FCA publishes work programme 2025-6

The FCA has published its work programme for 2025-26, which builds on the 4 priority areas in its 5 year plan. Specific initiatives additional to those set out in the 5 year plan (which we summarised in this article) include:

• simplifying conduct rules for commercial insurance business;
• developing the regulatory framework for open finance, prioritising SME lending;
• work on the prospectus regime including giving companies the ability to make public offers on a regulated platform without a prospectus, making it easier for companies to issue lower denomination bonds and enabling PISCES to let private companies scale more easily;
• simplifying wholesale market rules;
• improving access to help, advice and guidance for consumers and amending investment product disclosure rules;
• bringing in pro-competitiveness reforms to remuneration rules;
• making the SMCR more efficient and outcomes-focussed;
• simplifying the retail funds regime, “rightsizing” the wholesale regime and enabling better use of technology;
• planning to consult on all crypto activities during 2025 with a view to issuing policy statements in 2026;
• continuing to share good and poor practices on Consumer Duty compliance;
• consulting (in May) on making remortgaging, term reductions and non-advised mortgage discussions and (in June) on the future of the mortgage market;
• progressing BNPL regulation;
• proactive assessment of AML systems and controls for firms deemed high risk; and
• building a new data-led detection capability to bring together multiple data sets.

The programme also explains how much the FCA plans to invest in key issues and projects, including:

• £6.9m on its review of DCA complaints in the motor finance markets;
• £7.8m on crypto regulation (while returning £1m set aside for crypto financial promotions that was not used);
• £9m on the Smarter Regulatory Framework on repeal of assimilated EU law and its replacement with appropriate UK requirements;
• £3.7m on the Advice Guidance Boundary Review; and
• £3.2m on Open Banking and Open Finance.