Frost Group IP granted FCA-authorisation
The firm, with offices in London, Croydon and Bournemouth, can now offer a portfolio of non-statutory solutions and regulated debt advice to clients
INSOLVENCY outfit, The Frost Group, has been granted its Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation – one of the first to do so in the UK, after a “challenging” one-year process.
The FCA recently took over regulation of consumer credit from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
Thanks to the FCA-regulation, the firm, with offices in London, Croydon and Bournemouth, can now offer a portfolio of non-statutory solutions and regulated debt advice to clients in addition to advising on statutory insolvency issues.
Jeremy Frost, Frost Group director, said: “We had a choice to make between direct FCA authorisation which allowed us to provide a full range of consumer credit regulated activities to our clients, or remain within the limited advice role related specifically to our duties as IPs.
“Prior to the introduction of FCA regulation many IP’s gave consumer credit advice through their regulatory professional body’s group schemes, which now no longer exist. Many IPs did not want to change and many still offer advice without being regulated to do so. Only time will tell how the FCA manage this process and if the many unregulated advisors are investigated by the FCA.”