Regulatory and legal notices

FCA warning notices and decision notices explained

Q: Is an FCA warning notice a finding of wrongdoing?

No. The FCA says a warning notice is not its final decision.

Last checked 6 November 2026 · 4 sources

Short answer

The UK Financial Conduct Authority uses three statutory notices in enforcement. A warning notice says what action the FCA proposes, and the FCA states that it is not its final decision ¹. A decision notice follows if the FCA decides to act ². The person can refer a decision notice to the Upper Tribunal, normally within 28 days ². If there is no referral, a final notice is issued ². The FCA Warning List is a separate list of unauthorised firms ⁴.

Law: Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, Part XXVI ³
Decision body: Regulatory Decisions Committee for many statutory notices ²
Time to respond to a warning notice: At least 14 days, set by section 387 ³
Referral to the Upper Tribunal: Normally within 28 days of a decision notice ²
Publication: Decision and final notice information must be published as the regulator considers appropriate ³
Warning List: Unauthorised firms and individuals, including clones ⁴

Three stages of a statutory notice

The FCA must issue a warning notice when it proposes certain enforcement action, such as a prohibition, a financial penalty, public censure, or a suspension or restriction ². The FCA says a warning notice is not its final decision ¹.

The person can answer with written or oral representations to the Regulatory Decisions Committee ². Section 387 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 says the period for representations may not be less than 14 days ³. The warning notice itself sets the deadline ².

If the FCA decides to act after any representations, or none are made, it issues a decision notice ². The decision notice sets out the action and the reasons ². Section 388 requires it to state any right to refer the matter to the Tribunal and how to do so ³.

A final notice comes last. If the person does not refer the decision notice to the Upper Tribunal within the 28 day deadline, the FCA Enforcement team issues a final notice ². The FCA says final notices are issued when it takes action ¹.

Which notice means what

Notice	Stage	Is it final?
Warning notice	Proposed action ¹	No. The FCA says it is not the final decision ¹
Decision notice	Decision to act, after representations ²	Not yet. It can be referred to the Upper Tribunal ²
Final notice	Action taken ¹	Yes, issued when no referral is made in time ²

What gets published and when

Publication rules differ by stage. For some kinds of warning notice, the regulator may publish information after consulting the people it was given to ³. Other warning notices cannot be published ³. The FCA says it may publish some details of a warning notice in a statement on its website ¹.

For decision notices and final notices, section 391 says the regulator must publish such information about the matter as it considers appropriate ³. The FCA says decision notices are issued and published when it decides to take action ¹. A copy of a final notice is usually published on the FCA website ².

A published decision notice describes a decision that can still be challenged. A matter referred to the Upper Tribunal is not settled until the Tribunal process ends.

Third parties and expedited references

In some cases the FCA must give a copy of a statutory notice to someone other than the person it is addressed to ². Those third parties may make representations and refer a decision notice to the Upper Tribunal ². The notice normally says whether there are third parties ².

A person given a warning notice can make an expedited reference to the Upper Tribunal in place of representations ². To do so they must tell the Regulatory Decisions Committee and waive their rights under section 387(2) ².

The FCA Warning List is different

The FCA Warning List is not part of the statutory notice process. It lists unauthorised firms and individuals the FCA knows about that are not allowed to operate in the UK, including clone firms that copy authorised businesses ⁴. The FCA says a firm missing from the list is not necessarily legitimate, as firms often change names before the FCA becomes aware ⁴.

Common questions

Is an FCA warning notice a finding of wrongdoing?

No. The FCA says a warning notice is not its final decision ¹.

How long does someone have to respond to a warning notice?

The notice sets the deadline, and section 387 says the period may not be less than 14 days ^3,2.

Can a decision notice be challenged?

Yes. It can be referred to the Upper Tribunal, normally within 28 days ².

What is a final notice?

The notice issued when the FCA takes action, after any time to refer to the Upper Tribunal has passed ^2,1.

Is the FCA Warning List the same as a warning notice?

No. The Warning List names unauthorised firms and individuals, including clones ⁴.

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Sources

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