The number of authorised FSPs declined by 1.12% between 2021 and 2022, despite the FSCA approving more FSPs this year, the Authority’s annual report for the year to the end of March shows.
The total number of FSPs in all four licence categories was 11 156, compared to 11 283, which the FSCA attributed to licence withdrawals and lapses.
The report shows there were 10 157 authorised Category I and IV FSPs at the end of the 2022 financial year. Although this was 27 more than in 2021, it is down on the 10 534 in 2020.
The FSCA approved 766 FSPs, compared to 662 in the previous year. The largest contributor to the increase in the number of authorised FSPs was in Category I, with 691 FSPs approved.
Four Category IIA and one Category III FSPs were approved, while no new Category IV FSPs were approved during the financial year.
Enforcement activities
The table below shows the enforcement activities undertaken by the FAIS Department within the FSCA’s Conduct of Business Supervision Division.
As the data shows, there has been a marketed decrease in FAIS-related complaints from consumers over the past four years.
Although the number of debarment cases opened fell by almost 17% between 2021 and 2022, the number of debarment orders issued increased by almost 53%, from 129 to 197.
The report did not provide a breakdown of the reasons for debarment cases being opened.
“Regulatory action” refers to the issuing of notices to FSPs that the FSCA intends to suspend their licence for non-compliance.
As the table below shows, the number of regulatory action cases opened declined by almost 9% between 2021 and 2022.
Although the table shows that only 40 of these opened cases resulted in licence suspensions, the annual report states 714 licences were suspended in April, after the end of the financial year on 31 March. It also notes that the 225 suspensions that were lifted “mainly” included licences that were suspended in the 2021/22 financial year.
