generated: '2026-07-25'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/systems-information/fca-firds-tech-spec.pdf ;
  https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/systems-information/fca-fitrs-tech-spec.pdf ;
  FS Register developer portal material (mirrored by community client docs)
note: >-
  Neither FCA API returns documented rate-limit response headers, and neither
  publishes a quota, plan or paid tier for API access. Access to both is free.
rate_limits:
- api: FCA Financial Services Register API
  base_url: https://register.fca.org.uk/services/V0.1
  limit_count: 50
  limit_window: 10 seconds
  scope: per API key
  cost: free
  headers: none documented
  confidence: medium
  note: >-
    The FCA's own statement of this limit sits behind the developer portal login
    and could not be verified anonymously; the figure is consistently reported in
    community client documentation for the API.
- api: FCA Data Publication API (FIRDS / FITRS)
  base_url: https://api.data.fca.org.uk
  limit_count: null
  limit_window: null
  scope: per caller
  cost: free
  headers: none documented
  confidence: high
  quote: >-
    "To minimise disruption to the FCA FIRDS service caused by irregular traffic
    patterns, malicious (e.g. DDOS) or accidental, all requests to both the UI Web
    Form and the API service will be rate limited. The FCA will use this as a basis
    to optimise the performance of the system... Note: the individual file download
    links will not be subject to throttling as they are served via a separate
    solution."
  note: >-
    Rate limiting is documented but deliberately unquantified — the FCA reserves
    the right to tune it. File downloads from data.fca.org.uk/artefacts/ are
    explicitly exempt.
sla:
  present: false
  quote: >-
    "As the API is a free service, we do not offer any service-level agreements
    (SLAs) or guarantees for uptime or issue resolution."
  source: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register