Your Compliance Partner,
Advocating for Your Firm

SECTORS WE SUPPORT

We support both regulated and unregulated firms at every stage of their journey, from early-stage businesses exploring regulation, to authorised firms seeking ongoing compliance support.

We support start-ups, scale-ups and established firms operating across the UK’s consumer and wholesale investment markets.

Our clients include UK MiFID and non-MiFID firms seeking FCA authorisation, a variation of permission or ongoing compliance support. We provide practical assistance with regulatory business plans, FCA applications, compliance frameworks, prudential requirements, Consumer Duty, financial promotions, governance, regulatory reporting, compliance monitoring and ongoing regulatory advice.

Investment Management and Funds

We support firms involved in both individual and collective portfolio management, including:

Discretionary investment managers and portfolio managers.
Investment advisers and arrangers.
Fund managers and Alternative Investment Fund Managers.
Delegated investment managers and investment advisers.
Private equity, private debt, venture capital and real estate investment managers.
Hedge fund managers and firms operating specialist investment strategies.

Capital Markets & Corporate Finance

We assist wholesale investment firms operating across capital raising, transaction advisory and secondary markets, including:

Corporate finance advisers.
Capital-raising and private-placement firms.
Wholesale advisers and arrangers.
Broker-dealers and agency brokers.
Sell-side brokers and investment intermediaries.
Principal and proprietary trading firms.

Wealth Management and Consumer Investments

We support firms providing investment services to retail, professional and high-net-worth clients, including:

Wealth managers.
Discretionary portfolio managers.
Financial and investment advisers.
Digital investment and portfolio-management platforms.
Firms arranging or distributing retail investment products.

Private Markets and Alternative Investments

We assist firms operating across private and specialist investment markets, including:

Private equity and venture capital firms.
Private credit and direct-lending managers.
Real estate investment managers.
Specialist, quantitative and systematic investment managers.
Firms arranging investments in unlisted equity, debt and other private-market opportunities.

Crowdfunding and Investment Platforms

We support regulated platforms and alternative finance businesses, including:

Loan-based crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platforms.
Investment-based crowdfunding platforms.
Public Offer Platforms.
Private-market and alternative investment platforms.
Online platforms arranging or facilitating investments.

We support start-ups, scale-ups and established fintech firms operating across the UK payments and electronic money sector.

Payment Institutions

We assist firms applying to become Authorised Payment Institutions or to register as Small Payment Institutions, including businesses providing:

Credit transfers and account-to-account payments.
Direct debit services.
Money remittance and international money transfers.
Issuing of payment instruments, including payment cards.
Merchant acquiring and the acquiring of payment transactions.
Payment processing and gateway services where the business model involves regulated payment services.
Foreign exchange services connected with payment transactions.
Business-to-business, marketplace and platform payment solutions.

Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs)

We support firms seeking authorisation as Electronic Money Institutions or registration as Small Electronic Money Institutions, including businesses offering:

Electronic money accounts and stored-value products.
Prepaid, virtual and physical payment cards.
Mobile and digital wallets.
Multi-currency accounts and payment products.
Card programmes and embedded payment propositions.
Digital gift card and voucher models where the product constitutes electronic money.
Other electronic money issuance and redemption models.

Open Banking and Account Access

We assist firms providing regulated services through the UK’s Open Banking framework, including:

Account Information Service Providers.
Registered Account Information Service Providers.
Payment Initiation Service Providers.
Account aggregation and financial data platforms.
Open-banking payment and account-to-account payment solutions.
Businesses combining account information and payment initiation services.

Embedded Payments and Fintech Platforms

We support technology-led businesses incorporating payments or electronic money into wider products and services, including:

Embedded payment providers.
Software platforms facilitating customer payments.
Marketplaces and other multi-party payment models.
White-label payment and electronic money propositions.
Fintech businesses partnering with banks, payment institutions or electronic money institutions.

We can also help businesses assess whether their proposed activities require FCA authorisation or registration, whether an exclusion or exemption may apply, and how responsibilities should be allocated where regulated services are provided through a third-party partner.

We support start-ups, scale-ups and established firms operating across the UK’s insurance distribution, consumer credit and alternative lending markets.

Insurance Brokers and Intermediaries

We support firms carrying on insurance distribution activities, including:

Retail and commercial insurance brokers.
Wholesale brokers and London Market intermediaries.
Managing General Agents and delegated-authority businesses.
Insurtech businesses and digital insurance platforms.
Price comparison websites and online insurance distributors.
Ancillary insurance intermediaries.
Principals overseeing appointed representatives.
Firms seeking to become directly authorised after operating as an appointed representative.

Insurance Product Manufacturers and Distributors

We assist firms with responsibilities across the insurance product and distribution chain, including:

Insurance product manufacturers and co-manufacturers.
Managing General Agents with product design or underwriting responsibilities.
Lead manufacturers and delegated product-governance arrangements.
Insurance distributors and introducers.
Firms entering into insurer, capacity-provider or distribution partnerships.
Businesses developing embedded or white-label insurance propositions.

Our support can include identifying the firm’s role within the distribution chain, documenting the allocation of regulatory responsibilities and establishing proportionate product-governance, fair-value and distribution-oversight arrangements.

Consumer Credit Lenders and Credit Providers

We support firms providing regulated consumer credit or consumer hire products, including:

Consumer credit lenders.
Instalment-loan and fixed-term credit providers.
Revolving-credit providers.
Point-of-sale and retail-finance providers.
Consumer hire businesses.
Digital and embedded-lending propositions.
Regulated business lenders providing credit to sole traders and certain unincorporated businesses.
Firms administering, servicing or collecting regulated credit agreements.

Credit Brokers and Intermediaries

We assist firms seeking primary or secondary credit-broking permissions, including:

Primary credit brokers whose main business involves finding or arranging finance.
Secondary credit brokers offering finance alongside goods or services.
Retailers, professional-service providers and digital platforms introducing customers to lenders.
Commercial credit brokers supporting sole traders and unincorporated businesses.
Insurance intermediaries arranging or introducing customers to premium finance.
Online comparison, lead-generation and credit-matching platforms.
Businesses assisting customers with preparatory work connected with credit agreements.

Deferred Payment Credit and Buy Now, Pay Later

We support firms operating within the regulated Deferred Payment Credit regime, commonly referred to as Buy Now, Pay Later, including:

Third-party lenders providing regulated Deferred Payment Credit.
Existing providers of regulated BNPL and instalment-credit products.
Fintech firms developing digital or embedded Deferred Payment Credit propositions.
White-label and point-of-sale finance providers.
Merchants and platforms partnering with authorised Deferred Payment Credit lenders.
Businesses requiring regulatory-perimeter analysis in relation to merchant-provided credit, lender-provided credit and credit-broking activities.

The UK’s cryptoasset regulatory framework is undergoing significant change. A broader FSMA-based regulatory regime has now been established and is expected to take effect on 25 October 2027. We support firms with current FCA registration and compliance requirements, as well as preparation for authorisation under the new regime.

Current Cryptoasset Services

We support firms providing or developing services such as:

Fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto exchange services.
Peer-to-peer cryptoasset exchange services.
Cryptoasset ATMs and physical exchange services.
Custodian wallet and cryptoasset custody services.
Token issuance and exchange-related business models.

Preparing for the New FCA Regime

We also assist firms preparing to undertake future regulated cryptoasset activities, including:

Operating cryptoasset trading platforms.
Issuing qualifying stablecoins.
Safeguarding qualifying cryptoassets.
Dealing in or arranging transactions in qualifying cryptoassets.
Providing qualifying cryptoasset staking services.

Our support can include regulatory-perimeter assessments, FCA registration and authorisation applications, AML, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing frameworks, financial promotions compliance, governance and regulatory implementation.

The applicable requirements will depend on the firm’s precise activities, the cryptoassets involved and whether services are provided in or to the UK.

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