A licence, and the conditions that follow it

Which licence category, whether the activity is licensable at all, and whether an exemption applies.

Your current position against what the licence requires — capital, governance, systems, people.

Informal engagement with the regulator. We take the file reference and the named case officer.

Controllers, directors and senior managers assessed; questionnaires completed; probity checks.

Minimum paid-up capital evidenced and the source documented and bank-confirmed.

Business plan, financial projections, risk framework, AML and CFT programme, IT and information security, business continuity, outsourcing, complaints handling, internal audit charter, board and committee terms of reference.

The policies formally adopted by your board. Regulators check the minutes.

Dossier lodged, fee paid, acknowledgement and file reference obtained. The clock starts here.

The regulator checks admissibility. An incomplete application is returned rather than assessed.

Each one tracked with its own clock. In most regimes an information request stops or resets the determination period — which is why licence timelines are unpredictable, and why we record every turnaround.

The regulator interviews proposed directors and senior management.

Conditional approval issued with a schedule of conditions and a deadline for meeting them.

Each condition tracked individually with its evidence.

And with it, the obligations register: every reporting date, return, renewal and notification trigger the licence creates. That register is the thing you keep.