The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a three-year Strategy on improving outcomes of regulation and its 2022/23 Business Plan. In the 2022-2025 Strategy, the FCA outlines its expectations of financial services across all sectors, with a view to the overall outcomes that firms should achieve. There are three outcomes for both the wholesale and retail markets, which are fair value, access and confidence. An additional outcome of suitability and treatment applies for the retail markets, to ensure that consumers are treated well and are sold products and services that are suitable for them. The 2022/23 Business Plan sets out the detailed work that the FCA will undertake over the next year to meet the commitments made in its Strategy.
The FCA commits to focusing on the following three areas to create conditions for financial services firms to deliver the outcomes set out in its Strategy:
- Reducing and preventing serious harm
The FCA will be: (i) dealing with problem firms that don’t meet the minimum standards; (ii) improving the redress framework so that consumers have access to appropriate redress when things go wrong; (iii) reducing harms from firms failing; (iv) improving the appointed representative regime by increasing supervision at the gateway and improving the AR regime; (v) measurably reducing financial crime and the risk of financial crime; and (vi) delivering assertive action on market abuse, including by upgrading its market surveillance systems.
- Setting and testing higher standards
The FCA intends to act to: (i) put customers’ needs first by introducing the new Consumer Duty and (ii) enable consumers to help themselves by tackling misleading financial promotions. In addition, the FCA will continue to pursue its environmental, social and governance priorities and take steps to minimize operational disruption, including through the operational resilience framework.
- Promoting competition and positive change
The FCA will adapt to the new regulatory framework that is being discussed under the
Future Regulatory Framework Review, and will continue to take action to strengthen the U.K.’s position in the wholesale markets by being agile in adapting regulatory rules to the U.K.’s position outside of the EU. Furthermore, the FCA intends to be proactive in developing its regulatory approach to digital markets.
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