[b][Manchester, January 30, 2015][/b] - The benefits of a compliance consultant to the 50,000 or so consumer credit firms in the United Kingdom have never been greater. After consumer credit came under the remit of the UK’s principal financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in April 2014, firms must now address the issue of applying to the FCA for full authorisation. In doing so, they are likely to need to supply much more information about their business activities than was the case when applying for the old Consumer Credit License.

Each firm has been allocated a three month period in which their application for full permission needs to be made. For some firms, such as debt adjusters and home finance firm intermediaries in the North of England, this deadline expired at the end of 2014. For firms practising either of these activities in London, the deadline is January 31 2015.

Credit firms are also subject to a tougher regulatory regime in that the FCA has imposed tougher rules for many firms than was the case under the former regulator, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). For example, there are new requirements regarding the handling of client money for debt managers; and requirements for payday lenders relating to rollovers, Continuous Payment Authority and risk warnings on promotional material.

The FCA also has more resources than the OFT did to supervise firms. Wrongdoing is now much more likely to be punished, and the FCA has a greater range of enforcement powers. As well as helping with the application process, firms can also benefit from the assistance of a compliance consultant when seeking to stay within the rules.

According to the FCA’s definition, consumer credit firms include those practising any of the following activities:

• Lending
• Credit broking
• Consumer hire
• Debt counselling or debt adjusting
• Debt collecting
• Debt administration
• Credit information services
• Credit reference activities
• Operating a peer-to-peer lending platform

Manchester-based compliance consultancy Scott Robert has many years’ experience of assisting consumer credit firms throughout the UK with their regulatory obligations, and is well placed to assist with authorisation applications or with any other regulatory matter.

[b]About Scott Robert:[/b]

Scott Robert is a market-leading compliance consultant offering professional services to a growing number of clients across the UK. It offers solutions to a range of regulatory problems, and its areas of specialisation include FCA compliance, FCA authorisation applications, FCA compliance training, Trading Standards compliance and MoJ Compliance for claims managers. Scott Robert’s team of industry professionals, ex-regulators and legal experts offers exceptional service that meets client requirements and demands. To learn more about the firm, visit their website at http://www.scottrobert.co.uk/.