What Is the FCA Register?

The FCA Register is, in effect, the UK’s official guest list for financial services, a free, public database maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority that lists every firm and individual authorised to operate. If a company wants to give you regulated financial advice, arrange your pension or manage your investments, it must be on this register. If it is not, it is not allowed to. This is general information, not personal advice.

That makes the register the most important five-minute check you can perform before trusting anyone with your money. It tells you whether a firm is genuine, exactly what it is permitted to do, and whether it has any disciplinary history, and it is the foundation of the consumer protections that come with authorisation. Our guide to checking an adviser on the FCA Register walks through it step by step.

What the register actually shows

The permissions field is more useful than people realise. A firm might be authorised for one activity but not another, so the register lets you confirm it is actually allowed to do the specific thing you need, advising on a pension transfer, say, or managing investments. If the permission you need is not listed, that is a genuine problem, regardless of how impressive the firm appears. The register also distinguishes a directly authorised firm from an appointed representative, which operates under the authorisation of a larger “principal” firm, perfectly legitimate, but worth understanding, because it is the principal that ultimately stands behind the advice.

How to check an adviser in five minutes

• 1

  Go to the official register

  Visit register.fca.org.uk directly, type it in yourself rather than following a link from an email, so you know you are on the genuine FCA site.

• 2

  Search the firm or its FRN

  Enter the firm’s name or Firm Reference Number. Ask the adviser for their FRN if you do not have it: a legitimate firm will give it readily.

• 3

  Match every detail

  Check the name, address and trading names match exactly what the adviser told you. Scammers often “clone” a real firm’s details with a subtle change.

• 4

  Confirm status and permissions

  Ensure the firm is “Authorised” and holds permission for the advice you need, advising on investments, pensions or both.

• 5

  Read the history

  Note any disciplinary action or restrictions. One old, minor item is not necessarily disqualifying; a pattern is a reason to look elsewhere.

Why it underpins your protection

Checking the register is not box-ticking: it is what activates your safety net. Only when a firm is FCA-authorised do you get access to the free Financial Ombudsman Service if you have a complaint, and to the FSCS, which can pay compensation of up to £85,000 per person if an authorised firm fails owing you money. Deal with an unauthorised firm and you forfeit both, which is precisely why fraudsters operate outside the register.

The register also connects to the wider question of whether you can trust an adviser at all. Authorisation is the baseline, not the whole story, you still want the right qualifications, clear fees and a good personal fit, but it is the non-negotiable first filter. Our answers on whether you can trust a financial adviser and what questions to ask take the story on from there.

For most people, the register turns a nagging worry into a moment of certainty: you can see, in black and white, that the person you are considering is exactly who they claim to be and allowed to do exactly what you need. The free Vetted Wealth service goes a step further, matching you only with independently vetted, FCA-regulated financial advisers, so authorisation is confirmed before an introduction is ever made. That saves you time, though checking the register yourself remains a sensible habit. This is information, not personal advice.

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