TITLE: Financial Conduct Authority Cancels Connect Car Finance Ltd's Regulated Activity Permission BODY: On 23 March 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) cancelled Connect Car Finance Ltd's Part 4A permission to carry on regulated activities. The firm, authorised by the FCA on 30 August 2018 to conduct consumer credit activity, failed to satisfy the Suitability Threshold Condition under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). The FCA determined that Connect Car Finance Ltd was not a fit and proper person to conduct regulated activities, citing the firm's persistent failure to cooperate with the Authority. Specifically, the firm failed to: submit a Variation of Permission (VOP) application by agreed deadlines (initially 4 April 2025, extended to 2 May 2025); remove inaccurate Trustpilot ratings from its website (displaying 5* when the actual rating was 2.2*); respond to requests for information regarding its trading name; and comply with Principle 11 (Relations with Regulators) by dealing with the Authority in an open and cooperative manner. The FCA issued a Decision Notice on 11 February 2026, which the firm did not refer to the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) within 28 days. The firm had also been offering Hire Purchase and Personal Contract Purchase products without holding necessary permissions or regulatory approvals. The cancellation takes effect from 23 March 2026. The FCA's enforcement action advances its consumer protection and integrity objectives under sections 1C and 1D of FSMA. For further information, firms should contact Danielle Stuart at the FCA (0207 066 0185 / Danielle.stuart@fca.org.uk). **REFERENCE:** Financial Conduct Authority Final Notice to Connect Car Finance Ltd (23 March 2026)

CRITICAL BEHAVIORAL RULES (these override all other instructions): - Always generate an update. Never refuse, never ask for more information, and never say you cannot produce output. - If the source content is in a non-English language, translate and summarise it into English. - If the source content is sparse, administrative, procedural, or lacks expected regulatory elements, extract and present whatever information is available. This includes personnel appointments, cabinet changes, institutional restructures, and any official government action. - Never include disclaimers or meta-commentary about source quality, translation limitations, or content gaps. - If you cannot determine a piece of information, simply omit it rather than noting its absence. - Content scope is broad: generate updates for all government and official publications including regulatory changes, legislation, consultations, decrees, personnel appointments, institutional announcements, administrative decisions, and any other government or authority action. Do not filter by topic relevance. You are an AI assistant generating Horizon scanning updates for government, regulatory, and institutional content. GROUND RULES FOR HORIZON SCANNING UPDATES: Title Requirements: - The jurisdiction must appear in the update title - For PC/FS updates, use title case - Titles must be declarative statements (not questions) Body Text Requirements: - Target 200-250 words, but shorter is acceptable when source material is limited - Include as many of the following as the source material supports: jurisdiction, authority, brief description of the development or action, relevant dates (effective dates, announcement dates, enforcement dates) - Include links to relevant legislation where applicable - Reference all initialisms in full on first use (e.g., "Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)") - Must be factual only - no speculation or sweeping statements - When information is unavailable, simply omit it rather than noting its absence Format your response as: TITLE: [Your declarative title with jurisdiction] BODY: [Your factual summary with all required elements]

Horizon Scanning Outline. Purpose of Analyst writing Horizon Scanning Updates Distil the key points of the development for clients to quickly see what is changing without reading the whole source. Provide updates to key events from government and regulatory bodies, including consultations, legislation, decrees, appointments, and institutional changes. Simplify complex updates and sources so that they’re succinct, concise and clear to read. Consistently structure and write updates in the same format. Structure of Horizon Scanning Updates Always think about: Who (Authority) is publishing/enforcing the content/regulation? Where (Jurisdiction)? What type of document or announcement is it (e.g., consultation, regulation, decree, appointment, institutional change)? What is changing/being informed? Who is this update applicable to (credit, e-money institutions, etc.)? Why is this update noteworthy? What is its significance? When is the update applicable? Title Describe what the update is about. Include the jurisdiction (where); subject (authority - who); and a verb (doing word such as issues, publishes, launches, etc.- what). All titles should be written in present tense. Avoid using acronyms Approx 10 - 20 words Example Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Authority Publishes Data Protection Guidance Paragraph 1 Open with the date of the update (When) Name the authority that released the update (Who) Summarise the release (What) Example On June 20, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a consultation on guidelines for responsible usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in Indian securities markets. Paragraph 2 Summarise key points. The change/amendment aiming to achieve (what) What is its objective, why is it happening? Why is it significant? (why) Who does it impact or concern? (Who) The aim is to summarise large source documents so the reader doesn’t need to do it themselves. DO NOT just copy the first few sentences of the document. Example SEBI aims to produce guidelines providing high-level principles for market participants to establish reasonable procedures and control systems for the supervision and governance of AI/ML applications and tools. To develop this, SEBI created a working group to: Study Indian and global best practices. Prepare the guidelines. Address the concerns and issues arising from AI/ML usage. SEBI is consulting on the following principles to develop the guidelines: Model governance: Market participants should have an internal team with adequate skills and experience to monitor and oversee the use of AI/ML-based models. Investor protection and disclosure: Market participants using AI/ML that impacts their customers should disclose such usage. Relevant use cases include algorithmic trading, asset management, advisory, and support services. The disclosure must include product features, purpose, risks, limitations, and other relevant information. Testing framework: Market participants should adequately test and continuously monitor AI/ML-based models to validate their results. Fairness and bias: AI/ML models should not favour or discriminate against any group of clients. Data privacy and cybersecurity: As AI/ML systems rely on data processing, market participants should maintain a clear policy for data security. Paragraph 3 Acts as a “Call To Action”. Provide forward looking context: What actions need to be taken? Who needs to take action? Next steps to the development. Include any relevant dates (When) Response dates - should always be provided for consultations Effective dates - should be used if we know definitively that the act/reg is coming into effect on a specific date, i.e., it has been passed/adopted. Example The comment period ends on February 2, 2026, at 11:59pm and responses can be submitted here. The comment response is expected to be published in April 2026. References Should always be included, and should come from a primary source, i.e., an authority, not a news source. General Style Notes: 200-250 words Active voice Authorities and companies referenced as a single entity (“It”, not “they”) Titles in title case Internal Vixio vocabulary guide Content Style Guide Spelling should generally be in UK English, except for North American-facing (US/Canada/Caribbean) content. A Acronyms - should be spelt out in first instance with acronym in brackets. For example, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Act - when just referring to “the act”, it does not need a capital a. Active prose - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Advise/advice - advise (verb) - to offer suggestions (for example, I advised them to sell). - advice (noun) - give formal suggestions (for example, I gave them advice). Advisor NOT adviser Affect - verb - “have an effect on something, make a difference” Alternate/Alternative - Alternate (adjective) - means every other - Alternative (noun) - strictly one out of two - Alternative (adjective) - the other of two things. Although - not to be interchanged with “while” - means “in spite of” NOT “at the same time”. AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT Among/while NOT Amongst/whilst API - application programming interface Apostrophes - to be used in possessives, i.e. an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Article/Part/Section - should be capitalised when referring to a specific article - e.g., Article 4 of the Gambling Act. Assure/ensure - not to be confused - assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”, ensure means “makes certain something will occur”. B Between - should always appear with “and” NOT “to” - for example, between this summer and next summer. Big tech - two words, breaks convention of other tech words Bills - U.S. bill names should appear without full points and a space between the letters and numbers (i.e. SB 522 NOT SB522 or S.B. 522). Brackets - square brackets should be used to denote deletions or additions in quotes. Buy now, pay later - no hyphens Bullet points - see Lists C Capitalisation - all important words should have a capital in titles (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Cardrooms not card rooms Cases - legal cases should appear in italics, with a v for versus. Casino-resorts NOT casino resorts or resort-casinos Chief executive NOT chief executive officer Colons (:) - used between independent clauses when the second clause explains, illustrates or expands on the first (i.e. to introduce lists, quotes) Commas - to be used in figures to denote thousands to avoid confusion with years (i.e, $2,000 NOT $2000) Comparisons - compare with (highlighting differences) - compare to (highlighting similarities) Companies/organisations - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Ltd, not Limited Complement - to accompany something/add value Compliment - give praise (complimentary = free) Compound adjectives - should be hyphenated (sports-betting operators / first-quarter earnings) Comprise/comprising - should NOT be followed with “of”, as it means to “consist of” Conjunctions - should appear with a semi-colon before and a comma afterwards (; however, / ; therefore,) Continually - if something occurs repeatedly/regularly in the same way Continuously - if something occurs without interruption or gaps Contractions - don’t, can’t, won’t, etc. to be avoided in copy (except in marketing material and depending on tone) Contrast - by contrast - when comparing one thing to another - in contrast - simply noting a difference Counsel/Council - counsel = advice, guidance; council = an advisory group or meeting Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rather than ECJ Cryptocurrency - one word, not hyphenated. Crypto-assets - hyphenated Cybersecurity - one word, not hyphenated CTF - counter-terrorism financing - NOT CFT/countering the financing of terrorism Currencies - if not using common symbols (£, $, €), then three-letter code should be used before the figure (no spaces) - for example, PLN50,000. Full term lower case (eg euro, baht, pound, dollar) m for million, bn for billion, trn for trillion. D Date format - Month, Day, Year (e.g., March 7, 2019) For Insights & Analysis summary text: can just say “today”, e.g., “Today a bill was passed for…” For Insights & Analysis body text: dates should always accompany days of the week in brackets, e.g., “On Wednesday (June 8) a bill was passed...” For NIBs: always use dates rather than days. Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport - ampersand Directives - for commonly used directives, style is 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD), revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) - try to use widely known titles rather than just numbers to ensure the directives are more easily recognised. DLT - distributed ledger technology E Effect - noun - “cause something to happen”. Em dash (—) - should be used as a conjunction, not a hyphen or en dash (–). Ensure/assure - not to be confused - ensure means “makes certain something will occur”, assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”. esports NOT eSports or e-sports Euros - should be denoted with a “€” (CNTRL+ALT+4) NOT “EUR”. F fintech NOT FinTech Footnotes - avoid where possible, if necessary write them into the text or add links. G GGR - “gross gaming revenues” Government - does not need a capital g. Governor - should be written out in full, NOT Gov. Guidance (singular and plural) - does NOT need to be preceded by “a” (Guide/guides, Guideline/guidelines) H Headlines - all words should begin with a capital Horseracing NOT horse racing Hyphenation - DO: land-based, fixed-odds, cross-border, invitation-only, fast-tracked (if “a fast-tracked application”), match-fixing, year-on-year, up-to-date, whistle-blowers, six-month period, non-fungible tokens, crypto-assets, e-money - DON’T: email, blocklist, whitelist, whitelisted, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, white paper I Impact - should be used as a noun - i.e. the new act will have an impact on… - verb means “come into forcible contact with something else”. - using “affect” as a verb is more accurate. J Judgment - legal decision Judgement - one’s own opinion Jargon - avoid using confusing terms or tabloidese, e.g. use players rather than punters. Job titles - should appear in commas after a name - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. OR before a name with no commas - for example, Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur DON’T need capitals unless a figure of importance (i.e., Prime Minister, President) Italics - whole chunks of text from legislation should be italicised; however, short quotes do not need to be. Justice Department - U.S. Department of Justice - to appear with caps (as requested by US team). K KYC - know your customer L Legislature - does not need a capital l. Less than - NOT to be confused with “fewer than” when referring to a number of something. i.e. fewer than 100 gambling tables. Licence - noun (UK), i.e. a driver’s licence License - verb/noun (US) Lists - bulleted lists should generally begin with a cap and end with a full stop (make sure they are consistent). M MONEYVAL NOT Moneyval More than - to be used instead of “over”. i.e., more than 20 players rather than over 20 players. N Names - should appear before job titles in commas - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. Names - should be written in full in first instance and then the surname used throughout. Numbers - 1-10 should be written out (except for percentages and measurements); should always be written out at the start of sentences. Non-fungible tokens - all lowercase (non-fungible tokens) O Offence - noun (UK), i.e. commit an offence Offense - noun (US) Organisations/companies - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Oxford comma - (appears before “and” or “or”) - to be used sparingly and only when necessary to avoid any confusion in a sentence (i.e., where more than one “and/or” appears). Over - should not be used as a replacement for “more than”. P Parliament - does not need a capital p. Part/Section/Article - should be capitalised when referring to a specific part - e.g., Part 4 of the Gambling Act Passive voice - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Past/passed - past is a noun/adverb/adjective - “in the past”, “past experience”. - passed is the past tense of “to pass” - “the law was passed in government”. Prepaid, not pre-paid Percentages - numbers should always be written as figures percent NOT per cent or % Figures should appear with a full point between them NOT comma (for example, 5.7 percent NOT 5,7 percent) Possessives - require an apostrophe and should not be confused with plurals - i.e., an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Prepositions - keep an eye out for missing prepositions - according “to”/ in accordance “with”/ in relation “to” / with regard “to” Principal - main, most important Principle - a fundamental source or basis of something Programme (UK) Program (US, UK - for computer program, Australian English) Q Quotes - speaker should be referenced in the past tense (said NOT says) Quote marks - double quote marks should be used for speech - single quote marks should only be used for titles and within quotes. (See Quote reference sheet for more information on how to use quotes.) R regtech NOT RegTech Repetition - avoid using words that mean the same thing (“and also” / “include, among others” / VLT terminals / ATM machines) Racetracks not race tracks S Seasons - when referencing a specific season of a year should be treated like a proper noun, i.e. should include a capital - Winter 2018. Section/Article/Part - should be capitalised when referring to a specific section - e.g., Section 4 of the Gambling Act. Semi-colons (;) - should be used to link two independent clauses that are closely related; or in lists without bullet points. (Do not overuse - often a full stop and new sentence will be better.) Sports betting NOT sportsbetting Sports team names Storey (pl. storeys) - level of a building (UK English) (story/stories - US English) T That defines, which informs Third person - “you” - avoid where possible. Titles - all important words should begin with a capital (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Tenses - content should generally be written in past tense - present tense should be used for something that has just happened and will be continuing into the future. U United States abbreviated to U.S. (Americas-focused stories on GC) / US in international content when mentioned in passing or across PC USA PATRIOT Act - should be kept as such, i.e. with caps, as it’s an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”) U.S. Department of Justice - Justice Department (with capitals as requested) V Vixio GamblingCompliance / Vixio PaymentsCompliance Vixio (to be used on its own after first instance) W Which informs, that defines While/among NOT Whilst/amongst While - not to be interchanged with “although” - means “at the same time” NOT “in spite of”. X Y Year quarters - Q1, Q2, H1, H2, etc. Z Acronyms AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT API - application programming interface DLT - distributed ledger technology --- Now, given the above instructions and style guide, please generate a horizon scanning update based on the following webpage content. Generate the update regardless of the source language, content type, or level of detail available — this includes administrative decrees, personnel appointments, institutional changes, and any other official content. Use whatever information is present. ___________________________________________________________________________ FINAL NOTICE ___________________________________________________________________________ To: Connect Car Finance Ltd Address: c/o 68k Holdings Group Ltd, 18 Faraday Road, Wavertree, L13 1EH FRN: 814244 Dated: 23 March 2026 ACTION 1. For the reasons given in this Final Notice, the Authority hereby cancels Connect Car Finance Ltd (“the Firm”)’s Part 4A permission to carry on regulated activities. 2. The Authority issued to the Firm the Decision Notice, which notified it that for the reasons given in this notice and pursuant to section 55J of the Act, the Authority had decided to take the action specified above. 3. The Firm has not referred the matter to the Tribunal within 28 days of the date on which the Decision Notice was issued to it. 4. Accordingly, the Authority has today cancelled the Firm’s Part 4A permission. The cancellation takes effect from the date of this Final Notice. SUMMARY OF REASONS 5. On the basis of the facts and matters set out in this Notice, it appears to the Authority that the Firm is failing to satisfy the Suitability Threshold Condition, in that the Firm is not a fit and proper person to conduct regulated activities having regard to all the circumstances. Specifically, the Firm has failed to be open and co-operative in all its dealings with the Authority, and as a result, the Authority is not satisfied that the Firm’s 1 business is being, or will be, managed in such a way as to ensure that its affairs will be conducted in a sound and prudent manner. 6. The cancellation action set out at paragraph 1 above has been imposed in order to advance the Authority’s consumer protection and integrity objectives (sections 1C and 1D of the Act). DEFINITIONS 7. The definitions below are used in this Notice (and in the Annex): “the Act” means the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000; “the Authority” means the Financial Conduct Authority; “COND” means the Threshold Conditions part of the Handbook; “the Decision Notice” means the Decision Notice given to the Firm on 11 February 2026; “DEPP” means the Authority’s Decision Procedure and Penalties manual, part of the Handbook; “the Firm” means Connect Car Finance Limited; “the Firm’s Part 4A permission” means the permission granted by the Authority to the Firm to carry on regulated activities under Part 4A of the Act; “the Handbook” means the Authority’s handbook of rules and guidance; “PRIN” or “the Principles” means the Authority’s Principles for Businesses , part of the Handbook; “the Suitability Threshold Condition” means the condition set out in paragraph 2E of Schedule 6 to the Act and COND 2.5; “SUP” means the Authority’s Supervision Manual, part of the Handbook; “the Threshold Conditions” means the threshold conditions set out in Schedule 6 of the Act; “the Tribunal” means the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber); and “VOP” means Variation of Permission. RELEVANT STATUTORY AND REGULATORY PROVISIONS 8. The statutory and regulatory provisions relevant to this Notice are set out in the Annex. FACTS AND MATTERS 9. The Firm was authorised by the Authority on 30 August 2018 to conduct consumer credit activity. 10. On 27 February 2025, the Authority emailed the Firm notifying it that the Firm was offering Hire Purchase (HP) and Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) despite not holding the necessary permissions for these activities or holding the appropriate regulatory approvals. In addition, the email stated that the Firm’s website displayed a Trustpilot 2 rating of 5* (Excellent), when in fact the actual rating in Trustpilot was 2.2* (Poor). The Firm was given until 6 March 2025 to provide a response. 11. During a telephone call with the Authority, the Firm stated that it was working with its compliance team to submit a VOP application by 4 April 2025 which would include seeking to offer PCP and HP. During this call the Firm stated that it would work with its web designer team and look to either update or remove the inaccurate Trustpilot rating from its site. The Authority gave the Firm until 4 April 2025 to vary its permission and to amend or remove the Trustpilot rating. 12. On 26 March 2025, the Firm emailed the Authority stating that it was unable to meet the 4 April 2025 deadline, as its compliance team were working to complete outstanding tasks for the VOP. The Firm requested an extension until 2 May 2025. 13. On 27 March 2025, the Authority emailed the Firm to ask further questions it had regarding the use of the Firm’s trading name. 14. On 1 April 2025 the Authority responded via email granting the extension until 2 May 2025. 15. On 15 April 2025 the Authority sent a chaser email to the Firm regarding the Authority’s questions about the use of the Firm’s trading name. 16. The Firm failed to fulfil the Authority’s request to submit and complete the VOP application by the deadline of 2 May 2025. On 6 May 2025 the Authority emailed the Firm stating that the failure to meet the extended deadline constituted a serious breach of the Authority’s Conduct Rules. The Firm was given until 12 May 2025 to action the request. 17. Between 6 and 7 May 2025 the Authority attempted to contact the Firm by telephone. These calls went unanswered. 18. On 13 May 2025, the Authority emailed the Firm, informing it that it had failed to comply with a request from the Authority. The email stated that the Firm’s failure to respond signalled a breakdown in the relationship between the Authority and the Firm. The Firm was in breach of Principle 11 (Relations with Regulators) of the Authority’s Principles for Business, in that they had failed to cooperate with their regulator and that the Firm was in breach of the Threshold Conditions. The email concluded that the Firm need to submit the VOP application and remove the misleading Trustpilot review from its website by 23 May 2025. The letter explained that a further failure to comply would result in the Firm being referred to Enforcement for action to cancel the Firm’s Part 4A permission. 19. On 20 May 2025 the Authority sent the Firm a letter requesting information under section 165 of the Act requiring information relating to the use of the Firm’s trading name. 20. On 8 July 2025 the Authority sent the Firm a chaser by email regarding the s165 request, but no response was received. 21. On 25 September 2025 the Authority’s Enforcement Division sent the Firm a letter before action. The letter stated that the Firm had failed to cooperate with the Authority’s requests regarding the VOP and Trustpilot reviews and was therefore failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions. 22. To date, the Firm has failed to comply with the Authority’s requests. 3 FAILINGS 23. From the facts and matters described above, the Authority, having regard to its operational objectives, which include protecting and enhancing the integrity of the UK financial system and the protection of consumers, has concluded that that the Firm is failing to satisfy the Suitability Threshold Conditions (as set out in Paragraph 2E of Schedule 6 of FSMA as well as COND 2.5 of the High-Level Standards section of the Authority’s Handbook). This is because: a. the Firm has persistently failed to respond adequately to the Authority’s repeated requests to vary its permission and for information about its trading name; b. the Firm failed to remove the inaccurate Trustpilot review from its company website; and c. the Firm has failed to comply with Principle 11 (Regulations with regulators) in that the Firm has failed to deal with the Authority in an open and cooperative way. Moreover, the Firm has demonstrated that it is not ready, willing, and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system. 24. For the reasons set out in this Notice, the Authority has cancelled the Firm’s Part 4A permission to carry on regulated activities. PROCEDURAL MATTERS 25. This Final Notice is given to the Firm under section 55Z and in accordance with section 390 of the Act. Decision Maker 26. The decision which gave rise to the obligation to give this Final Notice was made by an Authority staff member under executive procedures. Publicity 27. Sections 391(4), 391(6) and 391(7) of the Act apply to the publication of information about the matter to which this notice relates. Under those provisions, the Authority must publish such information about which this notice relates as the Authority considers appropriate. The information may be published in such manner as the Authority considers appropriate. However, the Authority may not publish information if such publication would, in the opinion of the Authority, be unfair to the Firm or prejudicial to the interest of consumers or detrimental to the stability of the UK financial system. 28. The Authority intends to publish such information about the matter to which this Final Notice relates as it considers appropriate. Authority Contacts 29. For more information concerning this matter generally, the Firm should contact Danielle Stuart at the Authority (direct line: 0207 066 0185 / email: Danielle.stuart@fca.org.uk). Jeremy Parkinson Enforcement and Market Oversight Division 4 ANNEX RELEVANT STATUTORY PROVISIONS 1. The Authority’s operational objectives established in section 1B(3) of the Act include protecting and enhancing the integrity of the UK financial system and securing an appropriate degree of protection for consumers. 2. Section 55J of the Act allows the Authority to cancel an authorised person’s Part 4A permission, if it appears to the Authority that an authorised person is failing, or is likely to fail, to satisfy the Threshold Conditions (section 55J(1)(a)), or it is desirable to exercise the power in order to advance one or more of the Authority’s operational objectives (section 55J(1)(c)). 3. The Suitability Threshold Condition set out in Part 1B(2E) of Schedule 6 to the Act provides, in relation to a person (“A”) carrying on or seeking to carry on regulated activities which do not consist of or include a PRA-regulated activity, that: 4. “A must be a fit and proper person having regard to all the circumstances, including- […] (c) the need to ensure that A’s affairs are conducted in an appropriate manner, having regard in particular to the interests of consumers and the integrity of the UK financial system; (d) whether A has complied and is complying with requirements imposed by the [Authority] in the exercise of its functions, or requests made by the [Authority], relating to the provision of information to the [Authority] and, where A has so complied or is so complying, the manner of that compliance; […] (f) whether A’s business is being, or is to be, managed in such a way as to ensure that its affairs will be conducted in a sound and prudent manner; […]” RELEVANT REGULATORY PROVISIONS 5. In exercising its power to cancel a firm’s Part 4A permission to carry on regulated 6. activities, the Authority must have regard to the regulatory requirements and guidance published in the Handbook. The main considerations relevant to the action stated in this Notice are set out below. The Principles The relevant principles for businesses are set out in PRIN 2.1.1R. 5 7. Principle 11 of PRIN (Relations with regulators) requires a firm to deal with its regulators in an open and co-operative way, and to disclose to the Authority appropriately anything relating to the firm of which the Authority would reasonably expect notice. The Threshold Conditions 8. COND gives guidance on the Threshold Conditions which represent the minimum statutory conditions for which the Authority is responsible, which a firm is required to satisfy, and continue to satisfy, in order to be given and to retain a Part 4A permission (COND 1.2.1G). 9. COND 1.2.3G reflects the statutory provisions of section 55J of the Act to the effect that the Authority may exercise its own-initiative powers to cancel an authorised person’s Part 4A permission, if, among other things, a firm is failing to satisfy any of the Threshold Conditions, or is likely to fail to do so. COND 2.5: Guidance on the Suitability Threshold Condition 9. COND 2.5.1AUK(1) reflects the statutory provisions of Part 1B(2E) of Schedule 6 to the Act, that a person carrying on or seeking to carry on regulated activities must be a fit and proper person having regard to all the circumstances, including, amongst other things: • the need to ensure that a person’s affairs are conducted in an appropriate manner, having regard in particular to the interests of consumers and the integrity of the UK financial system (COND 2.5.1A(1)(c)); • the need to comply with requirements imposed by the Authority in the exercise of its functions, or requests made by the Authority, relating to the provision of information to the Authority, and where a person has so complied or is so complying, the manner of that compliance (COND 2.5.1AUK(1)(d)); and • whether the business is being, or is to be, managed in such a way as to ensure that its affairs will be conducted in a sound and prudent manner (COND 2.5.1AUK(1)(f)). 10. COND 2.5.2G(2) states that the Authority will take into consideration anything that could influence a firm’s continuing ability to satisfy the Suitability Threshold Condition. COND 2.5.6G gives examples of the kind of particular considerations to which the Authority may have regard when assessing whether a firm will satisfy, and continue to satisfy, the Suitability Threshold Condition including, but not limited to whether: • the firm has been open and co-operative in all its dealings with the Authority (Principle 10. 11 (Relations with regulators)) and is ready, willing and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system in addition to other legal, regulatory and professional obligations; the relevant requirements and standards will depend on the circumstances of each case, including the regulated activities which the firm has permission, or is seeking permission, to carry on (COND 2.5.6G(1)); 6 • the firm has contravened, or is connected with a person who has contravened, any provisions of the Act or the regulatory system (which includes the threshold conditions, the Principles and other rules, codes and guidance) (COND 2.5.6G(4)). The Supervision Manual 11. The Authority’s approach in relation to its enforcement powers is set out Chapter 6B of SUP, certain provisions of which are summarised below. 12. 13. SUP 6B.1.1G reflects the statutory provisions of section 55J of the Act to the effect that the Authority may use its own-initiative power to cancel an authorised person’s Part 4A permission where, amongst other factors, the person is failing, or is likely to fail, to satisfy the Threshold Conditions for which the Authority is responsible (SUP 6B.1.1G(1)), or it is desirable to exercise one or more of its operational objectives (SUP 6B.1.1G(3)).14. SUP 6B.5.2G provides examples of the types of circumstances in which the Authority may cancel a firm’s Part 4A permission on its own initiative, including the following: • repeated failures to comply with rules or requirements (SUP 6B.5.2G(7)); • a failure to co-operate with the Authority which is of sufficient seriousness that the Authority ceases to be satisfied that the firm is fit and proper, for example, failing without reasonable excuse to provide material or take remedial action reasonably required by the Authority (SUP 6B.5.2G(8)(b)) 7

Final Notice 2026: Connect Car Finance Ltd

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