the previous legal entity is required. Once the new company has been authorized, the previous company must file an application for cancellation or approval. In justifying the change in approach, the FCA said a review of the valuation of companies changing their legal status showed that it is faster and more efficient for companies to submit new applications via the Connect system. If you have ongoing contractual agreements with your customers, you should contact them and agree to amend their existing contracts or enter into new contracts to reflect the change in your company`s legal entity. Home > UK > FCA updates its change of legal status website Otherwise, firms should inform their clients of the change of legal entity the next time they negotiate with them. The FCA has created a useful table on its website detailing the circumstances under which different types of firms are required to submit a new application for authorisation or SEA15 notification. A review of how the FCA assesses firms that change their legal status has shown that it is faster and more efficient for firms to submit new applications via the Connect system.