Announced on Thursday, the asset management authorisation hub will be set up in October offering advice, clarity and “personalised engagement” to firms going through the process of gaining FCA approval.
Run by the regulator itself, the hub will offer pre-application meetings and dedicated case officers to firms to help those who might otherwise be put off entering the industry.
In a speech on Thursday, the FCA’s executive director of supervision for investment Megan Butler, said it was “imperative” that firms weren’t put off operating in the UK because of “avoidable barriers to entry”.
“A traditional critique of regulation is that a lot of red tape tends to protect incumbents from competition by putting off new entrants to the market,” she said.
“And on this point we know prospective entrants to the asset management industry would welcome more support from the FCA.”
The hub aims to clarify expectations from the regulator and offer better guidance, as well as create “positive, more personalised engagement” to deal with the some 1,200 queries the FCA call centre receives each month.
Butler went on to pre-empt any accusations that the hub would lower standards for new firms entering the market.
“We have no intention of presiding over a decline in quality. So entrants will need to meet the same rigorous standards as current firms before they receive authorisation,” she said.
Phase one of the hub will see the launch of a dedicated portal for investment managers open on the FCA website, and pre-application meetings and dedicated case officers introduced.
Next year the FCA expects to bring in quarterly surgeries for managers and online booking for pre-application meetings.
