Specialist corporate finance brokerage Goodman Corporate Finance has been granted full authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority as a principal broker.
The company received the news on 13 June and is now working on applications for appointed representative status for the other members of its group – Goodman Asset Based Lending, Goodman Daw Real Estate Finance, Tailored Accountancy Solutions and Business Sustainability.
This is excellent news for us. As a principal brokerage we have responsibility for all our group partners and we can now move forward to ensure they can conduct regulated activity as authorised representatives under our FCA authorisation.
Paul Goodman, Managing Director
Goodman’s services are designed to ‘wrap around’ its clients – from sole traders and SMEs to larger organisations – with a single contact co-ordinating support from group members as needed. Working together, the team offers a co-ordinated and comprehensive service that meets all its clients’ needs. It also works with external partners such as accountants and solicitors where needed, who can also now be formally assured of the quality of the company’s services.
“This isn’t just about a certificate on a wall,” continued Paul. “We work hard to continually improve our standards for the benefit of our clients and to help build UK businesses. It’s important that we keep working at it, to retain authorisation and to guarantee clients the ongoing quality of service they deserve.”
The FCA took over regulation of the commercial finance industry in April 2014 and companies covered by its remit had until early 2016 to put in applications for authorisation.
Paul, who is also chair of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers, added: “In my opening speech at the NACFB Expo event on Wednesday (15 June) I spoke about the importance of working with the FCA to uphold standards across our industry and it’s great to now be able to say that we have formal recognition that Goodman as a company meets their requirements.
“We found the application process really helpful in confirming for ourselves that we truly are providing the high standards expected by the regulator, and we look forward to continuing to work with the FCA.”