FSP Licensing and Ongoing Compliance Management
Authorisation is the first few weeks of a relationship that runs for the life of the licence. The larger part of what we do — and the larger part of our clients' time with us — is the ongoing work of keeping a licensed FSP compliant: monthly and annual returns, the compliance officer's monitoring and reporting, fit and proper upkeep, FICA obligations, and the FSCA queries that do not stop once the licence is issued. Horizon Compliance is built around that ongoing work. A licence application is simply how the relationship begins.
An FSP Licence Is a Permanent Obligation, Not a Once-Off Project
It is easy to treat the licence as the finish line. The FSCA does not. From the day your FSP number is issued, the FAIS Act, the FIC Act, the Conduct Standards, the General Code of Conduct and the Fit and Proper Determination impose a continuous set of duties — reporting, monitoring, record-keeping, competence, financial soundness — that never lapse. Get them wrong and the consequences run from administrative penalties to debarment of Key Individuals to withdrawal of the licence itself.
Most compliance practices are organised around winning applications, because an application is a discrete, billable project. We are organised the other way around. The majority of our clients are licensed FSPs we manage month to month, and our systems, our staffing and our compliance officer approvals are all built for that ongoing relationship.
The application work is excellent, and we are proud of it. But it is the doorway, not the house. What follows is what we actually do for most of our clients, most of the time.
What Ongoing FSP Licence Management Covers
An ongoing engagement is a single, fixed-fee relationship that carries the full weight of your FSP's regulatory obligations. It is not a help line you call when something goes wrong — it is an active programme that runs whether or not anything has gone wrong.
The Outsourced Approved Compliance Officer Function
We are appointed as your FSCA-approved compliance officer and carry the statutory responsibilities of that role — independent monitoring, the compliance report, and engagement with the regulator. Because we hold compliance officer approvals across all phases and categories, you are never told that your category falls outside our approval.
The Compliance Monitoring Programme
A documented, risk-based monitoring plan executed across the year — not a box-ticking exercise assembled the week the report is due. We test against the actual obligations attached to your category and sub-categories, and we tell you plainly what we find and what to fix.
Statutory Returns, Levies and Regulatory Reporting
FSCA returns and levies submitted on time, every cycle, and the compliance officer's report prepared and lodged. Late returns carry penalties and leave a mark on the FSP's record; we track every deadline so you are not the one watching the calendar.
FICA / AML Programme Management
Keeping your Risk Management and Compliance Programme current rather than frozen at the version written on day one, screening clients against sanctions, PEP and adverse media lists through our sister business ClientScanner, maintaining your goAML registration, and submitting Cash Threshold, Suspicious and Unusual Transaction, and Terrorist Property Reports within statutory timeframes.
Key Individual and Representative Management
Fit and proper monitoring, CPD cycle tracking against the 1 June to 31 May year, the representative register, RE and qualification status, and Supervision arrangements where a representative's competence requirements are still outstanding. A lapsed CPD cycle is a competence failure — we make sure it does not happen quietly.
Profile Changes and Licence Amendments
Adding sub-categories, appointing or removing Key Individuals, changes of ownership, and changes of business address or contact details are each FSCA-approved profile changes. We prepare and lodge them so the licence on the FSCA's register always matches how your business actually operates.
Conduct Standards, the General Code and TCF
Keeping your client-facing processes — disclosures, advice records, complaints handling, conflict of interest management — aligned with the General Code of Conduct and Treating Customers Fairly outcomes, so that good conduct is built into how the FSP runs rather than reconstructed after a complaint.
POPIA and Information Regulator Maintenance
Information Officer registration, the PAIA manual, and POPIA-aligned policies kept current as your data processing changes. Every FSP is a Responsible Party under POPIA, and the obligation does not pause once the initial registration is done.
Regulatory Change, FSCA Queries and Inspections
The FAIS and FICA landscape changes constantly. We track it, interpret it for your specific licence, and tell you what — if anything — you need to do. When the regulator returns with questions or schedules an on-site inspection, you have an experienced practice that handles it directly, on the deadlines the FSCA sets.
What It Costs to Get Ongoing Compliance Wrong
These are not hypothetical. They are the files that reach our desk after the fact, and the reason ongoing management is not an optional extra.
A compliance function that is not actually functioning
When an FSP operates without a properly active approved compliance officer — appointed on paper but not doing the monitoring — every month that passes is a month of unmonitored, unreported obligations accumulating silently. The problem is invisible until an inspection, a complaint, or a query brings it into the open, by which point it is no longer a small problem.
The Full Range of What We Do
Ongoing licence management is the core, but it sits inside a complete FAIS compliance practice. Whatever stage your FSP is at — not yet licensed, newly authorised, or long established — there is a service for it.
Ongoing FSP Licence Management
Our core service. The outsourced compliance officer function, monitoring, reporting and the full body of ongoing FAIS and FICA obligations, on a fixed monthly fee.
See what it covers →FSP Licence Applications
New FSP licence applications across every category and sub-category — from scope design to authorisation — for sole proprietors through to multinational asset managers.
View FSP licence applications →FICA / AML Programme Management
RMCP design and upkeep, goAML registration, customer due diligence frameworks, sanctions and PEP screening, and statutory FIC reporting.
Talk to us →Key Individual & Representative Support
Fit and proper assessments, RE and qualification guidance, CPD tracking, Supervision arrangements, and KI appointments and changes.
Talk to us →POPIA Compliance
Information Officer registration, PAIA manuals, and POPIA-aligned policies for FSPs as Responsible Parties under the Act.
Talk to us →Profile Changes & Licence Extensions
Adding sub-categories, changing Key Individuals or ownership, and extending an existing licence to new product categories.
Talk to us →Regulatory Work Beyond FAIS
FAIS is our core, but financial services businesses rarely sit inside a single regulatory regime. A smaller but well-established part of our practice handles licensing and compliance work that sits alongside — or instead of — a FAIS licence.
If you are not sure which regime applies to your business — or whether more than one does — that is a question worth a short call. Tell us what you do, and we will tell you what you need.
How an Ongoing Engagement Works
Whether you have just been authorised or you are moving to us from another compliance practice, the engagement starts the same way and the transition is routine — we do it regularly, and it does not disrupt how you operate.
Compliance Review and Onboarding
We start with an honest review of where your FSP actually stands — licence profile, KI and representative competence, outstanding returns, the state of your RMCP and policies. You get a clear picture of what is sound and what needs attention before anything else happens.
The Monitoring Year
Your obligations are loaded into our licence management software, and the monitoring programme runs across the year. Deadlines are tracked, returns and reports are prepared and lodged, and you are told — in plain language — what needs doing and when.
Reporting, Renewal and Regulator Engagement
The compliance officer's report, statutory submissions and levy payments are handled on schedule, and any FSCA query or inspection is managed directly by us. Ongoing management is billed as a fixed monthly fee agreed up front — not an hourly meter — so the cost is predictable and you are never charged for picking up the phone.
Why FSPs Stay With Horizon Compliance
We could write the usual paragraph about being a trusted partner. We would rather give you the actual reasons.
Let's Talk About Your FSP
Whether you need a licence, need your existing licence properly managed, or simply want a second opinion on whether your current compliance arrangements are sound — the first conversation is free and useful either way.