Personal insolvency provider Harrington Brooks has secured full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The FCA took over the regulation of consumer credit firms in April 2014 from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The new process for authorisation has been designed to be more rigorous than the previous OFT regulatory process.

As part of its new regime, the FCA wanted debt management firms to meet a set of required conditions, including: fair and transparent fees, the provision of suitable advice, fully trained employees, appropriate systems and controls to protect client money, and a sustainable business model, that was focused on getting the best outcomes for the customer.

The FCA has confirmed that Harrington Brooks meets these threshold condition.

Matthew Cheetham, CEO of Harrington Brooks, said: “We are delighted to have achieved full FCA authorisation. The approval is testament to the excellent and hardworking people at Harrington Brooks and a business that is geared towards helping our customers back into financial health and continued financial wellbeing.”