The FSA said it expected to issue the first set of decisions on authorisation applications by the end of next week.
It said it would be sending out “minded letters to authorise” to the appropriate companies at this time.
It also predicted another surge in the number of applications from mortgage intermediaries for authorisation as 30 April approaches, the date by which applications need to be submitted to be sure of authorisation by 31 October.
The regulator said it would make every effort to ensure that application packs received after 30 April were processed in time for the 31 October M Day, although it could not guarantee this.
Under the Financial Services and Markets Act the FSA has six months from the date an application is received to make a decision on a complete application.
At the end of the early application discount period, 31 March, the FSA said it had received 4,229 applications, of which more than 70% were from mortgage firms. The majority of these applications were submitted electronically.
