The FCA plans to expand its activities with quarterly surgeries and online booking for pre-application meetings, as well as the publication of more detail on the regulator’s entry criteria.
Ms Butler stressed this would not mean a watering down of standards.
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“The authorisation hub is not designed to lower entry standards to the market,” she said.
The viability of new fund firms has become a source of concern for providers. Last year, Investment Adviser reported the number of boutique asset managers had nearly halved in just two years, in part because of legal and regulatory costs.
IN NUMBERS
204
Number of newfund firms approved bythe FCA in 2016
21
Number of boutique firms counted by the Investment Association in 2016
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