This page provides data on our authorisations activities, including the number of new authorisations for each sector and the number of individuals in scope of the Senior Manager and Certification Regime.
Our outcomes
Authorisations operating efficiency icon
Our metrics also provide an insight into our internal processes including our responses to pre-vetting listed issuers’ documents and our staff turnover.
Metrics
Use the dropdown menu below to view the metrics and the latest results.
What the metric values tell us
Getting our processes right is key for both growth and competitiveness. The efficiency and effectiveness of our internal processes and communications affect the firms and individuals that interact with us.
Our authorisation processes are the gateway for firms seeking to enter the UK’s financial services sector (OE–M01 to OE-M03). Applications have been declining and, separately, the firm population has matured following historical regulatory changes (such as onboarding of consumer credit, or onshoring of Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) firms). Most applicants for Senior Manager approvals (92% (6252/6780)) and nearly two-thirds of applicants for New Firm Authorisations (62% (1109/1784)) are successful, an increase from last year. Most applications that are not approved are withdrawn rather than refused.
We assess 99.1% of authorisation cases across all case types within statutory service standards and meet statutory deadlines for most New Firm Authorisation, Variation of Permission, Change in Control and Senior Manager approval cases (OE-M05). We set ambitious targets for meeting these deadlines, as shown in our quarterly Authorisations Operating Service Metrics[2].
We review and approve documents related to corporate finance transactions, assess listing eligibility for new applicants and provide guidance on our rules. Our responding predictably is essential for companies planning transactions. We continue to meet almost 100% of our own turnaround time targets for pre-vetting documents submitted by listed issuers, unlisted issuers, and new applicants (OE-M06).
Both the number of New Firm Authorisations (indicating new entrants) and the number of cancellations approved (indicating firm exits) have decreased by 5% and 12% respectively (OE-M07). The number of cancellations approved over the financial year is 4 times larger than the number of firms authorised (similar to last year). However, not all cancellations are due to firms leaving the market. We will cancel the permissions of firms that are not complying with our minimum requirements[3] or are not actively using their permissions[4]. A significant proportion (around 77%) of the firms that cancelled authorisation in FY24/25 were in the Consumer Finance Sector (for example consumer credit firms). Many of these firms may have been using these permissions as an additional activity to their main line of business and have not ceased trading altogether.
We refreshed our methodology for assessing market cleanliness (OE-M08) to incorporate intraday trading activity and be more robust to periods of heightened market volatility. The overall increase in the statistic compared to previously published figures is the result of methodological changes.
Flexible firm satisfaction has remained relatively high in 24/25, similar to 23/24, with over 70% of flexible firms agreeing that our interactions with them are clear and consistent. There has been a slight decline in the number of flexible firms that believe our interactions with them are relevant (OE-M09).
The overall satisfaction score for fixed firms has fallen slightly to 7.2 in 24/25 from 7.4 in 23/24, (OE-M09). There have been declines in the number of fixed firms that believe our interactions with them have been clear and consistent. Since the survey only covers 42 fixed firms compared with over 5,300 flexible firms, the change in fixed firms’ satisfaction with communication was influenced by as few as 5 firms in several results. There has been a small percentage increase in the number of firms that find our interactions with them are relevant, but, as before, this will be driven by relatively few firms given the sample size.
Recognising the need to improve how firms interact with us, we are changing our supervisory model so more firms have direct contact with us. We have also stopped issuing and publishing Dear CEO Portfolio Letters and will soon replace them with market-level reports.
Our full-time equivalent (FTE) staff number grew from 4,723 in 2023/24 to 5,063 in 2024/25, with the overall turnover rate falling to 8.5% from 9.9% in 2023/24 (OE-M10). Voluntary turnover, where colleagues choose to leave, was 6.3% for 2024/25, the lowest since the FCA was established. The 7% increase in FTE-equivalent headcount was consistent across divisions except for Authorisations and Data Technology and Innovation. Frontline divisions (Supervision, Policy and Competition, Authorisations, and Enforcement) saw a 6% increase while support divisions saw an 8% increase. The rise in staff numbers was mainly due to more FTE resources being assigned to our priority commitments as we completed the final year of our 2022 to 2025 strategy, supported by an increase in FTE resource in our support divisions.
View all FCA Secondary international competitiveness and growth objective (SICGO) metrics[5]