The FSA maintain a register of approved persons where an individual has been screened and approved in accordance with the principles of honesty, reputation and integrity, along with other competency and capability requirements.  The relevant screening is more commonly known as The Fit and Proper test for Approved Persons.

The FSA provides fairly comprehensive guidelines on how a person may be assessed but the end decision on whether an individual will be accepted as an Approved Person lies with the FSA.  No third party company can provide such approval, they can only conduct employment screening in support of an individual’s application to become an approved person.

A summary of the guidelines for assessing a person for “honesty, integrity and reputation” may include:

1 – Criminal records history.

2 – Any civil actions such as CCJs, Court Decrees, Bankruptcy or Sequestrations.

3 – Subject of any FSA investigations or disciplinary proceedings.

4 – Any justified complaints of misconduct against the individual which relate to regulated activities.

5 – Whether the individual has been a director or partner of a firm subject to involvement or investigation by a regulator or professional body.

6 – Whether the individual has been dismissed or asked to resign from an employment.

7 – Whether the individual has been disqualified from acting as a director or other managerial capacity.

With regard to an individual’s competence and capability the assessment may include:

1 – The individual has the relevant training (FSA’s Training and Competence sourcebook) for the controlled function they are to perform.

2 – The individual has the required experience for the controlled function they are to perform.

If you would like to know more about FSA employment screening please call Credit Check Services on 01992 719 234