Time is running out for businesses who operate in the consumer credit industry to make the switch from their old Office of Fair Trading (OFT) license to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) interim permission.
The handover from the OFT to the FCA (the industry’s new governing body) will take place on 1st April, and any companies with old OFT licenses will find that they are no longer able to trade in this industry.
The FCA state that the change will herald the start of a new regime, allowing for greater supervision and enforcement of standards in the market. It has already been widely reported in the news that some changes to this industry will involve caps on roll-overs of “payday loans”.
Companies who have yet to apply for the interim permission (which it seems are quite a lot of them), need to get their application in as soon as possible, before they find themselves unable to trade. The registration for the interim permission is done with the FCA at a cost of £350 for most firms and £150 for sole traders. This only covers you until you need full authorisation, however.
Even if companies are intending to not trade beyond 1st April, then they should still let the FCA know about their decision. Firms who do intend to continue trading need to register before the 31st March.
You can register with the FCA by following this link.
