In its Business Plan for 2024-25, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out an ambitious programme of work for the final year of its 3-year strategy to achieve better outcomes for consumers and markets. Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA, said: “We’ve already made significant progress in delivering against the bold vision we set out in our strategy two years ago, including the game-changing introduction of the Consumer Duty and proposing the most far-reaching reforms to wholesale market regulation and the listing regime in decades. We remain resolute in supporting the vital role the financial sector plays in the UK’s long-term economic growth, embracing the potential benefits that technology presents both for us and the firms we regulate, while also continuing to protect consumers and ensure market integrity.”
The FCA will continue to deliver the 13 commitments in its strategy, which focuses on preventing serious harm, setting higher standards and promoting competition. Specific issues it will prioritise include:
* Protecting consumers by testing if firms are meeting the high standards set by the Consumer Duty, supporting people’s long term financial wellbeing through the Advice Guidance Boundary Review and making sure pension products deliver value for money.
* Contributing to UK competitiveness and growth by improving the attractiveness and reach of UK wholesale markets, supporting firms to invest, innovate and expand through our innovation services and continuing to make it quicker and easier for firms to apply for authorisation.
* Building on the significant progress already made to become a world-class data-led regulator by automating more of its analytics tools to help detect and respond to consumer harms faster and working with firms on the safe deployment of artificial intelligence.
The planned programme of work builds on the progress made over recent years to become a more outcomes-based, assertive and data-led regulator. The introduction of the Consumer Duty marked a major shift by setting higher and clearer standards of consumer protection and has already led to firms making changes to savings rates and fees.
The FCA is making better use of data to spot and stop harm faster and is being tougher on the firms that could cause harm. It removed over 10,000 potentially misleading adverts in 2023 and sent out 2,243 warnings about unauthorised firms and individuals. It also more than doubled the number of firm permissions cancelled, compared to the previous year, for failing to meet its minimum standards.
It has adapted its rules and improved its processes to ensure the UK remains an attractive place to invest. This includes proposing the most far-reaching package of reforms to the listing regime for decades to encourage a greater range of companies to list in the UK and compete on the global stage.
