Variation of Permissions (VoP)

It depends on what the variation does, not a flat 50% rule. Adding a fee-block the firm does not already hold costs 50% of the highest applicable FCA fee category for that application. Extending scope within a fee-block the firm already holds is a flat charge instead: Category 1 for fee-blocks A.1, A.3, A.4 and A.5, or Category 2 (£560) for other fee-blocks. Reducing scope only, with no other increase, carries no fee. The rules sit in FEES 3 Annex 16R.

The statutory backstop under section 55V FSMA is six months for a complete application, or twelve months if incomplete (three months where the variation relates only to insurance distribution activity). In practice the FCA moves faster: in its Authorisations operating service metrics for 2025/26 Q4 (January to March 2026), the median determination time for a variation of permission was 32 calendar days, with an upper quartile of 77 days. All variations that quarter were determined within the statutory deadline.

A variation of permission is only available to a firm that already holds FCA authorisation and wants to change its existing Part 4A permission, whether by adding activities, reducing them, or varying how they are described. A firm with no existing FCA permission at all cannot use a variation: it needs a full Part 4A authorisation application instead. Both processes are submitted through the same Connect system but sit under different provisions of FSMA.

No fee applies to an application that only reduces the regulated activities a firm is permitted to carry on. There is an important qualifier, however: if an application removes one permission while also adding another, the removal earns no credit against the fee for the addition. The addition is priced exactly as it would be if the removal were not part of the same application.

Variation of permission applications are submitted online through the FCA's Connect system rather than on a downloadable paper form. Before submitting a substantial variation, SUP 6.2.6 expects the firm to discuss the proposed change with its supervisory contact at the FCA first. A senior manager Form A submitted as part of the same wider application is not charged separately from the variation fee.

It can. Under SUP 6.3.9G, taking on new regulated activities through a variation may mean a firm becomes subject to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime for the first time, or moves from one type of SMCR firm to another. That can change which senior manager functions need approval and widen who falls within the Code of Conduct.