Reference Case Number: FOI11581
Freedom of Information: Right to know request:
Please provide a full list of firms authorised to provide financial planning advice to individuals as found on the Financial Services Register at present. Ideally the information would include company names, postcodes, whether the firm provides advice that is independent, restricted, both or not disclosed, and the number of regulated advisers at each firm. However, I would welcome any other available information about each firm.
FCA response:
We can confirm that we hold the requested information, and the information we can disclose is set out in Annex A, attached to this email.
The data provided includes the firm’s reference number (FRN), firm’s name, postcode of the principal place of business and of the registered office for all firms with the following permissions in respect of retail consumers:
- Advising on investments (except on Pension Transfers and Pension Opt Outs)
- Advising on P2P agreements
- Advising on Pension Transfers and Pension Opt Outs
For each firm, we have also provided the number of ‘retail investment advisers’, in line with the glossary definition: https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/glossary/G2834.html[1]. This is those individuals reported to us by firms and included on the Financial Services Register[2] with the relevant role.
Please note, there are a number of firms which currently have no ‘retail investment advisers’ involved at their firm. This is likely to be for a variety of reasons. For completeness, we have included these firms as they hold the permissions asked for.
Finally, with reference to the type of advice provided, firms report to us whether they have given advice on an independent or restricted basis or both. However, although firms have an obligation to ensure their clients are informed of the basis of the advice they are given before a recommendation is made, this information has not been included in the list attached, as these details are not published on our Financial Services Register and are therefore not considered to be in the public domain.