To apply for the SPI licence, the following criteria must be met (from the FCA website):

  • the applicant must satisfy the FCA that its directors and/or any persons responsible for the management of the SPI, and where relevant the persons responsible for the management of its payment services, are of good repute and possess appropriate knowledge and experience to provide payment services;
  • its projected average monthly payment transactions must not exceed €3million;
  • none of the individuals responsible for managing the business has been convicted of offences relating to money laundering or terrorist financing or other financial crimes;
  • its head office and, where applicable, its registered office (or place of residence for natural persons) must be in the UK;
  • it must comply with the registration requirements of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, where those requirements apply to it;
  • where the applicant is a partnership, an unincorporated association, or a body corporate, the applicant must satisfy us that any persons having a qualifying holding in it are fit and proper persons having regard to the need to ensure the sound and prudent conduct of the affairs of a small PI; &
  • where the SPI licence applicant is a body corporate that has close links with another person (‘CL’) the applicant must satisfy us that those links are not likely to prevent our effective supervision of the applicant. If it appears to us that the CL is subject to the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a territory outside of the EEA, the applicant must satisfy us that those foreign laws/provisions would not prevent our effective supervision of the applicant.
  • You must have UK-resident management for the business and a physical office. The FCA will reject any application where this condition is not met. You cannot have all non-resident directors/management. This is a priority issue now for the FCA when processing applications.
  • If you do not have suitable management with sufficient knowledge and experience for the business then your application will be rejected by the FCA.

This page was last updated on June 7, 2023.

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