Lords Committee publishes FCA enforcement position letter

The House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee has published a letter from Nikhil Rathi answering some questions the Committee has asked following the FCA’s appearance before them. The letter mainly tracks the content of the FCA’s second consultation paper, but puts a little gloss on the FCA’s views on which of the investigations currently underway would have been likely to be publicised, naming the firm. As the FCA had already noted, of its current 41 open investigations, 23 are already in the public domain.  Of the rest, it is possible that it might, under the new test, be in the public interest to publicise them on a named basis, and 2 more on an anonymised basis. The letter also notes that the FCA anticipates opening 1-12 investigations each year and would expect the new policy to lead to publication of the investigation in only a small number of cases.

The letter also notes:

• that the FCA has seen a significant increase in whistleblower reports in relation to non-financial misconduct, but it recognises there is still work to do to solve some of the concerns whistleblowers have about engaging with the FCA; and
• that there are no real comparators with global regulators against which to benchmark the FCA’s proposals, although the letter notes that both the Singaporean and Australian regulators may disclose things that are in the public interest.