Become an appointed representative

An appointed representative is a firm that carries on regulated activities under the permissions of an authorised firm — its principal. You do not apply to the FCA for your own authorisation for those activities. You work under someone else’s, under a written agreement, and that firm answers to the regulator for the business you write within it.

• ✓ You operate under an agreement with a principal, covering specific regulated activities.
• ✓ Your firm appears on the FCA Register, showing the principal you act for.
• ✓ Your principal is accountable to the FCA for the regulated business you write.
• ✓ Because of that, your principal trains, monitors and supervises you.

There are two routes, and the difference between them is not paperwork. It is what you are allowed to say to a customer.

“Non-real-time” is the practical line for an introducer: a leaflet, a page on your website or an email is non-real-time material, and an IAR can pass it on. A conversation in the showroom or on the phone is real-time, and it is not something an introducer appointed representative can do.

So: if you want to hand the customer over and let us take it from there, the introducer route is lighter and probably the right one. If you want your own people discussing finance and arranging it as part of the sale, that is AR territory.

The exact scope comes from Q-Finance’s own permissions and from the appointment we agree with you, so we set it out in writing before anything is signed rather than leaving you to infer it from a web page. Broadly, an AR appointment in motor finance covers presenting finance as part of the sale, taking a customer through a proposal, and seeing the application through to payout.

• ✓ Oversight and monitoring of the regulated business you write.
• ✓ Training and competence, at appointment and on an ongoing basis.
• ✓ Approving financial promotions before you use them.
• ✓ Complaints handling, and the reporting that goes with it.
• ✓ The regulatory notifications and returns that sit with the principal.

• ✓ Use approved promotions and approved wording, not your own.
• ✓ Complete the training, and keep it current.
• ✓ Keep records of what you did and what the customer was told.
• ✓ Pass complaints to us rather than handling them yourself.
• ✓ Tell us promptly about changes to your business, people or ownership.

1. An initial conversation about your business and which route fits.
2. Due diligence — your firm, your people, your financials.
3. We agree scope, terms and responsibilities in writing.
4. FCA notification and registration.
5. Training and sign-off.
6. You start writing business.

Timescales are driven mainly by the notification and registration step, which is not immediate. We would rather give you a realistic date at the start than an optimistic one you plan around.

This page is general information about appointed representative status, not regulatory advice, and it is not an offer of appointment. What you can do, what it costs and what happens if the relationship ends will all be set out in writing, and you should take your own advice on anything you are unsure about.