FCA REGULATED SERVICES

Corporate finance is a regulated activity covered by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). When carrying out a regulated activity in the UK companies and individuals must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), either as a principal firm (directly authorised by the FCA) or as an Appointed Representative (AR) of an authorised regulatory umbrella provider such as Bristol York. When conducting regulated activities, such as corporate finance advisory services, individuals operating under a FCA umbrella firm require CF30 customer authorisation.

Bristol York has over a decade of experience providing regulatory umbrella services. Under the firm’s FCA umbrella, a firm or individual can carry on certain regulated activities without being directly authorised by the FCA. In order to become an AR, the FCA requires companies and individuals to have high levels of expertise as well as compliance, operational and corporate governance infrastructure. Additionally, principal firms are required to meet stringent capital adequacy requirements.

As a firm, we pride ourselves on offering a unique approach that goes above and beyond simply meeting the FCA’s regulatory requirements. Bristol York’s ARs enjoy the possibility to collaborate, cross-refer and execute on transactions with other existing ARs in our network, or with the firm’s team of experienced corporate finance professionals. We believe our service offering differentiates us from the ‘traditional’ compliance providers given our commercial understanding of the corporate finance industry.