How long does it take to get FCA authorised?

The FCA has six months to determine a complete application, and up to twelve months where the application is incomplete. Those are statutory deadlines under section 55V of FSMA 2000 (opens legislation.gov.uk in a new tab), not targets - and the preparation stage before submission sits on top of them.

The typical timeline

Preparation - several weeks, depending on how quickly documentation is produced. This is the stage a firm controls, and it is where the difference between a complete and an incomplete application is made.

FCA review - up to six months for a complete application, up to twelve months for an incomplete one.

In our experience, firms should plan for the whole process rather than the FCA’s decision window alone, and should not assume the statutory maximum will be the actual wait.

Common reasons for delay

1. Incomplete applications. Missing policies or documents, or information that does not stand up to scrutiny.
2. Business model complexity. Higher-risk models attract deeper questioning, which takes longer to work through.
3. Weak evidence of compliance culture. If the FCA cannot see how the firm will identify and protect customers - including vulnerable customers (opens fca.org.uk in a new tab) - it will keep asking until it can.

How to avoid delays

• Meet deadlines. The FCA’s information requests typically carry short response windows. Slow responses extend the review.
• Keep documents consistent. The business plan, forecasts and policies should describe the same firm. Contradictions between them generate questions.
• Be ready for follow-up. Assume there will be a second and third round of questions, and have the underlying evidence to hand rather than producing it from scratch each time.

Why the timeline matters commercially

For dealers, brokers and credit firms, time spent unauthorised is time spent unable to offer finance. Delay can mean lost finance opportunities, lender and funder relationships that cannot be signed, and slower growth than the business plan assumed.

That is an argument for preparation rather than for haste. An application submitted quickly but incompletely moves the firm from the six-month clock to the twelve-month one. Our guide on avoiding difficulties with your FCA application covers the areas the FCA scrutinises most closely, and FCA authorisation support is where we do that work with you.