The vast majority of brokers will have now submitted their applications to the regulator for authorisation. Some will have even received their 'minded to authorise' letters. Time to sit back and relax? Definitely not: in the run up to January 2005 there is a lot of work to be done, as this week's columnists describe.
The submission of the application form is merely a promise to the FSA that a broker will be compliant by 14 January 2005. The work still needs to done to fulfil that promise. Equally, receipt of a 'minded to authorise' letter is the FSA accepting that the plans described are sufficient to achieve compliance if carried out.
There is no getting around the fact that, for brokers, the journey to full compliance is very far from complete. And for some, there could be a few steep hills to traverse in the process.
Michael Faulkner
If you have received a 'minded to authorise' letter, email:
michael.faulkner@instimes.co.uk
