Four out of five asset finance brokers working in the commercial finance sector have found the process of becoming fully FCA authorised difficult, a United Trust Bank (UTB) survey has found.

More than half (54%) of the 136 asset finance brokers who took part in the survey in April and May said they had expected it to be difficult and found that to be the case while a further 25% of brokers found the process to be more difficult than they had expected.

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On the other hand, 21% of the brokers said that the process of gaining FCA authorisation was easier than they expected.

The survey also found that three quarters of participants were on course to be fully approved, of which 16% were not completely certain about their situation. 16% were not considering applying for full authorization.

In addition, it revealed that over three quarters of brokers intended to stay independent, whereas 16% had already joined a larger broker group and 8% were considering the move.

Martin Nixon, head of asset finance at United Trust Bank, said: "We thought that there would be a lot of work involved for brokers to get fully FCA authorised and this research confirms that some brokers may have under estimated what needed to be done. The good news is that three quarters are on course to being fully authorised. It is somewhat concerning, however, that 1 in 5 brokers are still either considering not applying for full authorisation or are as yet undecided. The clock is ticking!

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"The research also revealed that the authorisation process has persuaded some brokers to give up their independence and join larger broker groups with the loss of independence and sharing of commission being balanced against the assistance with authorisation and possibly access to a larger funding panel."