Approved person numbers enter sharp decline in Q2

Laura Miller
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The overall number of approved persons fell sharply in the second quarter of the year, coupled with a drop in new business authorisations after cancellations, figures suggest.

A fall in the number of individuals with approved status represents a clear reversal in the trend since Q1 2009, figures from IMAS, a corporate finance adviser specialising in managing sales of UK financial services businesses, show. The latest figures buck four successive quarters of improving data, says the firm. Net approved person numbers were down 42% compared to Q1 2010, with over 2,300 people net leavers of the industry in the second quarter. Approved person joiners were down 3% compared to the previous quarter. Leavers were down 12%. The weakness of figures for Q2 direc...

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