• Doing business with the FSA
  • How do I get authorised
    • Help for sale and rent back firms
      • Interim authorisation regime

The SRB interim regime commenced on 1 July 2009.

We have now published our final rules [PDF] for the SRB interim regime.  

What do SRB firms need to do?

We are inviting firms who were active in the SRB market before 1 July 2009 to apply for interim authorisation from this date. These firms must submit their applications by 1 August 2009.

Firms must submit the following application forms:

• SRB application for interim authorisation form (this will capture details about the applicant – its structure, systems and controls, processes, documentation, etc).
• Each director/partner of the applicant must submit an SRB Individuals form, which will capture employment history, addresses and other information to allow us to perform background checks and to ensure that the individual is 'fit and proper' to be operating in the SRB market.
• Any other individuals/entities, who hold a controlling interest (10% or greater) in the applicant, should submit a controllers form.

Forms

- SRB Application form [DOC]
- SRB Application Form Notes [PDF]
- SRB Individual Application Form [DOC]
- SRB Individual Application Form Notes [PDF]

Applicants will also be required to pay a non-refundable application fee (either £1,000 or £3,000 depending on the activities you will be undertaking) which will need to accompany the application.

Please note that under the terms of the Treasury’s legislation, interim authorisation is only available to unauthorised persons who have carried on SRB activities before 1 July 2009. Unauthorised persons who don’t meet this criteria will have to wait until the full regime is implemented to carry on SRB activities. The full regime is scheduled to start on 30 June 2010.

How we assess applications

Before any applicant that seeks authorisation from us can carry on a regulated activity we must be satisfied under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 that the applicant can meet and continue to meet the minimum standards, called Threshold Conditions, and that the persons running the applicant are fit and proper. Applicants can get further guidance on the Threshold Conditions in the COND section of our Handbook (the document that sets out our rules and guidance).

Applicants should review these carefully to ensure that you meet these criteria.

Existing authorised firms wishing to undertake sale and rent back activities

Current FSA-authorised firms can seek permission to undertake SRB transactions even if they have not previously been operating in this market. This is because these firms will already be subject to a full FSA regulatory regime, and so will already be meeting the threshold conditions regarding their business.

Rather than making a fresh application for interim permission, these firms can instead apply for an interim Variation of Permission. We will not be designing a bespoke form for this; firms should submit a Home Finance variation of permission form and complete sections one, four, five, seven, eight and nine.

Firms will also need to complete sections three, five and six of the SRB Interim Authorisation form (see above).

Firms will need to pay a non-refundable application fee (£250 for firms currently undertaking other home finance activities, or 50% of the relevant interim authorisation application fee for firms not currently active in the home finance market).

Conducting regulated SRB activities during the interim regime

We have three months from receiving a completed application to assess it. Firms lawfully trading on 1 July 2009 can carry on trading from this date and once we have received a completed application form, we will treat firms as having, on 1 July 2009, permission to carry on SRB activities.

Applicants may withdraw their application with our consent.

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