Metroline Travel Ltd v Taylor A bus driver was dismissed for gross misconduct after fighting with a driver from another company. He brought a claim for unfair dismissal. The employment tribunal (ET) upheld his claim...
Category - Topics
Karen Plumbley-JonesOFSI publishes property services threat assessment
OFSI has published its latest “threat assessment” for the property and related services sector. The assessment, an update of the 2022 assessment, is relevant to all firms and sole practitioners involved in...
Emma RadmoreFCA establishes US and APAC presence
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...
Laura WilesFCA publishes update on PISCES and pre-application support
On 10 April 2025, the FCA released a statement following its December 2024 consultation on the regulatory framework for the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) (CP 24/29). The FCA...
Ella MarshTheCityUK publishes response to call for evidence on AI
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...
FCA updates Regulatory Initiatives Grid
The updated Regulatory Initiatives Grid highlights many initiatives for various regulators relevant to the financial markets, including: during 2025: further action plan on FCA requirements in light of Consumer Duty...
Companies House changes – get ready for identity verification
We’ve written this article on the identity verification reforms being introduced under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
FCA reviews bereavement and PoA registration practices
The FCA has published a multi-firm review of how retail banks and building societies treat customers in financial difficulties, building on its previous review of life insurers’ bereavement claim processes. It...
LSB to publish Ethnic Minority-led Business Code
The LSB has developed a Code aimed at improving access to financial services for ethnic minority-led businesses following research that shows a disproportionate amount of these businesses face difficulties getting...
Treasury and FCA hold perimeter meeting
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...
FCA publishes multi-firm review of trading apps
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...
PSR defers APP claims management system consultation
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...
BoE publishes digital pound report and design note
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...
FCA finishes consumer investment policy sprint
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...
PRA publishes Fees and Levies rates proposals for 2025/26
The PRA today published its CP 8/25, setting out its proposals for fees and levies for the current year.
The Annual Funding Requirement, to cover the PRA’s ongoing regulatory activities, is �328.7m, down �2.6m from last year; similarly, the Total Funding Requirement, which comprises the AFR and other levies, is down by �10.5m from last year, to �342.5m.
Points of interest from the consultation include an outline of how the PRA will be funding work on Future Banking Data, which will build on the Banking Data Review and the ongoing collaboration with the FCA around Transforming Data Collection.
Deletion of underused or duplicative templates will be consulted on, and a firm-facing portal will be developed, facilitating interaction with the PRA, presumably along the same lines as the recently-launched MyFCA.
Stephen WilsonFCA updates Lords Committee on work plan
The FCA has written to the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee describing the 2025/6 work programme.� It highlights:
the new dedicated authorisation officers for sandbox firms;
streamlining data collection – including FCA’s decision already to stop 3 regular returns, which will benefit 16,000 firms;
ensuring cost-effective access to help, guidance and advice for consumers; and
increasing identification of financial crime by using a new data-led detection capability
FCA refreshes Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee membership
The FCA has renamed the former ESG Advisory Committee and it is now the Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee. The Committee advises the FCA board on emerging sustainability issues, including ensuring the FCA has...
FCA reappoints Nikhil Rathi as Chief Executive
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...
PRA publishes Business Plan
The PRA’s 2025/6 Business Plan focuses on: significant work already completed on competitiveness and growth – such as the capital requirements to support SME and infrastructure lending, making the Solvency...
BoE publishes results of H1 2025 Systemic Risk Survey
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...
PSR appoints interim Head of Policy
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...
Commons publishes access to cash findings
The House of Commons library has published a report that gives an overview of the policy relating to closure of bank and building society branches and initiatives to protect access to cash. The report includes: how...
FPC looks at role and risks of AI
As part of its “Financial Stability in Focus” work, the FPC has published a paper looking at how the rapid pace of development in firms’ use of AI can cause uncertainties and how these may translate...
FPC publishes April update
The FPC met on 4 and 8 April to consider the uncertainties caused by deterioration in the global risk environment. Its headline conclusions are that: severe shocks are more likely and the growth outlook has weakened;...
PRA writes to CFOs on significant risk transfer financing
The PRA has written to CFOs of banks highlighting some concerns over whether firms are applying the right regulatory capital approach to the substance of financing transactions. It has become particularly concerned...
Michael LewisFCA 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)...
CMA publishes guidance on unfair commercial practices
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...
CMA writes to Lloyds on breach of Retail Banking Order
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...
PRA consults on accelerating investment by insurance firms
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...
FCA publishes its proposal for annual fees and levies rates for 2025/2026
Today the FCA published consultation paper CP 25/7, setting out its proposals for the fees and levies to be imposed on the financial services industry to fund the FCA and FOS for the coming financial year.
Key points of interest are:
This year’s Annual Funding Requirement is �783.5m, an increase 2.5% from last year – this is to cover ongoing regulatory activities and exceptional projects;
The FOS budget for this year is �285.1m, up from �264.9m last year;
The FCA will start to recover costs for two exceptional projects, namely the ESG ratings providers work, and the motor finance complaints pieces;
The FEES manual is being amended to bring it in line with the MLRs and to allow FCA to recover costs arising from the appointment of skilled persons to firms supervised under the MLRs.
FSB nominates Andrew Bailey as chair
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...
FCA and Treasury consult on AIFM regulation reform
HM Treasury is consulting on proposed changes to the laws affecting AIFMs and the FCA has published a call for input seeking views on its own proposals. The Treasury consultation focuses on the areas of the UK...
PRA sets out approach to credit union service organisations
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...
OFSI publishes financial sanctions guidance for insolvency practitioners
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...
Employment legislation update March 2025
Employment Rights Bill – this had its second reading in the House of Lords on 27 March. The Committee stage is due to start on 29 April. The Bill contains numerous provisions, which include: Employees will have the...
Employment cases update – March 2025
Higgs v Farmor’s School [2025] EWCA Civ 109 A school dismissed a Christian employee for posts she had made on her personal Facebook page that criticised the nature of sex education in schools and the teaching of...
Treasury assesses Women in Finance Charter progress
HM Treasury has published its annual report assessing how the Women in Finance Charter has progressed. It says that in 2024 80% of the 205 signatories met or were on track to meet their targets for female representation...
FCA publishes final rules on derivatives trading obligation
The FCA has published a policy statement on the derivates trading obligation (DTO) and post-trade risk reduction services. The policy statement includes the FCA’s final rules on the classes of secured overnight...
Regulators consult on mortgage lending threshold raise
The PRA and the FCA are consulting on amendments to the PRA Rulebook and the FCA Guidance on the de minimis threshold for the Loan to Income flow limit in mortgage lending.
The Financial Policy Committee has recommended increasing the volume of mortgages that a lender needs to make to trigger the LTI flow limit, from �100m to �150m per 4 rolling quarters. The PRA Rules and FCA guidance need to be updated to reflect this. The change would address inadvertent regulatory tightening that would bring more lenders within the rules if the thresholds stayed unchanged.
Consultation closes on 8 May – the consultation period is short because of the narrow scope of the change.
FOS sets out 2025/26 plans and budget
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.
FCA pleased with sustainability feedback
The FCA has published a summary of the feedback it received to its 2023 Discussion Paper on “finance for positive sustainable change“. Key themes from responses included: agreeing that it is important that...
John ConnorICO review of firms’ use of children’s data
The ICO has published a report of its findings of a review which took place over six months last year of over 40 participant financial services firms’ use of children’s’ data. Providers of products...
AFME updates MiFIR and MiFID implementation guide
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has updated its implementation guide for firms operating in secondary capital markets to take account of MiFIR and MiFID II reforms in the UK and EU. The guide...
FCA updates cash-based money laundering webpage
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...
CMA consults on SME banking undertakings
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...
APPG on Fair Banking publishes APP fraud report
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...
PRA fines former NED for Individual Conduct Rule breaches
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...
PSR consults on scheme and processing fees
Following the report it prepared into the scheme and processing fees charged by Visa and Mastercard, PSR has set out a number of proposed remedies on which it is consulting: requiring Mastercard and Visa to provide more...
OFSI publishes financial sanctions guidance for letting agents
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...
EU Sustainable Finance advisory group suggests changes to Climate Delegated Act and taxonomy
The Platform on Sustainable Finance, which advises the European Commission, has published an independent report on advancing sustainable finance. The European Commission had asked it to: review and recommend any...
PRA publishes regulatory digest
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...
FOS fees for CMCs come into force
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.
FCA updates on motor finance complaints
FCA has further updated its page containing guidance on the handling of motor finance complaints to include the link to its submission to the Supreme Court. It had previously updated its guidance in the light of the...
FCA publishes final motor finance Supreme Court submissions
As the appeal against the Court of Appeal Decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Limited, Wrench v FirstRand Bank Limited and Hopcraft v Close Brothers has begun in the Supreme Court, FCA has published its final...
PRA proposes increasing FSCS deposit protection limit
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...
NCA publishes annual SARs report
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...
FCA launches new reporting portal
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...
FCA speaks on investment culture and pensions savings
Nikhil Rathi has spoken on how to build a healthier investment culture in a world where consumers need more from their pensions but significant immediate investment is not possible. He focussed on the need for...
Treasury updates high risk third country notice
HM Treasury has updated its high risk third country advisory notice in line with the changes announced by FATF at its last plenary session. As a reminder, the FATF changes now apply as soon as announced by FATF, so have...
Regulators publish FSCS management expenses levy limit 2025/26
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...
FSB announces establishment of Cross-Border Payments Data Forum
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...
PRA and FCA consult on margin requirements
The PRA and FCA are consulting on a proposal that would indefinitely extend the current temporary exemption for single-stock equity options and index options from the UK bilateral margining requirements. The current...
ASA confirms scope of advertising restriction on unregulated investments
Following consultation, the ASA has confirmed that the BCAP restriction on advertising “unregulated investments” applies only to financial products that a layperson would generally consider to be...
UK and Switzerland continue negotiations on enhanced trade agreement
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...
BoE speech on innovation in wholesale payments
The BoE’s Executive Director of Payments, Victoria Cleland, has given a speech at the Pay360 event highlighting the Bank’s recent efforts to further innovation in the wholesale payments field. In particular...
UK Finance publishes proliferation finance paper
UK Finance has published a paper that looks at risk management of proliferation finance risks by financial institutions. The guide looks at proliferation finance standards and regulatory frameworks in the UK and...
Insurance associations launch misconduct training programme
The MMA, IUA and LIIBA have joined together to launch a non-financial misconduct training programme, following an FCA request. The FCA’s 2024 report highlighting the issues in the wholesale speciality insurance...
FCA launches ESG ratings provider survey
The FCA is asking ESG ratings providers to complete a voluntary survey which will help to shape future regulation of ESG ratings and sustainability disclosures more generally. It wants to understand: the business models...
FOS limit increasing from 1 April
The FCA has confirmed that, in line with the policy that the FOS limit automatically adjusts to keep pace with inflation, the limits from 1 April 2025 will be £445,000 for complaints referred on or after that date about...
FCA to launch new portal
The FCA is launching its “My FCA” portal for authorised and registered firms, from 31 March. Using the portal, firms will be able to see all their reporting and attestation tasks and see useful information...
FCA gives more detail on rule streamlining
Alongside its action plan, the FCA has published details of its “Consumer Duty rule review“. It has released a feedback statement following its call for input last year when it asked firms to tell it how...
FCA publishes 5 year strategy
The FCA has launched its much-trailed 5 year strategy. It will focus on 4 priorities: being a smarter regulator; supporting sustained economic growth; helping consumers to navigate their financial lives; and fighting...
BoE launches 2025 Bank Capital Stress Test
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 IA says CCIs must learn the lessons from PRIIPs
The IA’s response to the FCA’s consultation on the new product information framework for Consumer Composite Investments says it is crucial that the new framework genuinely results in a better information set...
OFSI annual review shows £25bn frozen Russian assets
The OFSI annual review for 2023-4 shows that as of March 2024, the UK Government had designated over 2,000 entities and individuals under the Russia sanctions regime and frozen £25bn worth of Russian assets. It...
EU think tank proposes SME sustainable finance framework to encourage lending
EU advisory body the Platform on Sustainable Finance has proposed a streamlined, voluntary framework for financial institutions to classify loans or other types of financing provided to SMEs as sustainable finance. It...
FCA launches study into fair value in the pure protection market
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...
FCA issues first enforcement action and fine against a Recognised Investment Exchange
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...
FCA calls for evidence on MCOB interest rate stress test rule
The FCA has published an online call for evidence on the impact of the MCOB rule on the mortgage interest stress test. The call for evidence looks particularly at MCOB 11.6.18R and is part of the FCA’s review of...
Companies House launches Authorised Corporate Service Provider registration service
On 18 March 2025, Companies House launched a new service enabling eligible third-party corporate service providers to apply to register as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). This initiative aims to enhance...
Government launches procurement process for pilot Digital Gilt Instrument issuance
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...
Chancellor to streamline fintech regulation
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...
Treasury publishes MiFID Org Reg reform draft
HM Treasury has published a near-final version of legislation to reform the MiFID Organisation Regulation. The policy note accompanying the draft explains that: Treasury needs, in law, to restate elements of the...
FCA refuses crypto-application on harm basis
The FCA has published its decision notice explaining why it has refused the application of Zeux Limited for registration as a crypto firm under the MLRs. The firm submitted its application in 2022. The FCA decided that...
FCA decides to fine and ban Crispin Odey
The FCA has published a decision notice of a fine of £1.8m and ban on Crispin Odey for his actions in, in its view, deliberately acting to frustrate Odey Asset Management’s disciplinary process into his conduct...
Chancellor unveils more red tape cutting
The Chancellor has unveiled more detail of the plans to cut the administrative cost of regulation on business, at a meeting attended by, among others, the PRA, FCA and ICO. The plans are wide ranging across all areas of...
More ECCTA provisions take effect
The 4th Commencement Order for the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 brings into force: on 18 March, the remainder of the provisions on the procedure for verifying identity, authorisation of corporate...
FCA consults on removing contactless limit
The FCA is asking for views on whether it would be a good thing to remove the contactless limit, and has published an “engagement paper” to seek views. The suggestion is all part of the work to support...
Treasury publishes AML/CFT supervision report
Treasury has published its supervision report 2023-4 for AML and CFT – the 12th report in all. The report is wider-ranging than previous years, including things like metrics on guidance and training that...
LSB finds ethnic minority-led businesses less likely to have full loan applications approved
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...
Treasury launches call for evidence on small business access to finance
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...
OFSI updates sanctions FAQs
OFSI has updated its UK financial sanctions FAQs with 13 new questions about what “relevant firms” need to do to comply with their reporting obligations. The questions include answers on how the obligations...
FCA updates guidance and case studies on individual approvals
The FCA has updated its website on applying for SMFs and for approved person status within AR firms and has also shared some new case studies on what it looks for when assessing a senior manager application. It looks at...
PSR updates on scam data publication plans
The PSR has outlined how it plans to publish APP scam data for 2024. Before the mandatory reimbursement requirement came into force in October, it published data annually. For the last cycle of 2024, it is planning to...
FCA drops enforcement transparency and DEI proposals
The FCA has confirmed it will not be taking forward its controversial proposals to publicise investigations into regulated firms on a “public interest” basis. Nikhil Rathi confirmed that because of a lack of...
Government abolishes PSR
The Government has announced its intention to abolish the Payment Systems Regulator as part of its drive towards efficiency. It plans mainly to consolidate the PSR’s operations within the FCA. Rachel Reeves said...
Treasury updates on Women in Finance Charter progress
HM Treasury signed up to the Women in Finance Charter in 2016. Since then, its own female representation in senior management, as at March 2024, had increased from 43% to 50%. Treasury has been prioritising: a long term...
Mortgage stats show rises all round
The latest statistics on mortgage lending for Q4 2024 from the MLAR submitted to the FCA show: the highest stock of outstanding mortgage loans since reporting began in 2007 (£1,678.2 bn); a 4.9% increase in the value of...
FCA displeased at funeral provider Complaints Commissioner criticism
The FCA does not agree with the findings of the Complaints Commissioner that it did not identify significant risks in relation to Safe Hands funeral plan provider. The FCA did not acquire legislative powers to regulate...
FCA updates on motor finance review next steps
The FCA has said that it no longer plans its proposed announcement during May on its planned next steps in its motor finance commission review. Instead, it will confirm within 6 weeks of the decision of the Supreme...