The PRA has published details of its fees for 2025/26.
The Total Funding Requirement (TFR) will be �350.2m, 0.8% lower than the 2024/25 TFR of �353m.
The Annual Funding Requirement (AFR) for 2025/26 is �336.4m, up �5.1m from 2024/25 AFR of �331.3 million, and �7.7m higher than that proposed due to the PRA receiving an increased allocation of the BoE�s wider investment portfolio and central support costs, partially offset by a decrease in the pensions provision.
The FCA has published its final policy on removing specified reporting and notification requirements: FSA039 – Client money and client assets; RMA-F – Section F of the Retail Mediation Activities Return...
The BoE has published the results of the Independent Evaluation Office’s evaluation of whether it uses horizon scanning effectively to inform decision making. The evaluation was commissioned by the BoE Court of...
The PRA has published the results of its annual feedback survey. Overall, the PRA scored higher in most topics than in 2023, with the most positive scores being given for the effectiveness of the relationship with the...
The FCA has secured a guilty plea from John Burford in a £1m investment fraud case. As sole director of Financial Trading Strategies Limited, Mr Burford had promoted a paid-for subscription service offering daily trade...
The FCA has published its latest Handbook Notice, which includes amendments relating to: the updated Enforcement Guide (now ENFG), and consequential amendments throughout the Handbook; the introduction of the PISCES...
The PSR has published a consultation on revoking Specific Direction 4, which requires the operator of the LINK payment system to undertake a competitive procurement for the infrastructure required to run it every 10...
The FCA has published the findings of its multi-firm review on enterprise and liquidity risk management and wind-down planning at e-money and payments firms. Of the 14 firms reviewed, the FCA said none fully met its...
Nikhil Rathi – FCA Chief Executive – has delivered a speech on the future of the UK financial market at TheCityUK’s annual conference. The speech highlighted the UK’s position as a leading...
The PRA has published its annual report for 2024/25, and a second report on its secondary competitiveness and growth objective. The annual report outlines the PRA’s achievements in advancing its statutory...
Victoria Cleland – BoE Executive Director of Payments – has delivered a speech at the UK Finance Digital Innovation Summit on the success of the renewed Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) service, and ongoing...
HM Treasury and the US Treasury – forming the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group – have published a joint statement outlining discussion points from their June meeting. The meeting emphasised ongoing...
The FCA is continuing its mortgage rule review with a discussion paper on the future of the mortgage market, following a call for evidence on the interest rate ‘stress test’ rule and consultation on...
The BoE has launched a distributed ledger technology (DLT) innovation challenge in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub London Centre. The challenge aims to engage with the private...
The FCA, PRA, BoE and PSR have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperating and coordinating their functions in relation to UK payments. Since the last review in December 2024, the regulators found that...
The FCA has published a webpage aimed at consumers, providing details of their rights when agreeing to a recurring card payment (or continuous payment authority) and how to deal with fees incurred after cancellation...
The FCA has published a webpage setting out when and how to notify it or the PRA about certain events. FCA-supervised firms are encouraged to use the notification form in SUP15, and dual-regulated firms are encouraged...
The BoE has renewed its Statement of Commitment to the FX Global Code, based on the revised code dated December 2024. The Code sets out good practice in the FX market, and in signing the renewed statement, the BoE...
The FCA has secured convictions against Redinel Korfuzi and his sister Oerta Korfuzi for insider dealing and money laundering offences from which they had earned over �1m.
Redinel Korfuzi was a research analyst at an asset management firm, and between December 2019 and March 2021 conspired with his sister to use confidential price-sensitive information to deal in the shares of at least 13 publicly traded companies ahead of market announcements. The relevant trades were executed using contracts for difference (CFDs), and were detected by the FCA’s market monitoring system, despite arrangements which were designed to obfuscate Korfuzi’s involvement.
During the relevant period, the Korfuzis had also received cash derived from the proceeds of crime totalling �198,210. The FCA plans to apply for confiscation orders in order to recover these monies.
The PSR has published its 2024-25 Consumer Research report, which aimed to understand the influences behind consumer payment choices, how consumers behaved in different circumstances, and what they required of their payments systems.
Key findings included:
Payment behaviours are guided by context and rooted in habit;
Consumers are largely satisfied with payment systems and feel that payments are working well:
95% of consumers agree that payment systems in the UK are working well;
92% say that they can make and receive payments in a timely manner; and
87% feel their money is secure when they make payments in the UK;
However, 41% worried about the possibility of fraud (a particular concern for financially constrained consumers) and 39% experiencing limited choice in payments;
Consumers are confident about prioritising different needs for different payments:
Ease of use is consumers� top priority for lower value payment types, closely followed by speed;
Protection and security are the top priorities for higher value payments, with 42% of consumers preferring credit cards for higher value items; and
For recurring payments, reliability was key: 74% of consumers preferred to use direct debits or standing orders for their utility bills, and about two-thirds for rent or mortgages and entertainment subscriptions;
Contactless card payments remain the most frequently used payment type, with younger consumers significantly more likely to use mobile wallets regularly. A third of customers said they used contactless payments more than they did last year due to convenience, and they trust them more than they did previously; and
The majority of consumers felt positive and reassured when informed about the PSR�s recently introduced APP fraud reimbursement policy.
The FCA has published the findings of the winners of its inaugural economic research competition on growth, competitiveness and regulation in UK financial services. The competition involved funding 3-month long projects, with researchers awarded up to �30,000.
The successful projects were:
What factors affect the demand for finance and longevity of newly listed firms? – University of Birmingham
Tail risk and consumer protection: implications for growth – University College London
Improving productivity measurement in the UK financial services sector – London School of Economics
Measuring transmission risk in UK financial services – Fathom Consulting
International competitiveness in the UK financial services sector – University of Edinburgh
UK financial services � a data-driven overview for the FCA – Beauhurst
HM Treasury has confirmed which firms operating in the wholesale cash distribution system have been recognised under Part 5A of the Banking Act, which gives it the power to specify persons involved in wholesale cash...
The FCA has published a statement on its commitment to growth, highlighting measures such as: making it easier for companies to list; setting out a roadmap for crypto regulation; reimagining financial advice and...
A report from the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee has concluded that the FCA and PRA’s secondary international competitiveness and growth objective is being held back by a culture of risk...
The FCA has published findings from its review of advice consumers receive on meeting their income needs in retirement. In 2023, the FCA reviewed a sample of 28 firms, including a desk-based review of firms’...
The FCA has outlined how it is working with the ICO to help firms use AI responsibly, while protecting consumers and encouraging innovation. The FCA and ICO see regulation as “a bridge, not a barrier”, and...
Following considerable sector backlash over – and the FCA’s subsequent revision of – proposals to introduce increase transparency in enforcement with a ‘public interest’ test, the FCA has...
Following almost 17 years of public ownership, the Government has completed its final sale of shares in NatWest Group.
The Government’s involvement with Natwest – formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS – arose when it intervened during the financial crisis to prevent the bank’s collapse. During 2008 and 2009, it provided �45.5bn of funding to stabilise the bank, of which around �35bn has been returned to the Government via the share sales, dividends and fees. The Office for Budget Responsibility highlighted that this shortfall is far less than the economic harm that would have resulted from no intervention.
The exit from NatWest means that the Government has now concluded all banking sector interventions made during the financial crisis.
The PRA has published its regulatory digest, summarising important developments delivered in May 2025. Key publications included: Consultation on Pillar 2A Phase 1 capital review Updates in respect of the PRA’s...
The FCA has welcomed a joint statement from the Investment Association, Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association, and Alternative Investment Management Association, supporting faster settlement of...
The FCA has published a research note�on the effectiveness of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT series in consumer-facing financial services.
The research conducted two pilot projects: asking GPT models to generate simplified definitions of complex financial terms, tailored to specific reading ages and supported by examples; and comparing the effectiveness of consumer guidance on cash savings queries generated by LLMs with responses under a traditional website FAQ format.
The key findings were as follows:
While LLMs have strong potential to simplify complex information, enhance readability and accessibility, validating their outputs requires a robust evaluation framework that combines human judgment with automation.
LLM effectiveness is dependent on context – outcomes like user comprehension and engagement were influenced by how the model was embedded within the customer journey, including design and delivery.
There is a strong appetite for AI-drive assistance, with many users responding positively to automated support.
The FCA has also published an engagement paper which outlines proposals for live AI model testing pilots.
Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, has delivered a speech on trade in goods and financial services at the Irish Association of Investment Managers Annual Dinner in Dublin. Bailey highlighted the importance...
The FCA has announced that Chris Pond will take over as chair of its Financial Services Consumer Panel from 2 June 2025. The independent panel provides advice and represents the interests of consumers in assisting the...
The Upper Tribunal has upheld the FCA’s decision to ban Toni Fox and David Price from working in financial services, revoke their senior management approvals, and impose substantial financial penalties. As directors of...
Nikhil Rathi – FCA Chief Executive – has written a letter to Which?, after the organisation delivered a petition backed by 170,000 signatories, asking the FCA to toughen up its regulation of insurance...
The LSB has published new research which found significant inconsistencies with customers’ experiences with financial services provider ‘webchat’ services, including considerably differences in functions supported by AI...
The FCA has updated its guidance for insolvency practitioners appointed over regulated firms. Where an insolvency practitioner is appointed over a regulated firm – in an insolvency process such as administration...
Business Agent Limited, trading as NextCrowd and NextFin, has entered administration. The FCA had placed restrictions on the company in July 2024 following significant regulatory breaches. Louise Longley and Julian...
The FCA has published findings from its 2024 Financial Lives survey. Key findings from the latest report include: 1 in 10 people have no cash savings at all, and another 21% have less than £1,000 to draw on in an...
Following HM Treasury’s publication of draft legislation enabling full FSMA-style regulation of activities relating to crypto-assets, the FCA is now seeking views on the regulation of cryptoasset trading platforms...
The FCA has issued a first supervisory notice on Direct Trading Technologies (DTT), preventing it from carrying on any regulated activities and restricting access to its clients. The restrictions require DTT to ensure...
On 30 April 2025, the Treasury Committee heard evidence from the FCA as part of an inquiry on finfluencers. Steve Smart, Joint Executive Director for Enforcement and Market Oversight, and Lucy Casteldine, Director of...
The PSR has published its annual plan and budget for 2025/26, highlighting its work in the coming year as it approaches consolidation with the FCA. In the meantime, the PSR retains its remit and powers pending...
BTCMining Limited – a cryptoasset business registered in the UK – has been shut down following an Insolvency Service investigation and a High Court winding up hearing on 29 April 2025. The Insolvency Service...
The BoE’s updated RTGS service – RT2 – went live on 28 April 2025. RT2 is set to support the BoE’s strategic objectives for RTGS and CHAPS, and to drive innovation and competition in wholesale...
UK Finance has published the third version of its Financial Abuse Code, which is designed to increase understanding amongst firms of how to identify signs of economic abuse suffered by their customers, and provides...
Per its announcement in February 2025, the FCA has confirmed that it will not be publishing a policy statement on plans to extend the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels regime to...
Therese Chambers, FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight – has delivered a speech on the FCA’s agenda for combatting market abuse, at the City and Financial Global Market Abuse and...
HM Treasury has outlined new rules which will require banks and other payment service providers (PSPs) to give customers 90 days’ notice before closing an account or terminating a payment service. Relevant firms...
Jessica Rusu – FCA Chief Data, Information and Intelligence Officer – has delivered a speech on global responses to digital asset regulation at TheCityUK International Conference 2025. Rusu highlighted the...
The BoE has set out key elements of its 2025 stress test of UK central counterparties (CCPs), and published a spreadsheet containing risk factor shocks for each market stress scenario. This year’s test will focus...
The FCA has confirmed that from 30 April 2025, it will no longer issue and publish portfolio letters to firms. Instead, it will publish a small number of market reports that include communications relevant to different...
The FCA has published a webpage targeted at international wholesale firms looking to undertake activities in the UK. The guidance sets out: Minimum standards for authorisation, including details on the threshold...
The Treasury Committee will hear evidence from the FCA as part of an inquiry on finfluencers at a meeting on 30 April 2025. Evidence will be heard from Steve Smart, Joint Executive Director for Enforcement and Market...
The PRA has published a policy statement setting out its updated requirements on the identification and management of step-in risk The new rules – based on Basel Committee on Banking Supervision guidelines –...
The PSR has considered changes in the payments landscape from consumer, merchant and industry perspectives. For consumers, the PSR notes growth in digital payments and digital wallets technology. Cards remain the most...
The PSR has published a summary of discussion points at the stakeholder roundtables it conducted in July 2024 on scheme and processing fees. The discussion on remedies was split into four sections, each focusing on a...
The first pension provider has successfully connected to the live pensions dashboard system, following the DWP’s staged timetable. The development follows the three volunteer participant connection journeys...
The BoE has published its credit conditions survey for Q1 2025. The quarterly survey covers secured and unsecured lending to households, and lending to non-financial corporations, non-bank financial firms and small...
Therese Chambers – FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight – has delivered a speech on delivering enforcement priorities at the Spring Conference of NYU’s Program on Corporate...
For the first time, the FCA has established a presence in the US and Asia-Pacific. In the US, Tash Miah has joined the British Embassy in Washington DC. Miah will work closely with the Department for Business and Trade...
TheCityUK has published a response to HM Treasury’s call for evidence on AI in financial services. The industry-led body supports the aim of the inquiry and the Treasury Committee’s work on ensuring the UK...
HM Treasury and the FCA have held their fourth annual meeting on issues relating to the regulatory perimeter. The meeting noted the government’s strong commitment to the FCA’s secondary competitiveness and...
The FCA has published a multi-firm review assessing the business models, products and services of trading app firms. The review aims to support new firms and traditional investment brokers seeking to offer such...
The PSR had planned to consult in April 2025 on adopting Reporting Standard B and whether to put in place regulatory requirements for Pay.UK’s reimbursement claims management system. Having considered stakeholder...
The BoE has published an experiment report on whether it is feasible to implement an offline payment functionality for a digital pound. The report concluded that while it might be technically possible to introduce such...
The FCA has concluded a 6-week policy sprint on new ways to assist consumers in making important investment decisions. The initiative is part of the FCA’s work on targeted support and bridging the gap between...
The Government has confirmed the reappointment of Nikhil Rathi as Chief Executive of the FCA. His second five-year term will last until September 2030. The FCA highlighted a series of recent policy changes introduced...
The BoE has published the results of its H1 2025 Systemic Risk Survey. The survey aims to quantify and track market participants’ views of risks to – and their confidence in – the stability of the UK...
The PSR has appointed Claire Simpson as interim Head of Policy. Ms Simpson previously led the PSR’s work on APP scams. Her appointment is effectively immediately, and she replaces Kate Fitzgerald, who leaves the...
The CMA has published guidance on provisions in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC) designed to protect consumers from unfair trading. The provisions replace and update the existing Consumer...
The CMA has written a letter to Lloyds Banking Group in relation to the bank’s breaches of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. Part 5 (Payment Transactions Histories) of the Retail Banking Market...
The PRA has launched a consultation on reforming the Matching Adjustment application process, by introducing a Matching Adjustment Investment Accelerator (MAIA) permission to reduce barriers to investment by insurers...
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has nominated Andrew Bailey – BoE Governor – to serve as its next chair, replacing Klaas Knot – President of De Nederlandsche Bank. His term will last for three...
Laura Wallis – PRA Director of UK Deposit Takers – has written a letter setting out the PRA’s approach to Credit Union Service Organisations (CUSOs). The PRA has observed increased interest from credit...
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published guidance on financial sanctions aimed at insolvency practitioners and firms. The publication comes after insolvency practitioners have been added to...
The FOS has published its plans and budget for 2025/26.
It expects to resolve 270,000 this financial year, a 20% increase compared to last year. To ensure fairness and value for money, it has maintained case fees for businesses at �650, and introduced a new fee model for professional representatives.
The ambitious case resolution target comes despite a considerable increase in complaints, particularly in relation to motor finance commission, which account for almost half of the FOS’s current 190,000 cases.
During the consultation stage, the FOS expected that it would receive around 240,000 cases in 2025/26. It now expects this figure to be closer to 209,000. This remains a slight increase compared to 2022/23 and 2023/24, but is a significant drop from the 330,000 cases the FOS predicts it will have received over 2024/25 as a result of motor finance commission complaints.
The FOS will publish full complaints data for 2024/25 during the summer.
The FCA has updated its webpage on cash-based money laundering, which sets out the regulator’s recent work on reducing money laundering through cash deposits via the Post Office, and its expectations of...
The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a review of the SME Banking (Behavioural) Undertakings given in 2002 by nine clearing banks following a market investigation by the then Competition Commission...
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fair Banking has published a report on APP fraud, considering its scale and impact, and the effectiveness of associated regulation. The report concludes that while significant...
The PRA has fined Mr George Hambro – former notified non-executive director of Wyelands Bank Plc – £72,000 for breaching Individual Conduct Rule 2. Rule 2 states that individuals must act with due skill...
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published guidance on financial sanctions aimed at letting agents. The publication comes after letting agents have been added to the list of “relevant...
The PRA has published its regulatory digest, summarising important developments delivered in March 2025. Key publications included: Confirmation of the FSCS management expenses levy limit for 2025/26; Proposals to...
From 1 April 2025, professional representatives will be charged �250 to refer a case to the FOS.
Professional representatives will be able to refer ten cases to the FOS for free, but every subsequent case will be chargeable. They will receive �175 back in credit if the case outcome is in favour of the consumer.
The new rules also mean that if a complaint referred by a professional representative is not upheld or withdrawn, the financial business against whom the complaint was made will pay a reduced fee of �475, rather than �650.
The FOS remains free to those bringing cases directly, as well as to families, friends, charities and voluntary organisations who may be assisting them.
The PRA has set out proposals to raise the deposit protection limit of the FSCS from £85,000 to £110,000. The proposed increase takes into account inflation that has occurred since the current limit was introduced in...
The NCA has published its annual report on suspicious activity reports (SARs), covering April 2023 – March 2024. The report shows a 1.5% increase in the total number of SARs (872,048) compared to the previous year...
The FCA has launched its new portal – My FCA – as a single point of sign in for reporting tasks like submitting regulatory data and paying fees. Previously, firms needed to sign in to 3 different systems...
The FCA has published its latest Handbook Notice, which confirms the following updates: Amendments to FEES including to: Add the 2025/26 management expenses levy limit figures; Increase registration fees for small...
The PRA has published a policy statement setting out the Management Expenses Levy Limit (MELL) for the FSCS in 2025/26. The MELL for 2025/26 will be taken forward as proposed, namely £108.6m to include: the FSCS...
The FSB has announced the establishment of a Forum on Cross-Border Payments Data, as a result of its recommendations for cross-border data frameworks published in December 2024. The Forum will bring together experts in...
An enhanced Free Trade Agreement between the UK and Switzerland has been through a sixth round of negotiations between 3 and 10 March 2025. The Government considers that free trade agreements have an important role to...
The BoE has launched its 2025 Bank Capital Stress Test, aimed at the seven largest and most systemic UK banks and building societies. The test replaces the Annual Cyclical Scenario, and involves a hypothetical stress...
The FCA has launched a market study into the effectiveness of the distribution of pure protection insurance products. While the FCA has seen indications of good outcomes for consumers, and low complaints figures, there...
In its first enforcement action against a UK recognised investment exchange, the FCA has fined London Metal Exchange (LME) £9.2m for failing to have adequate systems and controls in place to deal with severe market...
The Chancellor has published details of the launch of the procurement process for the pilot Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) issuance, which was announced in the November 2024 Mansion House speech. The Government hopes...
The Chancellor has hosted senior representatives from the fintech sector to discuss new draft legislation which will streamline how the area is regulated. The new legislation will reform the framework under MiFID...
The Lending Standards Board has published new research which found that UK ethnic minority-led businesses (EMBs) are three times less likely (19%) than White British-led businesses (58%) to have their lending product...
HM Treasury has launched an open call for evidence on small businesses’ access to debt finance in the UK. The call for evidence covers all aspects of the lending market, demand for finance, the application and...
A permission to appeal application has been lodged at the Supreme Court in the Markou case. The application follows the Court of Appeal granting the FCA’s appeal in December 2024 against an Upper Tribunal decision which...
The FCA has set out findings from its multi-firm review of liquidity risk management at wholesale trading (sell-side) firms, particularly brokers, in scope of the Investment Firms Prudential Regime (IFPR). The review...
Laura Wiles