FCA Register guide
The guide below explains what the official FCA Register can show, who uses it, where it works well, and where Hackford can make FCA firm discovery easier.
Use this free FCA Register search tool to search active regulated firms and build quick starter lists.
The official FCA Register is the primary public source for checking whether a firm or individual is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Hackford is not affiliated with the FCA. This page explains what the FCA Register is, who uses it, where it works well, where it is limited, and how Hackford can make FCA firm search easier for market mapping, prospecting and compliance research.
What is the FCA Register?
The FCA Register is the public record of firms and individuals regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It helps users check whether a financial services firm is authorised, what regulated activities it can carry out, and which individuals are linked to regulated roles. It is one of the key public sources for understanding whether a UK financial services business is authorised and what it is permitted to do.
The official FCA Register is operated by the FCA at register.fca.org.uk. Hackford is a separate service that uses licensed FCA Register Extract Service data and company records to make FCA firm data easier to search, segment and monitor.
Who uses the FCA Register?
The FCA Register is used by anyone who needs to check the regulatory status of a UK financial services firm or individual.
Common users include:
- consumers checking whether a firm appears to be authorised
- compliance teams verifying firm permissions and regulatory status
- regulated firms checking counterparties, appointed representatives or competitors
- consultants and advisers researching financial services businesses
- sales and business development teams building lists of relevant regulated firms
- journalists, analysts and researchers investigating regulated markets
For a one-off check on a named firm or individual, the official FCA Register is usually the right place to start. For broader firm discovery, segmentation or monitoring, it can become harder to use because it is built primarily around lookup rather than market analysis.
What can you check on the FCA Register?
For firms, the FCA Register can show information such as:
- firm name
- Firm Reference Number, or FRN
- current authorisation status
- regulated activities and permissions
- appointed representative relationships
- principal firm relationships
- trading names
- address and contact details
- linked individuals and approved roles
For individuals, the Register can show information such as:
- name
- Individual Reference Number, or IRN
- current and historic roles
- linked regulated firms
- controlled functions or senior management functions, depending on the person and role
The exact record depends on the firm, individual and regulatory context. For critical regulatory decisions, users should verify the current record on the official FCA Register.
What is an FRN?
An FRN is a Firm Reference Number. It is the FCA's identifier for a regulated firm.
FRNs matter because firm names can be messy. A firm may have trading names, previous names, punctuation differences, abbreviations or similar-sounding names. Where you know the FRN, it is usually the clearest way to identify the correct firm.
What is an IRN?
An IRN is an Individual Reference Number. It is the FCA's identifier for an individual recorded on the Register.
IRNs help distinguish between people with similar names and make it easier to connect an individual to the correct regulatory record.
Where the FCA Register works well
The official FCA Register is strongest when you already know the firm or individual you want to check.
It is useful for questions such as:
- is this firm authorised?
- what is this firm's FRN?
- what permissions does this firm hold?
- is this firm an appointed representative?
- which principal firm is this appointed representative linked to?
- does this individual appear on the Register?
- what is this individual's IRN?
- which regulated firm is this person linked to?
- what senior management or approved roles are shown?
For these checks, the official FCA Register should remain the source of truth.
Where the FCA Register is limited
The FCA Register is less convenient when you need to search across groups of firms or understand a market.
For example, it is harder to quickly answer questions such as:
- which authorised firms look like insurance brokers?
- which firms match a specific market segment or permission set?
- which firms operate in a particular region?
- which firms have recently changed senior compliance roles?
- which appointed representatives have changed principal firm?
- which firms are linked to useful Companies House records?
- which firms should be added to a prospecting or compliance watchlist?
- which FCA firms also appear in other regulatory datasets?
These are not simple lookup questions. They are segmentation, monitoring and market-intelligence questions.
Use the free Hackford search tool
The free search tool on this page is designed for quick FCA firm discovery by classification and office location.
Use it when you want to:
- search for active FCA-regulated firms in a category
- narrow firms by region, local authority or postcode
- build a quick starter list
- move from a broad market question to a starting set of firms
- find linked public records such as Companies House records, where available
Public results are intentionally limited. The free tool is for quick checks and starter searches, not full exports or monitoring workflows.
How Hackford extends FCA Register search
Hackford uses licensed FCA Register Extract Service data and company records to create a more searchable market-intelligence layer.
The full Hackford platform helps you:
- search across large groups of FCA-regulated firms
- filter by market segment, permissions, geography and SMF roles
- identify firms that match specific prospecting or compliance criteria
- save searches for repeat workflows
- create watchlists and alerts
- monitor changes to firms and key roles
- export structured firm lists
- combine FCA Register data with other datasets where useful
In short: the FCA Register is best for checking a known firm or individual. Hackford is better when you need to find, segment, monitor or export groups of regulated firms.
Is Hackford the official FCA Register?
No. Hackford is not affiliated with the FCA.
The official FCA Register is operated by the Financial Conduct Authority at register.fca.org.uk. Hackford helps make FCA firm data easier to search, segment and monitor for business development, market mapping and compliance research.
Can I use Hackford for compliance checks?
Hackford can support research and monitoring workflows, but critical regulatory status checks should be verified against the official FCA Register.
This is especially important before relying on a firm's authorisation status, permissions, appointed representative relationships or individual role information for compliance, onboarding or customer-facing decisions.
