Licensing of recruitment agencies in the financial services sector is only a matter of time, recruiters have heard.

Speaking at the launch of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC’s) accounting and sector group in London, Martin Tuckwell, a former City regulator, told Recruiter that after the dust settles from the fallout of the global financial crisis the issue “was going to move at quite a pace”.

“They [the Financial Services Authority] will go down the road to licensing arrangements,” he said.

Sarah Jane Trask, head of recruitment and employment services at Verridian, told Recruiter that the company had introduced an internal licensing system that could be applied more widely across the sector.

One feature is that only suitably qualified staff can deal with certain types of vacancies, she said.

Trask added that Verridian had provided the REC with the details, with a view to it becoming the industry standard.