Duration of authorisation
16.—(1) An authorisation granted to the provider of a service by a competent authority under an authorisation scheme must be for an indefinite period, except where—
(a)the authorisation—
(i)is automatically renewed, or
(ii)is subject only to the continued fulfilment of requirements,
(b)the number of available authorisations is limited by an overriding reason relating to the public interest, or
(c)a limited authorisation period can be justified by an overriding reason relating to the public interest.
(2) This does not prevent the setting of a maximum period before the end of which the provider of the service must actually commence the activity after receiving authorisation.
(3) The provider of the service must inform the competent authority of the following changes—
(a)the creation of subsidiaries whose activities fall within the scope of the authorisation scheme;
(b)changes in the provider’s situation that result in the conditions for authorisation no longer being met.
(4) This regulation does not prevent revocation or suspension of an authorisation when the conditions for authorisation are no longer met.