Brokers are now receiving letters from the FSA confirming that they will be authorised to trade when statutory regulation begins on 14 January 2005.
Anchor (UK), Rowett Insur-ance and Rees Astley are among brokers who have received a 'grant of permission' (GOP) letter. The GOP letter supersedes the 'minded to authorise' (MTA) letter.
A spokesman for the FSA said there was a "presumption" that brokers who received an MTA letter would then receive a GOP letter.
"Only in exceptional cases, for instance a change of circumstances or new information coming to light, would a broker not automatically get a GOP letter," he said. "All real investigations are done before the MTA letter is sent."
Once brokers have received their GOP letter they can tell customers that they will be regulated by the FSA. But until the 14 January 2005, they cannot say that they are regulated by the FSA.
