Under new rules introduced on 1 July this year, unauthorised SRB firms have to apply for interim authorisation to enable them to conduct SRB business prior to the introduction of the full SRB regulatory regime in the second quarter of 2010.
Peter Beaumont, chief executive of RPS, said: “I am delighted that RPS has been granted interim authorisation by the FSA and I believe we are one of the first firms to be notified. It will be interesting to see, in due course, how many firms have been granted authorisation, because this will be the first time that an accurate figure can be put against the size of the SRB market.
“As important as regulation is, RPS has gone well beyond the minimum standards required of SRB firms by introducing our own ethical charter. I believe this will help raise standards across the whole industry and I am happy to publish the names of all firms who can achieve the standards specified in our charter. Regrettably, no firms have yet put their names forward, but I am hopeful that other SRB providers will see the wisdom of doing so, in due course.”
RPS markets its services via financial advisers and pays an introductory fee on all completed transactions.
