Appointed Representatives
Becoming an Appointed Representative (“AR”) offers a quick and easy alternative approach to having direct authorisation with the FCA.
As the Principal Firm, we assume regulatory oversight of the AR, authorisation can take a matter of weeks as opposed to months.
The benefits of becoming an Appointed Representative
The Appointed Representative Service that Infinity can offer provides a number of benefits when looking to conduct regulated financial services activities in the UK:
Quick, efficient and cost effective set-up;
Speed to market – Conduct regulated activities within three to four weeks. This can also be utilised while waiting for your own full regulation to be approved;
Monitoring plan, compliance policies, procedures and governance, all provided by Infinity as the Principal Firm;
Considerably lower ongoing compliance costs compared to full independent authorisation;
Capital requirements provided by Infinity as the Principal Firm.
What happens if you want to become an AR?
After an initial conversation we follow a defined process with all of our clients to ensure an efficient and seamless on-boarding process.
We will arrange a fact-finding meeting with you to establish who you are, what you want to achieve, your relevant experience and to ensure that we apply the correct regulatory permissions. This also allows you to establish whether you feel you would like to work with our team. Following this meeting we will be able to give you an indicative fee structure.
Once you are comfortable to proceed with Infinity we will commence on-boarding you. The FCA requires that we conduct in depth due diligence on our ARs. This typically applies to the company itself and the people within it, from the owners through to the employees. This includes credit checks, criminal record checks, references, CV checks and qualification checks. We will also review your business plan with you and your financials and any marketing materials to ensure that we apply the correct compliance framework. This typically takes only a few days for us to complete.
Following successful completion of the onboarding process, we will educate you regarding the compliance procedures that you need to adhere to and we will provide you with the relevant records that you will need to maintain. We provide an on-going monitoring and support program and we stay in regular contact with you working with you as part of our team.
