PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(7 September 2026)

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, authorised financial services firms are responsible for representatives they appoint to engage in regulated financial services activities. Authorised firms that use appointed representatives (ARs – of which Introducer ARs are a subset) are known as principal firms. Principal firms are responsible for ensuring their ARs maintain high standards of conduct and comply with all relevant regulatory requirements. This includes introducer ARs.

The government is introducing changes to the AR regime through the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2026. The Bill will enhance the ability of the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure that principal firms have the necessary expertise, resource and control systems to provide robust oversight of appointed representatives. The Bill will also extend the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) directly to ARs, which means that a consumer who believes they have been treated unfairly by an appointed representative can take their complaint to FOS.

In relation to credit brokers, authorised lenders are in many cases liable for the actions of the brokers they work with as a result of the Consumer Credit Act, regardless of whether or not those brokers are ARs appointed by the lender.