On 18 February 2022, the FCA updated its webpage on ‘Submit a change in control notification’.

The update states that the FCA has seen a significant increase in section 178 notifications. Due to these high volumes, the FCA has experienced delays in allocating FCA-led notifications to case officers. Currently, there is a delay of approximately two months between submission of a complete notification and allocation to a case officer.

The FCA adds that a substantial proportion of the notifications it receives are incomplete and that processing incomplete applications takes much longer. Therefore the FCA recommends that all relevant information and documents are provided in the initial submission.

The only date by which the FCA can guarantee a decision is the end of the statutory assessment period, which is 60 working days from the date it acknowledges a notification as complete. This can be extended by up to 30 working days if the assessment period is interrupted to request clarifying information.