This could save a lot of time when hiring a compliance consultant for a start-up.

What regulated activities do you carry out?

Get the precise list of regulated activities you carry out, not a description of your business in general. The vast majority of issues that a compliance consultant discovers are that a firm’s permissions do not match what it actually does on a day to day basis.

Are your permissions current and accurate?

A consultant will check a firm’s standing on the FCA Register themselves, but first they want your own view of the matter. If there is a gap between the regulated activities a firm is permitted to undertake and the business activities that a firm actually undertakes on a day to day basis then you should indicate that there are a number of problems in relation to the issue of regulated activities at the initial meeting.

When were your compliance policies last reviewed?

Outdated policies are a red flag. A good FCA compliance consultant will get a feel for how much work is needed to put right historical issues before they get started on the brief that was given to them.

Who owns compliance internally?

A consultant will need to establish if someone “owns” compliance internally. If so, who and how much authority do they have? More on FCA Compliance Consultants can be found at https://www.adempi.co.uk/.

Have you had any regulatory contact recently?

Letters and case references from recent contacts with the FCA, such as information requests and supervisory visits, will shape the consultant’s immediate work. Bring these to the first meeting.

Going in prepared with the answers to the above questions, honest and specific, means that the consultant can get to work much faster.