In an announcement today, the FCA is reminding firms that need to submit applications, do so without further delay.
FCA will determine complete applications received after 3 July 2017 within 6 months, but cannot guarantee to do so by 3 January 2018 (the date for required compliance with MiFID II).
Such firms will therefore also need to have contingency plans in the event that by 3 January 2018 they do not have the required permissions.