Check if a firm is FCA authorised

Search the firm by name, Firm Reference Number, Companies House number, or a phone number it called you from. FirmSearch reads the FCA Financial Services Register and shows whether the firm is authorised, registered, an appointed representative, or no longer authorised. Then match the contact details on the register against the ones the firm gave you.

A Firm Reference Number, or FRN, is the unique six or seven digit number the FCA gives every firm on its register. It is the most reliable way to look a firm up, because names can be copied but the FRN belongs to one record.

No. The register lists firms under several different statuses. An authorised firm holds its own FCA permissions. A registered firm operates under a lighter regime, typical for payment and e-money businesses. An appointed representative is covered by another firm called its principal. A cancelled firm is no longer permitted to carry out regulated activities.

Authorised: the firm holds its own FCA permissions for the activities on its record, so check that what you are being sold is one of them. Registered: a lighter regime, typical for payment and e-money firms and businesses registered for money laundering supervision. Appointed representative: the firm has no permissions of its own and works under a principal firm, which is responsible for it, so look up the principal too. No longer authorised: the permission has ended and the firm must not carry out regulated activities; if it is still selling, report it.

Treat that as a serious warning. Almost every firm offering regulated financial products or advice in the UK must be on the register. If a firm is not listed and is still asking for money or personal details, do not proceed, and report it to the FCA.

Checking a firm is free: every firm's page, with no sign-up. For a decision that matters, you can also buy a full report on a firm (£19.99), a PDF with checks on its directors' other companies, its contact details and connected firms, its full history and every set of accounts it has filed. The report is optional; nothing on a firm's page is taken away to sell it.

From official public records: the FCA Financial Services Register and the FCA Warning List, Companies House (company records, directors, owners and filed accounts), and the Financial Ombudsman Service (published complaints figures). We re-check firms against the FCA register every day, so each firm is refreshed about every two weeks; Companies House records about weekly; new accounts as they are filed.

Yes. Search the number, in any format. We show which firms on the FCA register give that number, and whether it appears in any FCA warning about scams or clones. A number we have no record of is not proof that a caller is genuine: if in doubt, hang up and call the firm back on the number from its page.

Always verify a firm's contact details (phone number, address, and website) against the official FCA Register entry, not just the name: a clone uses a real firm's name and reference number with its own contact details. FirmSearch flags names and phone numbers that appear in the FCA's warnings about scams and clones.

No. FirmSearch is independent. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Financial Conduct Authority. Always verify directly on the FCA Register before making financial decisions.