The amount of time taken by the Financial Conduct Authority to process an application for authorisation has fallen.
Data published by the regulator yesterday (December 11) showed the average amount of time taken to process an application in the second quarter of 2018/19 was just over 10 weeks.
This represented a fall from 12 weeks in the previous quarter and 14 weeks in the quarter before that.
In previous years the FCA has faced a backlog on authorisation applications which it has been attempting to address.
Between April and June 2016 the average application period was about 25 weeks but since then the FCA has brought in more staff to address the backlog, bringing processing times down.
Addressing the most recent figures, the FCA said that in recent months the number of applications being handled had outpaced the number being received, which meant the number in progress had fallen.
Over the past three quarters the number of applications classed as being "in progress" have fallen from 1,007 to 938 and then to 862.
The regulator added: "Our work on Brexit-related applications continues to focus mainly on dual regulated cases, both applications for authorisation in the UK by currently inwardly passported banks or insurance firms ahead of Brexit.
"The total number of Brexit-related applications in Q2 were 19 across banking and insurance."
Dual-regulated firms are those which are regulated by both the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
The FCA has a target of completing authorisations within six months of the receipt of a complete application and within 12 months of the receipt of an incomplete application.
damian.fantato@ft.com
