The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) were given their powers under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The FCA operates independently of the UK government and is entirely self-financed, achieved by charging fees to the businesses it regulates.

The FCA regulates financial firms that provide services to consumers in both retail and wholesale financial services markets. As its name suggests, it focuses on the regulation of the conduct of those firms. This means that its purpose is to ensure firms adequately provide services that act as the customer has been led to believe so that they receive a fair deal.

Its three objectives, therefore, are to ensure that:

• the financial industry is run with integrity;
• firms provide consumers with appropriate products and services; and that
• consumers can trust that firms have their best interests at heart.

Like its predecessor the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the FCA is structured as a company limited by guarantee. With the addition of consumer credit from 1 April 2014, the FCA currently regulates over 50,000 firms, including H&T Pawnbrokers.
We are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for Consumer Credit.