A Nigerian digital-asset company proposes bilateral spot-crypto trades with UK investment firms and family offices. It plans to recruit clients through a London salesperson and a UK-targeted website. Should it obtain UK authorisation, supply a UK intermediary as an offshore counterparty, or abandon UK solicitation? This hypothetical composite tests those alternatives for principal trading, agency execution, arranging and settlement custody. It assumes qualifying spot cryptoassets for the new-regime analysis; security tokens, derivatives and payment services require separate classification. It describes neither an actual authorised firm nor a regulatory opinion.
Executive Summary
- Retaining a London-based, direct-client dealing business favours an application for the relevant UK permissions. The alternative requires a genuine change in who serves the client. An offshore contract alone does not remove UK activities. (Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, s. 418, as amended prospectively by SI 2026/102, reg. 41(6); FCA, PERG 18.3.2–18.3.7.)
- The application window is open on 15 October 2026. It runs from 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027; the new regime starts on 25 October 2027. An application grants no present permission to conduct an otherwise restricted activity. (SI 2026/102, regs. 1, 52; FCA, Relevant Application Period Direction, 20 February 2026, para. 2.)
- Nigerian approval must cover the actual service and customer expansion. Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP) approval-in-principle permits only bounded participation; its published conditions restrict public and private promotions. UK professional status cannot override those conditions. (Investments and Securities Act 2025, s. 61; SEC, ARIP, paras. 4, 29–30.)
- A wholesale route can work where the Nigerian desk operates offshore and the UK intermediary genuinely contracts and executes as principal. A UK-authorised agent or a licensed name placed between contracts is insufficient for the statutory consumer-intermediation condition. (SI 2026/102, reg. 41(6), inserting s. 418(6C)–(6F); FCA, PERG 18.3.6.)
- Professional-client classification, financial-promotion exemptions and the statutory definition of a consumer are separate tests. A family office label settles none of them. (Financial Promotion Order 2005, arts. 19, 49; FCA, COBS 3.5–3.6; prospective s. 418(6F).)
- Settlement should avoid client balances at the Nigerian desk unless its permissions and controls cover them. The future temporary-settlement exclusion does not excuse current UK money-laundering registration or Nigerian custody obligations. (Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regs. 14A, 56; SEC Digital Asset Rules 2022, Part C; prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9N, 9Q.)
The decision for a London-facing desk
The proposed direct-client business should plan for its own UK authorisation, normally through a UK company. That recommendation follows from the proposed operating functions, rather than the clients' wealth. A London employee who negotiates quotes, receives orders or binds the Nigerian company can connect dealing or arranging to the UK. Describing the counterparty as Nigerian does not relocate those functions. A salesperson restricted to genuine advertising requires a different analysis, but the communication itself still needs a lawful promotion route. (FCA, PERG 18.3.2–18.3.7; FG26/7, paras. 7.3–7.6; Financial Promotion Order 2005, arts. 19, 49.)
The preferred initial structure is narrower if management accepts losing the direct UK client relationship. The Nigerian company would supply liquidity from Nigeria to a UK principal dealer. That dealer would own the UK customer relationship and take contractual responsibility for its trades. The Nigerian desk would neither operate a UK dealing office nor use London staff to arrange its own UK-client transactions. This recommendation depends on the allocation of functions described below; it is not an overseas-person exemption. (SI 2026/102, reg. 41(6); FCA, PERG 18.3.6.)
No launch should proceed merely because either route looks commercially attractive. The Nigerian permission must first accommodate the relevant business. Where those conditions cannot be met, the company should suspend UK solicitation and decline the proposed UK service. ARIP participation can defeat the project before the UK authorisation question arises. (Investments and Securities Act 2025, s. 61; SEC, ARIP, paras. 29, 33.)
Nigerian permission and foreign customers
Nigeria's Investments and Securities Act 2025 commenced on 25 March 2025. Section 61 prohibits unregistered capital-market or investments and securities business. Section 3 expressly covers virtual-asset service providers and cross-border securities transactions; section 357 includes virtual and digital assets within securities. Section 356 repeals the 2007 Act and preserves existing instruments and actions through its savings provisions. The SEC's published 2022 digital-asset rules remain a necessary starting point for the activity analysis. (Investments and Securities Act 2025, commencement provision, ss. 3(3)(i), 3(3)(q), 61, 356–358; SEC, New Rules on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets, 11 May 2022.)
An own-account desk cannot assume that only exchanges and custodians require SEC attention. Part D, paragraph 1.1(b), expressly includes dealers on own account and order reception, transmission and execution for others. The proposed principal branch must fit the company's registered function or express programme permission. Broking and arranging require a separate assessment of the services performed. A website which displays bilateral quotes does not justify importing the UK's multilateral-platform test into Nigeria's differently worded digital asset exchange (DAX) definition. The SEC classification must address the actual electronic trading facility. (SEC Digital Asset Rules 2022, Part D, paras. 1.1(b), 3, 4.)
Custody is another permission question. Client cryptoassets controlled between receipt and delivery must be tested against Part C's digital-asset custodian provisions. The SEC requires custody controls and segregation where that part applies. A dealing approval does not establish permission for an additional custody business. The company's application or variation should describe who controls each wallet, whose assets it contains, and when the client's rights arise. (SEC Digital Asset Rules 2022, Part C, paras. 35–36; Part D, para. 4.)
ARIP and regulatory incubation permit bounded operations. Under ARIP, approval-in-principle confirms admission, with activity restricted to the business presented to the SEC. Paragraph 29(b) prohibits promotional communications publicly or privately, while paragraph 29(d) limits customer-base growth. A London campaign conflicts with those published conditions unless the operative SEC permission lawfully accommodates the proposed conduct. The SEC reiterated in its admission notice dated 12 August 2026 that approval-in-principle is not a final licence. (SEC, ARIP, paras. 4, 29–30, 33; SEC, “SEC Nigeria Clears Additional VASPs for Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme”, 12 August 2026, published 13 August 2026.)
Ordinary regulatory incubation has different conditions. Its guidelines restrict activity to the submitted business, prescribe client limits, and ordinarily allow a maximum one-year period before registration or discontinuance. Their promotion restriction concerns guaranteed returns, unlike ARIP's broader wording. Neither route establishes an unrestricted authorisation for overseas expansion. The approval letter, approved operating plan and subsequent SEC directions must be read together. (SEC, Regulatory Incubation Guidelines 2021, paras. 2–4, 6; SEC, ARIP, paras. 29, 36–37.)
Serving UK customers does not remove a business operated from Nigeria from the SEC analysis. Section 3(3)(q) expressly empowers the SEC to authorise and regulate cross-border securities transactions. That provision does not itself grant an export permission. The company should obtain an express determination that its approved customer scope, counterparties and settlement model cover the proposed foreign business. Other-sector approval must also be addressed where applicable. (Investments and Securities Act 2025, ss. 3(3)(q), 61; SEC Digital Asset Rules 2022, Part D, para. 4.2; SEC, ARIP, para. 17.)
The SEC's 2026 capital measures must be separated from its proposed replacement digital-asset rules. The 18 March 2026 capital guidelines require new applicants to meet revised capital requirements from 16 January 2026. Existing operators have a 30 June 2027 recapitalisation deadline; pending applications receive specified treatment. A capital category in that schedule does not confer permission to act as an OTC dealer. The published proposed digital-asset and cross-border trading rules likewise supply no present operator approval. (SEC, Guidelines on New Capital Base for Capital Market Operators, 18 March 2026, paras. 1.4(a)–(d), 9.3 and Annex V; SEC, Proposed Rules on Digital and Virtual Asset Operations, Custody and Markets; SEC, Proposed Rules on Cross-Border Securities Trading and Custody, notice dated 2 July 2026.)
Licentium's account of Nigeria's approval-status distinctions supplies the broader entry sequence. For this desk, the decisive document is the SEC permission covering the proposed foreign-customer activity.
UK obligations before October 2027
A future-regime application cannot replace current UK money-laundering registration. Regulation 14A covers cryptoasset exchange services, including arrangements for exchanges, and custodian wallet services. Regulation 56 prohibits the relevant unregistered activity. The FCA applies the money-laundering regulations (MLRs) where the services form part of business carried on in the UK. A new entrant must obtain registration before starting that business. (Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/692, regs. 8, 14A, 56; FCA, “Who needs to register”, sections on business and UK activity.)
UK customers alone do not necessarily establish a UK business. The FCA considers an office, agents, personnel and the functions performed here. A London salesperson who actively negotiates or arranges transactions weighs against the claim that everything occurs offshore. Purely preparatory recruitment differs from live execution or arranging. The board should define and enforce the employee's permitted functions before the first client approach. MLR registration is not a Part 4A permission or an endorsement of the firm. (FCA, “Who needs to register”, UK business factors; FCA, “Cryptoassets: AML / CTF regime”, Registration.)
Token classification can create an earlier authorisation requirement. A security token or derivative may fall within existing specified investments and activities. The company must therefore classify the token and contract before treating the transaction as presently unregulated spot dealing under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). Fiat remittance, payment accounts and electronic-money issuance require their own assessment; a cryptoasset permission cannot answer those questions. (FCA, PERG 2.6.1AG, PERG 3A and PERG 15; PS26/18, PERG 18.4.)
Financial promotions require a separate decision before publication or outreach. Section 21 restricts business communications inviting or inducing investment activity, including relevant overseas communications capable of having an effect in the UK. For qualifying cryptoassets, the recognised routes include an authorised communicator, lawful approval by an appropriately permitted authorised person, the registered-person exemption, or another applicable exemption. Approval is unavailable for real-time promotions, so a salesperson's live calls need their own lawful basis. A Nigerian SEC status supplies none of those UK routes. (Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, ss. 21, 55NA; Financial Promotion Order 2005, art. 73ZA; FCA, PERG 8.2.1G, 8.2.4G–8.2.5G, 8.14.40D.)
Targeted communications to investment professionals can qualify under article 19. Article 49 separately covers qualifying high-net-worth companies, associations and trusts. Each requires the relevant recipient or directed-only conditions; a footer saying “professional clients only” cannot establish them by itself. The sender should retain evidence of the recipient's legal identity, relevant status, communication category and access controls. The individual high-net-worth and self-certified sophisticated-investor exemptions do not provide a general route for qualifying cryptoasset promotions. (Financial Promotion Order 2005, arts. 19, 48–50A; FCA, PERG 8.12.21–8.12.22, 8.14.21–8.14.32.)
English-language content alone does not establish UK targeting. UK-facing pages, a London sales contact and a campaign addressed to UK firms would supply stronger evidence. The company should separate a permitted institutional communication from publicly accessible invitations to trade. The partner must identify whether it communicates its own promotion or approves the Nigerian firm's communication; those are different legal acts. MLR registration alone cannot authorise approval of another firm's promotions. (Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, s. 21; FCA, PERG 8.12.22, 8.14.26, 8.14.40D(6).)
The enacted 2027 regime and activity classification
The main legislation is enacted, with full commencement deferred. The Treasury made the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 on 4 February 2026. Regulation 1 permits specified preparatory work and applications before 25 October 2027. It does not accelerate the substantive regime merely because the application gateway has opened. (SI 2026/102, reg. 1(2)–(3).)
The FCA published final operating, prudential and Handbook instruments in June 2026. These include rules for intermediaries, safeguarding, capital and firm-wide controls, generally commencing on 25 October 2027. PS26/18 then published final perimeter guidance in September. Its early guidance commencement does not change the statutory date for the new activities. The separate miscellaneous-amendments instrument laid on 15 September 2026 remains draft affirmative legislation in the parliamentary record; its proposed exclusions should not support a launch decision. (FCA, PS26/11–PS26/13, made instruments; FCA 2026/55, clauses B–C; UK Parliament, Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026, laid 15 September 2026.)
For an OTC principal trade, the dealer quotes a price, becomes the client's contractual counterparty and buys or sells for its own account. Prospective article 9T specifies dealing in qualifying cryptoassets as principal. Article 9U's exclusions require close attention to holding out, dealing business and solicitation. Its treatment of authorised dealers as outside “the public” applies to the solicitation limb. It does not exempt a business that meets another principal-dealing limb. The FCA interprets the new business test as requiring the activity to constitute a business in its own right. Occasional own-account investment does not, without more, establish that test. A regular OTC desk within UK territorial scope should assess authorisation rather than assume that its counterparties' permissions exempt it. (SI 2026/102, reg. 40, inserting Regulated Activities Order 2001, arts. 9T–9U; FCA, PERG 18.2.1–18.2.2, 18.8.18.)
An agent executes for another person without becoming principal under the client-facing contract. Article 9W specifies dealing as agent. Article 9Y separately covers arrangements bringing about a transaction and arrangements made with a view to transactions. Article 9Z3 excludes arrangements for transactions to which the arranger itself becomes principal or agent; every principal trade does not automatically require another arranging permission. A separate introduction or order-routing service still needs classification. (Prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9W, 9Y, 9Z3.)
The introduction exclusion in article 9Z1 concerns arrangements solely introducing a person to an appropriately authorised firm. It excludes article 9Y(2), not every causal arrangement under article 9Y(1). London staff should not collect orders or negotiate terms under an “introducer” title without testing those functions. Bilateral trading also differs from operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform under article 9S, which addresses interaction between multiple third-party interests. (Prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9S, 9Y, 9Z–9Z2; FCA, PERG 18.8.20–18.8.21.)
Safeguarding requires its own analysis under article 9N. A client's return entitlement and the firm's control can matter even where contractual title has changed. Article 9N(2)(c) treats specified title-transfer collateral and buy-back arrangements differently, subject to consumer and FCA-rule limitations. An ordinary settlement balance cannot acquire those exceptions through a contractual label alone. Article 9Q excludes temporary arrangements for holding cryptoassets to settle a transaction. The FCA considers that temporary settlement is unlikely to require longer than 24 hours after the requisite control arises, but the legislation contains no fixed 24-hour safe harbour. Standing balances, open-ended prefunding and reuse of assets cannot be classified by calling them settlement. (Prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9N, 9Q; FCA, PERG 18.6.6.)
The proposed low-custody design should use the dealer's own inventory, defined delivery obligations and prompt bilateral settlement. The contracts must distinguish purchase consideration from assets held for a client. Client safeguarding outside the exclusion requires the appropriate permission and applicable Client Assets sourcebook (CASS) controls. For money within CASS 7, the made cryptoasset rules disapply the professional-client opt-outs. They also exclude cryptoasset deliveries from its commercial-settlement-system delivery-versus-payment exemption. Nigerian client-asset segregation and trust-account duties must be tested independently, including for fiat received for securities transactions. (FCA 2026/42, CASS 17; FCA 2026/43, CASS 7.10.8AR, 7.11.14R(1)(c); Investments and Securities Act 2025, ss. 64–66; SEC Digital Asset Rules 2022, Part C, para. 36.)
UK consumers and the London salesperson
The future territorial rule does not equate a professional client with a non-consumer. Prospective section 418(6F) defines a consumer as an individual in the UK acting outside that individual's trade, business or profession. A wealthy individual represented by a family office can satisfy that definition despite elective-professional classification. A corporate investment vehicle trading for itself requires a different analysis. The decision must identify the actual contracting party, any agency relationship and whose business purpose is relevant. (SI 2026/102, reg. 41(6), inserting s. 418(6C)–(6F); FCA, COBS 3.5–3.6.)
Section 418(6C) extends UK treatment to specified cryptoasset activities involving a UK consumer where its intermediation condition is unmet. The intervening firm must hold Part 4A permission for platform operation or principal dealing and actually perform that activity in the transaction. An intermediary permitted only for agency execution does not satisfy that condition. Safeguarding has a separate rule requiring activity at the direction of a person authorised for that safeguarding activity. (Prospective s. 418(6C)–(6E); FCA, PERG 18.3.2–18.3.3.)
A transaction wholly offshore with a non-consumer counterparty need not fall within that consumer extension. Ordinary territorial principles still apply. The strongest legal objection to the proposed wholesale route is that the Nigerian company retains a substantive UK dealing or arranging operation. In that event, satisfying the consumer-intermediation condition does not remove the independent UK connection. The FCA's guidance also rejects a general overseas-person exclusion for these new cryptoasset activities. (FCA, PERG 18.3.6; prospective s. 418.)
A genuine wholesale counterparty model
The workable version has two independent principal contracts. The Nigerian desk quotes the UK dealer from Nigeria and contracts only with that dealer. The UK dealer separately quotes and contracts with its UK client, executes that obligation and manages the client relationship. The Nigerian firm's claim and settlement exposure run against the UK dealer. The contracts should prohibit the dealer from presenting itself as the Nigerian firm's agent for the end-client transaction. This allocation addresses the principal-intermediary condition, provided the conduct matches the documents. (Prospective s. 418(6C)–(6D); FCA, PERG 18.3.6.)
The UK dealer controls UK communications, onboarding, classification, client execution and complaints. It or a separately permitted custodian controls client assets. The Nigerian company should receive neither UK-client deposits nor authority over their wallets under this design. London staff can serve the UK dealer only under arrangements that genuinely place their client-facing functions within its business and controls. Dual instructions, commissions for Nigerian-client orders or a shared dealing desk require renewed territorial analysis. (Prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9N, 9T, 9W, 9Y; FCA, PERG 18.3.3, 18.3.6.)
The partner's existing investment-firm authorisation does not establish its future cryptoasset permissions. Due diligence must examine the exact legal entity, permitted activities, restrictions, effective dates and actual contractual capacity. An MLR registration or pending application is not equivalent to an effective article 9T permission. Before full commencement, the partner must satisfy current requirements; after commencement, reliance on the principal-intermediary condition requires the relevant effective Part 4A permission. (SI 2026/102, regs. 1, 41(6), 53; Money Laundering Regulations 2017, reg. 56.)
There is a further difficulty for elective-professional family-office clients. The final intermediary rules require covered orders for UK retail and elective-professional clients to execute on a UK qualifying cryptoasset execution venue. A firm acting only as matched principal is not treated as that venue. The partner must therefore use an eligible UK execution venue or act in a principal capacity that meets the rule, rather than merely pass the order offshore. Eligible-counterparty business has a distinct exclusion from CRYPTO 5; ordinary professional status does not supply it. (FCA 2026/39, CRYPTO 5.1.4R, 5.2.1R–5.2.5G.)
A continuing liquidity arrangement also needs anti-money-laundering review. From 1 February 2027, new regulation 34A requires enhanced diligence for relevant cryptoasset correspondent relationships with third-country respondents. Where the arrangement falls within that definition, the UK provider must assess the Nigerian respondent's business, reputation, supervision and AML controls. Senior approval and documented responsibilities are required. This commencement precedes the wider cryptoasset regime by several months. (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/621, regs. 1(4), 20, inserting reg. 34A.)
Own authorisation and the application decision
A direct UK client franchise justifies preparing an application now. The normal plan should identify a UK company as the applicant, with the actual dealing and control functions assigned to it. The FCA's final international-firms guidance expects UK presence and generally a UK legal entity. Its limited branch cases concern particular structures, including trading platforms; a Nigerian OTC desk should not assume that a representative office qualifies. These are supervisory expectations applied to authorisation, rather than a statutory entitlement to a branch permission. (FCA, FG26/7, paras. 7.3–7.6, 8.1–8.15.)
There is no single permission called a “UK crypto OTC licence”. The application must specify principal dealing and any additional agency, arranging or safeguarding activities actually performed. A principal dealer's final permanent minimum capital requirement is £750,000. Its own-funds requirement can be higher because the Core Prudential sourcebook (COREPRU) applies the highest relevant minimum-capital, fixed-overheads and exposure-based K-factor requirements. This is continuing regulatory capital, not an application fee. (Prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9N, 9T, 9W, 9Y; FCA 2026/45, COREPRU 4.1.2R, CRYPTOPRU 4.2.1R.)
The submission should match the operating model: controllers, responsible managers, capital resources, financial-crime controls, execution, conflicts and client-asset arrangements. Plans that place every decision in Nigeria while describing a substantive UK applicant invite scrutiny. The principal commercial test is whether the group will fund and operate the authorised UK business it proposes. Buying access to another firm's brand cannot substitute for that commitment. (FCA, FG26/7, paras. 6.1–7.6; PS26/11–PS26/13, made instruments.)
Applications, savings and restricted run-off
On 15 October 2026, the FCA's relevant application period is open. The formal direction specifies 9:00 am on 30 September 2026 through 11:59 pm on 28 February 2027. Applications remain possible outside that period, but their transition treatment differs. The company should use the window for a complete, supportable application, rather than treat submission as permission to trade. (FCA, Relevant Application Period Direction, 20 February 2026, para. 2; SI 2026/102, regs. 1(3), 52(5).)
Regulation 53 supplies a saving where an in-window application remains undetermined, or a refusal remains open to review, subject to the FCA's direction power. For the applied-for activity, the applicant and qualifying overseas group persons are treated as though Parts 3–6 had not commenced. The provision contains no express requirement that the applicant already traded before commencement. It nevertheless supplies no defence to unlawful trading under current law and does not save Part 2's designated-activity obligations. Its outer period is two years beginning with full commencement. (SI 2026/102, regs. 51, 53, 55(3).)
The separate run-off exemption concerns qualifying applicants whose applications are withdrawn, finally refused, or filed after the window but before commencement. It permits only activity necessary to perform pre-existing contracts, as defined by the statutory relevant day. That date can be later than 25 October 2027 where the relevant condition or direction arises later. The exemption does not authorise a new-client growth strategy; its outer limit still runs from full commencement. Notifications to the FCA and counterparties are required, and the FCA can restrict or cancel the exemption. A firm that never applies should not assume it receives run-off protection. (SI 2026/102, regs. 55–59.)
The present registered-person promotion exemption also changes at commencement, subject to the regulation 53 saving. Public-offer restrictions under Part 2 require separate review, even where authorisation savings apply. A private bilateral offer can meet the statutory public-offer definition. An offer solely to qualified investors has a Schedule 1 exception, but the defined status must be established. These distinctions matter for a family-office campaign that relies on several different meanings of “professional”. (SI 2026/102, regs. 5, 10, 42(4), 53 and Sch. 1, paras. 2, 9; FCA, PERG 8.14.40D.)
Licentium's treatment of UK authorisation and transition rules explains the wider transition. The desk's launch decision must still distinguish an accepted application, an applicable saving and an effective permission.
The pre-launch approval sequence
First, obtain the Nigerian entity's register entry, approval letter, conditions and approved operating plan. Match each proposed activity and foreign-customer category to that permission. Resolve any ARIP or incubation restriction before seeking UK clients; apply for the necessary registration or variation rather than relying on a programme label. Confirm the capital treatment for the firm's actual application status. (Investments and Securities Act 2025, s. 61; SEC, ARIP, paras. 29–30; SEC capital guidelines, paras. 1.4 and 9.3.)
Second, document the tokens and contracts, then map every quote, order, execution and wallet instruction to a legal entity and location. Assess present UK registration separately from the future activity and territorial tests. Assign the London salesperson written limits consistent with the chosen model. A change from principal to agent, or from advertising to order handling, requires a fresh classification. (Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regs. 14A, 56; prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9N, 9T, 9W, 9Y; prospective s. 418(6C)–(6F).)
Third, approve the actual website, outreach scripts and recipient evidence. Record the promotion route for each communicator, rather than relying on the professional label. Fourth, settle the custody and fiat design before accepting money: specify title, control, segregation, delivery deadlines, failed-settlement treatment and return obligations. The design should permit the proposed transaction without creating an unapproved client-balance service. (Financial Promotion Order 2005, arts. 19, 49, 73ZA; prospective Regulated Activities Order, arts. 9N, 9Q; Investments and Securities Act 2025, ss. 64–66.)
Fifth, complete either the UK application or partner diligence against that documented structure. For the partner route, verify effective principal permissions, execution-venue treatment, asset handling and the correspondent-relationship requirements starting on 1 February 2027. For own authorisation, fund the applicant and allocate its real operating responsibilities before submission. The board should approve launch only when the selected route passes each applicable present-law test. (FCA 2026/39, CRYPTO 5.2; FCA 2026/45, COREPRU 4; SI 2026/621, regs. 1(4), 20.)
Before 25 October 2027, repeat the decision against the permissions actually granted, the legislation then commencing and any valid savings. A failed permission condition requires suspension of the affected activity, or strictly qualifying run-off. Avoiding solicitation alone will not cure an existing UK dealing operation. Nor does an unsolicited enquiry create a general reverse-solicitation exemption under the future regime. Where the company cannot remove its UK operating nexus or obtain the required permissions, it should discontinue the proposed UK service rather than launch behind an intermediary's name. (SI 2026/102, regs. 53–59; FCA, PERG 18.3.6–18.3.7.)