Why you should use the new Financial Services Register
New register allows you to search for scams and unauthorised companies more easily.
A new searchable financial register aims to make it easier for you to find out about scams and dodgy companies.
The new Financial Services Register was launched this week by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulator. It will contain details on firms, individuals and other bodies, such as collective investment schemes, that are regulated by the FCA and/or its counterpart the Prudential Regulation Authority.
This means you can search it to check that a company or individual you want to deal with is fully regulated, and therefore has to meet standards set down by the FCA.
Scams listed
For the first time this Financial Services Register will also include details of unauthorised firms and scams. Any firm that the FCA knows is, or has in the past, provided regulated products or services without authorisation will be included. Companies that are known to have operated financial scams will also appear on the register.
Any firm listed for carrying out unregulated activity will be highlighted in search results to make it clear that the FCA does not approve of the company and advises against dealing with them.
This should make it much easier to spot dodgy firms and individuals and make sure you only deal with reputable people.
Easier to understand
As well as including details of scams the FCA hopes to make the Financial Services Register more user friendly and useful by having clearer language and including explanations of important financial, technical and regulatory terms.
You can search the register using names, reference numbers or postcodes.
The register can be found at the FCA website.
Do you think this register's a good idea? Will you use it? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
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Comments
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Tried checking a couple of scam organisations who have scammed £millions out of 'investors/victims' - IRE(Industry RE) and GGS (Global Green services) and the broker that acted for IRE (Emerald Knight) who are yet to show any of there proffered investments to be anything other than scams, only to find that FCA register doesn't list any of them. It's no ,more than I expected but thought would give FCA the benefit of doubt but alas they were true to form and have no listings for any of them. So the FCA register is like the organisation itself, a good idea but nothing more than p*$$ and wind. Same as its predecesor 'FCS', and other organisations including'Action Fraud', 'National Fraud Intelligence', City of London Police' etc etc. All established to investigate and protect the innocent but do nothing and by that default allow these scummers to continue their fraudulent activities unopposed. They all seem to appear to exist to purely give the impression that fraud is being combated when in fact is anything but.
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For vehicle scams on the likes of eBay, AutoTrader, Gumtree etc, this register is completely and utterly useless. Online vehicle fraud is costing the UK £17.8 million each year, according to Get Safe Online and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB)
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12 September 2015