The job on the other side

What the licence lets you do, what it asks of you every year, and the route to responsible officer.

Your first year licensedThree things begin at licensing: a CPT obligation of 10 hours in the calendar year, an entry on the SFC public register, and a scope limited to the re…
What the licence does not coverA licence authorises specific regulated activity types, carried on for a specific principal. It does not cover other activity types, other firms, or w…
Representative to responsible officerThe SFC requires an academic or professional qualification limb, at least three years of relevant industry experience over the past six, two years of …
The three-year recency ruleThe SFC expects the local regulatory framework paper to have been passed not more than three years before an application is submitted. It is a recency…
Returning after a breakA break of more than three years puts the local regulatory framework paper back in scope, because the SFC carve-out for an older pass depends on havin…
Keeping CPT on trackA licensed representative needs at least 10 CPT hours per calendar year, five on topics directly relevant to their regulated activities and two on eth…
Moves that need a second paperPaper 1 is the local regulatory framework paper for representatives in ten of the twelve regulated activity types. A second paper is required to be ap…
Where licensed people sitThe requirement attaches to carrying on a regulated activity, not to a job title or a floor. Some middle-office roles are licensed and some client-fac…
Compliance as a careerCompliance work is often not itself a regulated activity, so the licence is not always required. Paper 1 is still the common entry qualification becau…
For career changersThe examination has no entry requirement, so anyone may sit it. The constraint is the licence: it is applied for by a sponsoring corporation, and the …
Notice periods and licence timingA licence is applied for by, and tied to, a sponsoring corporation. Leaving ends that accreditation, and the new firm makes a fresh application, so th…
What a disciplinary record costsThe SFC assesses fitness and properness for as long as a person is licensed, not only at application. Disciplinary outcomes are published and bear on …
What supervision meansA responsible officer must satisfy the SFC that they can properly manage and supervise the corporation's activities. It is assessed as an ability to d…
Holding several activity typesPaper 1 is the local regulatory framework paper for representatives in ten of the twelve activity types, so adding a type rarely adds an examination. …
Sitting it before you are hiredNothing prevents it. The constraint is the SFC recency expectation: the paper should have been passed not more than three years before the licence app…
Why students never hear about itPaper 1 sits with the employer rather than the university. Firms arrange it after hiring, so it is invisible during study even though nothing prevents…