The benefits of using our regulatory hosting platform include:
As compliance consulting experts, we understand the work, resources and cost involved in setting up and maintaining a regulatory license, and the benefits that a strong partnership with a regulatory hosting provider can bring to a firm’s operations, leaving our clients to focus on running funds and building their businesses.
Regulatory Hosting platforms allow businesses or start-ups to operate under their regulatory license, providing firms with a turnkey solution, and is often easier and more commercially attractive than committing the time and expense of obtaining and maintaining direct regulatory authorisation.
- Hosting is less costly than obtaining your own regulatory license
- You can spend more time marketing and managing your own product
- We manage your regulatory risk and reporting, leaving you to focus on the markets and building your business
- We manage your regulatory capital requirements
- Your firm can get up and running quickly, as opposed to waiting 9-12 months for FCA authorisation
- We can take care of all your regulatory compliance needs and obligations
- Our experts are skilled at providing you with pragmatic and commercial advice to help build your business
We offer two Regulatory Hosting solutions:
Investment Advisory
Our advisory platform allows firms to provide investment advice and arrange deals in their own name, as well as marketing of investment services and funds to professional clients. Robert Quinn Advisory LLP has been authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN – 548030) since 2011.
While the FCA application process averages between 9 and 12 months, our clients can be conducting business in as little as 2 months through our advisory platform.
Once an Appointed Representative on our platform, our primary focus is to provide our clients with pragmatic and comprehensive regulatory and compliance solutions. Working with their executive team, our dedicated and experienced team will deliver the most strategic and appropriate compliance solution to assist our clients with their requirements.
With the FCA stressing the importance of compliance monitoring for Appointed Representatives, our clients can be assured that we are robustly reviewing all aspects of their business to ensure activities meet the FCA’s requirements and expectations.
Our hosting platform focuses on corporate governance, with monthly Risk Committee and Governance Committee meetings, as well as Quarterly Board meetings, to meet the expectations of the FCA and institutional investors.
Investment Management
Capricorn Fund Managers’ Regulatory Hosting Platform allows investment managers to be authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN – 505252).
This Platform places heavy emphasis on strong corporate governance, with monthly Investment Committee and Governance Committee meetings, as well as Quarterly Risk Committee and Board meetings, to meet the expectations of the FCA and institutional investors. Backed by an extensive team of experts, Capricorn Fund Managers provides more than just a regulatory hosting solution, with strategic guidance and supervision to help firms build their businesses.
Onboarding Process
Capricorn Fund Managers’ Welcome Pack provides detailed requirements for the onboarding of Individuals and the UK Entity. Main onboarding comprises the following tasks and processes:
- Personnel Screening & Record Checks
- Onboarding of the UK entity as an Appointed Representative
- Onboarding of Individuals – Approved Persons (for advisory and marketing activities)
- Onboarding of Individuals – Secondees (for investment management and trading activities)
- Legal Agreements (Appointed Representative, secondment and investment management where applicable)
- Fund Notification – filed with the FCA at least 30 days before commencement of regulated activity
- Service Provider Agreements & Set-up (including reporting set-up)
- Compliance Policies and Procedures
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I consider using Regulatory Hosting?
Regulatory Hosting platforms that allow small businesses or start-ups to operate under their regulatory license, provide firms with a turnkey solution. It can be much more attractive and commercial than committing the time and expense to obtaining and maintaining direct regulatory authorisation.
Why should I use RQC Group for Regulatory Hosting?
As regulatory compliance experts who have been advising and running platforms for over a decade, we understand the benefits of a strong partnership between a regulatory host and a small firm and how it can efficiently help you build your business. Regulatory Hosting Platforms with strong executive teams and dedicated experienced staff like ourselves can effectively identify and continually manage your regulatory risk – leaving you to focus on building your business.
A new client, a new market or a new fund can all trigger new regulatory issues and new headaches. Taking a less proactive approach may exacerbate that headache and the expense needed to correct it. As an experienced, well resourced, independent Regulatory Hosting Platform, at RQC Group we offer the perfect remedy for these types of headaches.
What issues can a Regulatory Hosting platform help me with?
Governance arrangements:
First on the FCA’s list of concerns at principal firms was a lack of effective governance arrangements and deficient risk control frameworks. Citing SYSC 4.1., the FCA states that firms must have:
- Robust governance arrangements;
A clear, organisational structure with well defined, transparent and consistent lines of responsibility; - Effective processes to identify, manage and monitor the risks it is or might be exposed to; and
- Internal control mechanisms, including sound administrative and accounting procedures and effective control and safeguard arrangements for information processing systems
Ongoing monitoring:
The FCA has expressed significant concern over inadequate and ineffective compliance monitoring. Platforms should have full-time, dedicated senior compliance practitioners robustly reviewing all aspects of a manager’s business, as well as the ability to monitor daily, weekly and less frequent trading strategies.
These arrangements should also include the supervision of recorded lines and e-comms. All of which requires the platform to employ individuals that have significant experience on the buy side, as well as systems that can adapt to and monitor its universe. Having this in place means a manager will have a compliance monitoring programme tailored specifically to their business.
Higher risk areas should be flagged and monitored with an appropriate frequency. As the FCA noted, monthly trading checks on a manager that trades daily are not acceptable.
Capital requirements and liquidity assessment:
Another point of concern raised by the FCA in respect of Appointed Representative (AR) platforms, is that platforms need sufficient financial resources to meet their obligations and the obligations of their ARs. How that arrangement is structured may be a commercial matter for the platform and its managers, but the obligation remains with the regulated firm.
It is also clear that platforms need to be on top of their fixed overhead requirements, liquidity assessment and the limitations of professional indemnity insurance. In addition, the FCA has found that revenue from regulated activities conducted by the AR was not being correctly reported.
A knowledgeable regulatory host will ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place from the outset of the engagement to mitigate the risk of incorrect reporting. Does the regulatory AIFM have the ability to monitor capital requirements and mechanisms to deploy more when needed, for example on the receipt of investor capital into the fund?
Conflicts of interest:
The FCA has focused on the identification and management of conflicts for the past few years and MiFID II highlighted that this trend will continue, regardless of the potential disruption new regulations may cause.
Successful platforms will recognise that their business model has inherent conflicts which need to be appropriately identified, managed and monitored.
Proactive management:
In order to thrive, platforms will need a corporate governance structure that facilitates team decision-making and withstands institutional level challenges.Consistent with the FCA’s comments on diversity, a senior management team or board of directors with a range of different financial services experience can be well-placed to identify the risks and conflicts that each manager poses. Senior individuals are a product of their experience and lessons learned earlier in their careers.
Focusing on and using that diversity of experience will provide a platform with the tools to succeed, as it will have the ability to identify and manage a much broader set of risks. Having a single stakeholder make decisions that focus only on profit margin or sales can lead to an ineffective control framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I consider using Regulatory Hosting?
Regulatory Hosting platforms that allow small businesses or start-ups to operate under their regulatory license, provide firms with a turnkey solution. It can be much more attractive and commercial than committing the time and expense to obtaining and maintaining direct regulatory authorisation.
Why should I use RQC Group for Regulatory Hosting?
As regulatory compliance experts who have been advising and running platforms for over a decade, we understand the benefits of a strong partnership between a regulatory host and a small firm and how it can efficiently help you build your business. Regulatory Hosting Platforms with strong executive teams and dedicated experienced staff like ourselves can effectively identify and continually manage your regulatory risk – leaving you to focus on building your business.
A new client, a new market or a new fund can all trigger new regulatory issues and new headaches. Taking a less proactive approach may exacerbate that headache and the expense needed to correct it. As an experienced, well resourced, independent Regulatory Hosting Platform, at RQC Group we offer the perfect remedy for these types of headaches.
What issues can a Regulatory Hosting platform help me with?
- Independent and robust governance arrangements by senior staff who understand the FCA’s expectations
- Regulatory expertise designed to be pragmatic and commercial
- Ongoing and proactive compliance monitoring
- Regulatory reporting
- Regulatory capital
- Effective management of conflicts of interest
