The FCA have today released the final rules regarding the regulation and transfer of Consumer Credit from the OFT following the consultation period. The FCA take over regulation on the 1st April 2014 and as a reminder if you have not yet applied for interim permission you must do so before the end of March.
All consumer credit firms will need to comply with the FCA's principles for business from the 1st April.
Firms will then be given application periods which will start from October 2014, you will have a three month window in which you must apply otherwise your interim permission will expire.
The timetable for which firms can apply and when will be released the end of March and firms will be notified in May of when they can apply. Any firm wanting to apply for permissions in addition to what they are already covered for on the interim permission can apply from April, and so can firms wishing to set up as a Principle.
The majority of brokers will fall under the high risk catergory - this category includes:
Consumer credit lending, Credit broking (including introducing consumers to lenders as a main business activity), Debt adjusting, and Debt counselling
Firms once authorised will then have reporting requirements - in line with the RMAR reporting requirements already expected on FCA regulated businesses.
The FCA final rules document is over 600 pages long, and available to read here. For H3 members we will be reviewing the rules and be able to provide more information soon.