FCA approval times for growing firms up 85% in two years

Firms trying to expand into new business areas are having to wait 85% longer for Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation than two years ago.

By the end of last year, the wait time had risen to almost five months, up from 10 weeks at the start of 2013. The figures were compiled by law firm RPC, and have been confirmed by the FCA. RPC said the additional time taken by the FCA for these approvals is most likely the result of greater scrutiny by the regulator of firms' business plans and resourcing before giving its approval to new offerings. The FCA said the average processing time is influenced by the complexity of the application, the completeness and quality of the information provided by the applicant, and the time the...