06 Mar FCA Reminder: Is Your Firm’s Information Up to Date?
The FCA has recently refreshed its guidance reminding firms of something that sounds simple but is critically important: keeping your firm’s information accurate and up to date.
It’s easy to see this as an administrative task that gets pushed down the priority list. However, the FCA views the accuracy of firm information as a key part of regulatory transparency and consumer protection.
In short – the information the FCA holds about your firm must always be correct.
Why this matters
The FCA maintains records of regulated firms and individuals through the Financial Services Register, which is publicly available. This register shows details about firms, permissions, trading names, and individuals performing regulated roles. Consumers, partners and other stakeholders rely on this information to check whether they are dealing with an authorised firm.
If information is incorrect or out of date, it can lead to confusion for customers, issues during supervisory work, and unnecessary regulatory questions.
Firms are responsible for keeping their information up to date
The FCA’s guidance makes it clear that firms must ensure the information the regulator holds about them is accurate and updated when things change. This includes key details such as contact information, trading names, permissions, and other firm data held on the Financial Services Register.
In addition, many firms must complete regular attestations to confirm that the information held by the FCA is correct. For example:
- Firms must confirm or update their Firm Details annually, usually within 60 business days of their Accounting Reference Date.
- Firms submitting Directory Persons data must complete a Directory Persons’ Attestation (DPA) confirming the FCA’s records remain accurate.
Even if nothing has changed, the FCA still expects firms to log in and confirm that the information is correct.
Don’t forget to check the MyFCA portal
Many firms will already be familiar with the FCA’s MyFCA portal, but if you haven’t logged in recently, now is a good time to take a look.
MyFCA acts as a central access point for authorised firms, bringing together systems such as Connect, RegData and Online Invoicing. Importantly, it also provides a clear overview of your firm’s regulatory tasks, attestations and upcoming deadlines.
The homepage shows scheduled tasks and due dates, helping firms see what needs to be completed and when.
From a governance perspective, this is a helpful dashboard for compliance teams and senior management. It ensures nothing slips through the net and provides visibility of upcoming regulatory obligations.
A simple but important compliance check
At Create Solutions, we often find that issues arise not from complex regulatory changes, but from the basics being overlooked.
Taking a few minutes to:
- Log into MyFCA
- Review your scheduled tasks
- Check the firm details held by the FCA
- Ensure your Directory Persons information is correct
can prevent unnecessary problems later.
Our advice
If you haven’t already done so recently, make it a quick compliance task this week to log into MyFCA and review what appears on the homepage.
Check what tasks are coming up, ensure key firm information is accurate, and confirm that the right people within your business have access to manage these responsibilities.
Sometimes compliance really is about the fundamentals.
Straight to the point. No nonsense. Here to help.
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