If you provide regulated financial advice to retail clients you must either hold, or operate under, a Financial Advice Provider (FAP) licence.

If you hold a transitional licence then you have until the 16th March 2023 to obtain a full licence. If you do not hold a transitional licence you must either operate under another FAP licence holder or apply for a full FAP licence before you are able to carry on the business of offering regulated financial advice

The simple answer is ‘No’, unless you operate under a FAP licence holder. If you operate as a company or partnership then your entity must be named on an existing FAP’s licence conditions so that you can provide the licensed service without needing your own licence. If you are an adviser then you need to be working under an Authorised Body that is affiliated with a FAP or working under a FAP licence directly.

The length of time comprises the time you take to prepare for and submit your licence application and the time that the FMA takes to grant you the licence. Your preparation time depends on the size and nature of your business and your existing state of readiness, e.g. the existence and maturity of your policies, procedures and controls. In our experience, there are always gaps between what a business has in place now and what it needs to get a ‘clean-pass’ licence. We can help you identify and address these gaps. The Financial Markets Authority has advised 6 weeks as a standard time frame for it to consider/grant a licence. However, this will depend on the questions they might have, which is in turn a function of how well prepared you are

Every business is unique, and needs its own policies, procedures and controls that are tailored to the substance of that business. Token policies, procedures and controls that are not demonstrably ‘in use’ can do a business more harm than good and will not be seen as credible or convincing by third parties The FMA has cautioned in an article the problems with simply using templates or standard policies as the final product rather than tools toward an end. Click here to read the article https://tinyurl.com/38whhnz7

The FMA has published its licence fees – see LINK HERE. The other cost component relates to building your practice’s readiness for submitting its licence application, as described above. We are able to provide you with an indicative cost estimate to be finalised in discussion with us if you complete our GAP analysis form https://tinyurl.com/m2rpks. Once completed one of our consultants will get in touch with you to provide an accurate cost. We like to build on the work you have already done and focus our attention on helping you close the gaps so that you are in a strong position when you apply for your licence