FCA has updated its website to highlight the consequences of the significant increase in change in control notifications it is currently receiving. It is currently taking around 2 months for FCA to allocate a case officer. Applicants will not know whether FCA considers their application complete until the case officer has reviewed it.
FCA warns that it is receiving high numbers of incomplete notifications – meaning that FCA has longer to process the application than a complete notification. It urges applicants to provide all relevant information and documents in the initial submission to avoid delays, but stresses that is is a criminal offence to proceed with the transaction before FCA has made a decision (or before the statutory notice period has expired).
FCA is recruiting more case officers and making improvements to try to improve the time it takes to get a case officer. But, as it stands, applications can easily be two months into the three month “complete” notification period before FCA will confirm whether it regards the application as complete.