Comparable figures for the general insurance sector were 13282 registrations for an application pack and 9191applications for authorisation.6407registrations were from the primary insurance market and 6875from the secondary insurance market, i.e. those who sell general insurance products alongside other goods and services. With regard to applications for authorisation the estimated breakdown was 5044from the primary insurance market and 4147from the secondary insurance market.
Also, by the end of 3 September9614letters had been sent to applicant firms indicating that the FSA was "minded to authorise" (MTA) them to carry out mortgage or general insurance business. Of these the sectoral split was mortgage 3375, primary insurance 3394, and secondary insurance2845.
Each MTA letter sets out the scope of permission the FSA is minded to grant to the particular firm, including any requirements and/or limitations and sets out the list of individuals whom we are minded to approve to carry on controlled functions on behalf of the firm. The firms receiving MTA letters will be set to receive a confirmed “scope of permission” notice later this year constituting formal authorisation unless the FSA reconsiders following significant change in their circumstances or new information emerging in the interim.
Additionally by end 3 September, 4150applications had been received for a variation of permission from already FSA-supervised firms who wish to conduct mortgage or general insurance business in addition to their current regulated activities, 2906for mortgage(or mortgage and GI permissions) and 1244 for general insurance only. 2750"variation of permission" (VOP) letters had been sent by this date: 2088in respect of mortgages (or mixed business) and662in respect of general insurance.
MTA letters have been issued to 79firms wishing to operate a network with a mortgage or general insurance permission and included among those receiving VOP letters are 46networks making a total of 125networks in all -79relating to mortgage business (or mixed business) and 46to general insurance.
Sarah Wilson, Director FSA High Street Firms Division, said:
"These data show how much progress has been made since the mortgage and general insurance authorisation process started at the beginning of this year. The volume of MTA and VOP letters sent out is an indication of how far we have come, together with the industry, in the major exercise of bringing a uniquely large number of new firms into regulation at one time.
“Mortgage Day – 31 October – is now only seven weeks away and this means that mortgage firms who have successfully met the Threshold Conditions in the FSM Act will soon receive their Scope of Permission Notice confirming authorisation and allowing them to continue to do mortgage business from M Day.However, there maystill be some firms who have left a decision on direct authorisationor their chosen networkto this late stage. We willdo our best to deal with latenotifications of appointed representatives and indeedapplicationsbefore M Day butwe cannot compromise the integrity of our scrutiny or of ourdecision making process. Outstanding applications and AR notifications should therefore be submitted urgently and firms should make doubly sure that the required forms are complete and correct.
“Likewise with general insurance the milestone of 13 July by which applications should have been received to guarantee a turn round by GI Day - 14 January next year - is well past. But we continue to receive GI applications and we will continue to do our best to turn these round within the remaining period – submissions should be received as soon as possible to assist us in this.”
