A CILEx lawyer setting up your own firm? Answer a few questions and get a personalised authorisation checklist, a realistic timeline, and a compliance document pack pre-filled with your firm details. No account needed, takes two minutes.
Covers the CILEx authorised entity route, regulated by CILEx Regulation, for members with (or working towards) practice rights. Last reviewed October 2026 against CILEx Regulation's published application guidance; fees change, so check current figures before relying on them. Setting up under the SRA route instead? Use the SRA checklist tool.
What are you setting up?
CILEx Regulation authorises entities scoped to your individual practice rights. Pick the closest fit, or "not sure yet".
Where are you in the process?
This sets your timeline and how much of the checklist is still ahead of you.
Your firm's details (optional)
Give us the basics and we'll pre-fill your policy documents with them instead of leaving blank placeholders. Nothing here is required; skip anything you haven't decided yet.
Will the firm hold client money?
Which practice rights will the firm work under?
CILEx Regulation authorises your firm by the practice rights you hold. Tick the areas you plan to offer.
What's already sorted?
Tick everything you've already done. Anything you leave unticked goes on your checklist.
Where should we send it?
Your checklist appears straight away. We'll also use this if we update the tool or the templates.
Everything below is free, with no account required.
The full set of things CILEx Regulation expects to see for your entity type and practice rights, split into phases, with what you've already done ticked off.
Preparation time and CILEx Regulation's assessment stages for your route, so you can plan your launch date around it.
Six Word documents every applicant needs, generated in your browser with your firm name, address and managers already filled in: AML/CTF policy, complaints procedure, compliance plan and risk register, client care pack with price transparency, manager readiness pack, and a business plan with the 13-month cashflow forecast built in.
What to do the moment you're authorised: banking, software, and getting your first client matters moving.
Entity authorisation isn't a mystery. CILEx Regulation is checking that the firm has the right people (managers with the practice rights, experience and business skills for the work), the right plan (a viable business, tested by a 13-month cashflow forecast), the right protections (professional indemnity insurance from a qualifying insurer and a complaints procedure), and proportionate systems for compliance, including anti-money laundering arrangements where your work falls in scope of the Money Laundering Regulations.
Applications get held up by the boring things, not the hard things: incomplete manager information, insurance quotes arranged too late, or policies that obviously came out of a drawer. Answer everything CILEx Regulation asks for, in full, first time, and the assessment is largely a waiting game.
The relevant CILEx practice rights and experience for the work you want to do, a registered structure (usually a limited company), an Approved Manager and a Compliance Manager, a business plan and budget with a 13-month cashflow forecast, policies and procedures, client care information, and a PII quote from a qualifying insurer. DBS checks are arranged by CILEx Regulation after you submit.
CILEx Regulation aims for an initial assessment within 2 weeks and a full assessment usually within 30 days once they have everything. Many firms receive provisional authorisation first, which lets you choose when to start trading and arrange insurance to begin then. Plan for around 8 to 10 weeks end to end including preparation.
You need a quote from a qualifying insurer for the application, but you must not buy the policy until the firm is granted provisional authorisation. Get quotes early: your practice areas affect price and which insurers will quote, and the policy should start on your agreed trading date.
Yes, and for a single-manager entity it is normal. That person must be able to show the business skills CILEx Regulation looks for in managers, covering financial management, marketing and risk, and have the capacity to do both jobs properly.
No. The OrdoLux CILEx Authorisation Readiness Tool is an independent free resource built by OrdoLux Limited, a software company. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by CILEx or CILEx Regulation, and applications are made directly to CILEx Regulation by the firm. Check their current rules, guidance and fee schedules before you apply.
