FCA Registered Firms: How to Find, Search and Build a List of FCA Regulated Companies
Looking for a list of FCA registered firms? Whether you're checking if a company is authorised, researching the financial services market, or building a sales pipeline, this guide explains everything you need to know about FCA regulated companies, how to search them, and the best ways to access FCA data.
What Are FCA Registered Firms?
An FCA registered firm is a business that has been authorised or registered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to carry out regulated financial activities in the UK.
Depending on the permissions they hold, FCA regulated companies may include:
Wealth managers
Investment firms
Insurance brokers
Mortgage advisers
Consumer credit firms
Payment institutions
Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs)
Cryptoasset firms
Asset managers
Banks and building societies
Every authorised firm appears on the FCA Register, making it the UK's official source of regulatory information.
How Do I Search FCA Registered Firms?
The easiest way to search an individual firm is through the official FCA Register.
You can search using:
Company name
Firm Reference Number (FRN)
Trading name
Individual name
For each firm, the Register typically includes:
Regulatory status
FCA permissions
Trading names
Principal and Appointed Representative relationships
Senior Managers
Contact details published by the FCA
If you're checking whether a single business is regulated, the FCA Register is the best place to start.
Can I Download a List of FCA Registered Firms?
Yes.
The FCA provides access to regulatory data through its public Register, API and data services.
This includes information about:
FCA registered firms
FCA regulated individuals
Regulatory permissions
Senior Management Functions (SMFs)
Appointed Representatives
Principal firms
Regulatory relationships
However, the raw FCA data is designed primarily for regulatory and technical use.
It doesn't include the commercial enrichment that sales, marketing and business development teams typically need.
What Information Does the FCA Register Contain?
The FCA Register is one of the richest public regulatory datasets available in the UK.
Depending on the firm, it may contain:
Firm Reference Number (FRN)
Regulatory status
Permissions
Approved activities
Trading names
Senior Managers
Principal firms
Appointed Representatives
Regulatory notices
Requirements and limitations
For compliance teams, this information is invaluable.
For commercial teams, however, it's often just the starting point.
Why Businesses Search for FCA Regulated Companies
Many organisations use FCA data for much more than regulatory checks.
Sales
Find companies that are likely to need your software or services.
Marketing
Build highly targeted campaigns based on permissions, regulated activities and company type.
Recruitment
Identify growing firms and connect with hiring decision-makers.
Compliance
Monitor permission changes and regulatory developments.
Market Research
Understand which sectors are growing, consolidating or entering the market.
The Challenge with Building a List of FCA Registered Firms
The public FCA Register is excellent for checking one company at a time.
But it wasn't designed for commercial market analysis.
For example, you can't easily:
Build a filtered list of FCA registered firms
Search by company size or revenue
Find verified business email addresses
Identify senior decision-makers across thousands of firms
Monitor companies entering the market
Track permission changes automatically
Export CRM-ready prospect lists
This means many organisations spend hours manually cleaning and enriching regulatory data before they can actually use it.
How TOVO Builds on the FCA Register
TOVO doesn't replace the FCA Register.
It enhances it.
We combine FCA regulatory data with additional datasets to create a live commercial intelligence platform.
This includes:
Companies House information
Business email addresses
LinkedIn profiles
Revenue and employee data
Holding company structures
Appointed Representative networks
AI-powered search
Market monitoring and watchlists
Instead of downloading spreadsheets, customers can search a live database that's continuously updated.
Search the FCA Register Using Natural Language
One of TOVO's newest features is AI Mode.
Instead of applying dozens of filters, you can simply ask questions like:
What are the top 20 highest revenue mortgage brokers?
Show me investment firms managing between £50bn and £100bn AUM.
How many Appointed Representatives does St. James's Place have?
Who are the most senior people working at Goldman Sachs?
Find newly authorised payment institutions in London.
AI translates these questions into structured searches, helping teams discover opportunities in seconds rather than hours.
FCA Register vs TOVO
The FCA Register
Best for:
✅ Checking whether an individual company is authorised
✅ Looking up Firm Reference Numbers (FRNs)
✅ Verifying regulatory permissions
TOVO
Best for:
✅ Building targeted lists of FCA registered firms
✅ Finding decision-makers
✅ Verified business email addresses
✅ AI-powered search
✅ Market monitoring
✅ Watchlists
✅ Sales and marketing workflows
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an FCA registered firm?
An FCA registered firm is a company authorised or registered by the Financial Conduct Authority to carry out regulated financial activities in the UK.
Where can I find a list of FCA registered firms?
The FCA Register allows you to search individual firms, while its API and data services provide access to broader regulatory datasets. Platforms like TOVO make this information searchable and enrich it for commercial use.
Is the FCA Register free?
Yes. Anyone can search the public FCA Register free of charge.
Can I download FCA regulated company data?
Yes. The FCA provides access to regulatory data through its API and associated data services. Many organisations also use platforms like TOVO to access a searchable, continuously updated view of the market.
How many FCA registered firms are there?
The exact number changes regularly as firms are authorised, cancel permissions, merge or cease trading. TOVO continuously monitors these changes so customers always have access to an up-to-date view of the UK regulated market.
Final Thoughts
The FCA Register is the definitive source of information on regulated financial services firms in the UK.
For checking a single company, it's the best place to start.
But if your goal is to understand the market, build prospect lists, monitor regulatory changes or identify new commercial opportunities, you'll quickly need more than a static register.
TOVO transforms FCA regulatory data into live market intelligence—helping sales, marketing, compliance and product teams discover the right firms, understand the market and act faster.
