What is the FCA Warning List and why does it matter?
The FCA Warning List is the Financial Conduct Authority's published list of firms operating in the UK without FCA authorisation, plus clone firms (entities impersonating authorised firms by copying their name, FRN, or branding). It is updated daily at the FCA's discretion based on consumer complaints, regulator referrals, and the FCA's own monitoring. Firms appear on the list either because they are operating in the UK without the required authorisation or because they are a known clone of a legitimate authorised firm.
Why it matters: under MLR-2017 and the FCA's perimeter rules, regulated UK firms are expected to screen counterparties against the Warning List as part of their AML / KYB / KYC process. Failing to catch a Warning List match is not usually a direct legal violation, but it is a finding that surfaces in regulator inspections and consumer-complaint investigations, and it carries reputational risk if the firm later discovers it was processing payments for or partnering with a Warning-Listed entity.
The list is freely downloadable from the FCA website. Certaby's FCA verification check pulls the Warning List automatically alongside the firm-permission lookup, so any clone or unauthorised match flags in the same response. Each match record includes the Warning ID, the unauthorised firm's name, any aliases, the warning type (unauthorised, clone-firm, scam, other), the date the FCA added the entry, and (for clone firms) the FRN of the authorised firm being impersonated.
Source: FCA Warning List
Last updated 2026-05-09.