The rules
FCA change in control: the thresholds when you buy an IFA
Updated
Buying a stake in an FCA-authorised advice firm needs the FCA's approval before you cross a controller band. The bands, the approval period and the offence below are read from the FCA's own guide and the Act.
The controller bands for a Directive firm
The FCA's quick reference guide sets the bands for Directive firms at 10% or more but less than 20%, 20% or more but less than 30%, 30% or more but less than 50%, and 50% or more. Crossing into a band is a change in control.
Source: FCA: change in control quick reference guide
Firms with a single threshold
The same guide says general insurance intermediaries, consumer credit firms and home finance firms have only one controller band, at 20%; a single threshold of 33% applies to limited permission consumer credit firms; and a single threshold of 10% applies to payment services firms.
Source: FCA: change in control quick reference guide
How long an approval lasts
Under Part XII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, where the regulator has not specified a period, an approval is effective for one year. A buyer who has not completed in that time asks again.
Source: Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, Part XII (legislation.gov.uk)
Buying without approval
Part XII makes acquiring control without approval an offence: on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine, or both.
Source: Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, Part XII (legislation.gov.uk)
Every rule in one table
The thresholds above are kept as one dataset, each row with the sentence it was read from and the day.
Source: FCA change in control rules: every row, with its source