Philippe Lintern, head of BoE’s foreign exchange division, has delivered a speech on lessons learnt from the history of the FX market, at FX Markets Europe. Lintern began by describing the success story of the...
Category - Topics
Laura WilesFCA updates derivatives trading obligation
The FCA has updated its direction relating to the Derivatives Trading Obligation (DTO) with effect from the end of 2024. The DTO came from MiFID, and the FCA is now modifying the UK’s DTO from the transitional...
Michael LewisIRSG publishes response to competitiveness and growth objectives inquiry
The International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG) has published its response to the House of Lords Financial Services Regulatory Committee’s inquiry into the FCA and PRA’s secondary international...
PRA writes to Credit Unions on annual assessment
Helen Ainsworth, Senior Manager of the PRA’s Credit Unions team has written separately to credit unions (CUs) with total assets of up to £10 million and to CUs with total assets of £10 million to £40 million. The...
Stephen WilsonFCA updates Financial Crime Guide
Following a consultation, the FCA has made changes to its Financial Crime Guide. The changes cover the following areas: The FCA conducted extensive assessments of firms’ sanctions systems and controls following...
BoE sets out approach to stress testing the banking system
The BoE has set out its approach to stress testing the UK banking system from 2025 onwards, which will sit within its broader framework for assessing financial stability and the soundness of individual banks. The BoE...
BoE publishes system-wide stress test results
The BoE launched its first system-wide exploratory exercise of how a range of firms behave in stressed market conditions mid-2023, it has now published a final report on how the UK financial system would respond to a...
Financial Stability Report shows continued global risk and uncertainty
The BoE has published the Financial Policy Committee’s Financial Stability Report for November 2024. The report shows that uncertainty remains high due to risks associated with geopolitical tensions, global...
FCA consults on fees and levies for 2025/26
The FCA is consulting on proposals for changes to its policy on how it raises regulatory fees and levies. Proposed changes to the FEES Manual of the Handbook include: increasing the registration fee for Small Payment...
CMA writes to Monzo on Retail Banking Order breaches
The CMA has found Monzo in breach of several parts of the RBO. Specifically, the bank did not: accurately publish the results of the required service quality surveys; publish information on the “monthly maximum...
Emma RadmoreFCA fines and bans another pensions adviser
The FCA has fined Philip Pryke nearly £1.4m and banned him for failings as a director, compliance officer and adviser at C&I, in relation to defined benefit pension scheme transfer advice during a 4 year period...
FCA scales back enforcement proposals – but still wants to go ahead
The FCA has published a second consultation paper on its proposals for increasing transparency in its enforcement process. It has gone ahead with the consultation partly to help the ongoing parliamentary scrutiny of its...
FOS notes huge increase in complaints
The latest figures from the FOS show complaints have increased by over 50%, with record increases in complaints about frauds and scams, current accounts and credit cards. The FOS also noted in particular an increasing...
FCA consults on MiFID Org Reg transfer to Handbook
The FCA is consulting on how it plans to transfer the firm-facing requirements of the MiFID Org Reg into its Handbook. It doesn’t intend to change the policy behind the Regulation, but some of the provisions will...
FCA fines former Wizz Air executive for closed period trades and disclosure failures
The FCA has fined the former chief supply chain officer at Wizz Air Holdings plc £123,500 for trading company shares when he was not permitted to, and failing to disclose those trades. Between April 2019 and November...
FCA speaks on future strategy
Emily Shepperd, FCA chief operating officer, has delivered a speech on the regulator’s incoming strategy, at the TheCityUK National Conference in Birmingham. The FCA’s new 5 year strategy is set to focus on...
Parliamentary group reports on FCA shortcomings
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services has published its report following its call for evidence about the FCA. The report does not make happy reading for the FCA. The report...
Regulators consult on bonus restriction reform
The PRA and FCA are consulting on reducing the restrictions surrounding bonuses of senior bankers. As noted in the Mansion House speech, the current UK practice makes it an outlier and may be damaging competition and...
FCA updates on crypto regulation approach
The FCA has updated on its approach to crypto regulation in the UK, including an indicative roadmap of key dates and a series of focused consultations. Recent research from the FCA found that approximately 1/3 of people...
FCA publishes research on crypto ownership
The latest FCA research on consumer attitudes and behaviours toward cryptoassets, 12% of UK adults now own crypto, up from 10% in previous findings. Other key findings included: Awareness of crypto rose from 91 to 93%...
FCA fines Macquarie Bank £13m for fictitious trades control failings
The FCA has fined Macquarie Bank Limited – London Branch £13m for serious control failures that allowed an employee to record over 400 fictitious trades. From June 2020 to February 2022, Travis Klein – based...
FCA launches research competition to drive economic growth
The FCA has launched its first competition to fund research projects on growth, competitiveness and regulation in UK financial services. The competition comes after a recent FCA literature review which found significant gaps in available research.
Applicants are invited to submit research proposals focussing on areas within the FCA’s remit, such as:
Growth and productivity of the UK financial services sector
International competitiveness of the UK financial services sector
Supporting the UK’s economy and considering regulatory impacts
Each winner will be awarded up to �30,000 to fund their research project.
Applications close on 15 December 2024. Winning proposals will be selected by 22 December, and successful applicants will have until 31 March 2o25 to complete their research.
Government updates on digital asset regulation
Tulip Siddiq, Economic Secretary, speaking at the Tokenisation Summit, outlined the government’s approach to DLT and its potential to revolutionise traditional markets. She noted that the Digital Securities...
PRIIPs disclosure change confirmed
The Regulations that take investment trusts outside the scope of the current PRIIPs disclosure requirement (current until the PRIIPs regime is repealed in favour of the new Consumer Composite Investment regime) have...
FCA says life insurers could do better on bereavement handling
The FCA has completed a multi-firm review of how life insurers handle bereaved customers. On the whole, it found they provide good service, but says they can improve on the time they take to settle claims – while...
FCA finalises 2022 decision notices on Barclays
The FCA has published the final notices against Barclays plc and Barclays Bank plc in relation to the bank’s failure to disclose certain arrangements with Qatari entities in 2008. The FCA had decided to impose a...
PSR publishes stakeholder submissions on card schemes and processing fees
The PSR has published the stakeholder submissions to its 2023 working paper on changes to card schemes and processing fees. Earlier this year, the PSR published its provisional findings on competition in the card...
FCA updates whistleblowing data
The latest whistleblowing data from the FCA, covering the quarter ending September 2024 shows: 322 new reports received (up from 253 in Q2 and 280 in the corresponding period last year), with nearly half of reports...
FOS confirms decision to introduce CMC fees
The FOS has published a letter, dated 8 October 2024, from its Chair, Baroness Manzoor CBE, to FCA Chair, Ashley Alder, confirming its board’s decision to introduce a fee for certain claims management companies...
FCA updates payments and e-money Approach Document on “reasonable grounds” for delaying payment
Following a consultation, the FCA has updated its payment services and e-money Approach Document to support amendments to the PSRs made in the Payment Services (Amendment) Regulations 2024. The provisions came into...
Tribunal disagrees with FCA on fine amount
The FCA had found Arian Financial LLP had breached Principles 2 and 3 in respect of failings in its financial crime prevention systems and controls in relation to business introduced by the now infamous “Solo...
BoE and FCA report on AI in financial services
The BoE and FCA have published a report on their third survey of AI and machine learning in UK financial services. Use and adoption The regulators found that 75% of firms already use AI, with a further 10% planning to...
Government makes Consumer Composite Investment Regulations
The Regulations to create the Consumer Composite Investments regime, and set the designated activities relating to them have been made effective from 22 November 2024 for the purposes of setting out the regime and...
FCA charges failed credit union directors with fraud
The FCA has brought charges against 3 former directors of the Dial-A-Cab Credit Union, now in administration. It alleges that committed the offence of fraud by abuse of position by transferring funds out of the credit...
FCA consults on wider extension to motor finance commission complaints handling
The FCA is consulting as promised on extending the time firms have to respond to motor finance complaints involving non-discretionary commissions. The FCA notes that firms are likely to receive high levels of complaints...
Treasury updates money laundering advisory
HM Treasury has updated its money laundering advisory notice in relation to high risk third countries. The update follows the FATF meeting on 25 October and reflects the list agreed (and which took effect) then.
FCA updates market cleanliness measures
The FCA has revised its methodology for its market cleanliness statistic, to make it more accurate. Going forwards it will be able to detect abnormal price movements that happen on the same day as an announcement, use a...
BoE publishes approach to FMI supervision and consultation on Fundamental Rules
The BoE has launched a consultation on proposals to create a set of Fundamental Rules for UK Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs). It has also published its approach to FMI supervision in practice. In publishing...
Committee publishes FCA enforcement interview evidence
The House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee has published the oral evidence from its session on 13 November in which it interviewed Ashley Alder and Nikhil Rathi about the FCA’s enforcement...
FSCS Outlook shows higher than forecast levy for 2025/6
The latest edition of the FSCS’s Outlook shows that its levy for the current year is unchanged, and it expects to pay similar amounts in compensation in 2025/6 as in the current year (that is, £367m). However, it...
FCA bans director after GBH conviction
The FCA has banned Ari Harris, the sole director of Reeds Motors Ltd, after he was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent and deliberately failed to notify the FCA. He had been convicted in 2020 and...
Tribunal agrees with FCA decisions to ban but queries disgorgement calculation
The Upper Tribunal has backed the FCA’s decision to fine and ban Toni Fox-Bryant and David Price after discovering failings in their firm (CFP Management Limited) in relation to pension transfer business. The FCA...
FCA fines and bans individuals for reckless breach of requirements
The FCA has fined and banned two former partners of MedDen Financial Services LLP for recklessly withdrawing funds from their firm’s bank account for their own purposes the day after the FCA had imposed an asset...
Regulators receive “remit” letters
Following the Mansion House speech, HM Treasury has published several letters to regulators, setting out requests and clarifying their remit: to the FCA and PSR on payments regulation; to the BoE for the Prudential...
FCA reacts to Mansion House speech
The FCA has reacted to several announcements from the Mansion House speech. It has reiterated that it is committed to supporting growth and says it has fully embraced its secondary international competitiveness and...
FCA and FOS seek views on modernising the Redress System
The FCA and the FOS have released a Call for Input that seeks to modernise the current redress framework, which the regulators say works well for individual customer complaints but does not deal so well with cases where...
Treasury consults on Green Taxonomy
HM Treasury is consulting on the value case for a UK Green Taxonomy as part of the UK’s wider sustainable finance framework. The government wants to support investment into activities aligned with sustainability...
Treasury and FCA set out next steps for MiFID
HM Treasury has set out its plans for changes to the assimilated MiFID regime, to make changes to the wholesale markets framework. Its immediate plans are: to ensure the FCA has the necessary tools to oversee off...
Government publishes National Payments Vision
The National Payments Vision sets out the government’s ambitions for the UK payments sector. The government is keen to build on the UK’s position as a global leader in payments and is looking to strengthen...
Treasury consults on captive insurance approach
HM Treasury is consulting on a possible new approach to captive insurance companies. The market for captive insurance is fast-growing and despite the UK’s world-leading insurance sector, few captives are...
FCA updates on Advice Guidance Boundary review
Following the Mansion House speech, the FCA has updated on the next steps in its Advice Guidance Boundary Review. It is going to focus first on pensions, and will consult in December on high-level proposals for targeted...
A new regulatory regime for ESG ratings providers
HM Treasury has published the outcome of its consultation on the new regulatory regime for ESG ratings providers and the draft legislation that will create it. The regime will be created through the RAO, and the...
Mansion House speech heralds 5 priority growth areas
The Chancellor’s first Mansion House speech stressed the importance of the financial services industry to the UK and highlighted 5 priority growth opportunities on which the Government will focus its strategy:...
PRA consults on ISPV framework reform
The PRA is consulting on changes to the regulatory framework for Insurance Special Purpose Vehicles. It plans to create a new accelerated pathway for applications and to make it easier for a wider range of current...
PRA publishes final Solvency II review papers
The PRA has finalised and published the final pieces of its rules and policy materials that will replace the Solvency II assimilated law with the new “Solvency UK” regime. The PRA is working to replace all...
Gibraltar transitional regime extended to 2025
The government has extended the transitional regime under which Gibraltar firms can operate in the UK. The transitional period was supposed to expire at the end of 2024, but the government has not yet made the rules for...
FCA holds call with market analysts on motor commission cases
The FCA held a call with market analysts just before it published its consultation on its proposal to expand the pause on dealing with complaints about commissions in the motor finance sector. Key points included: the...
Latest FCA operating metrics show no “red”
The FCA authorisations operating metrics for July to September 2024 show that 12 metrics are green, 4 are amber and none are red. The FCA determined 98.5% of applications across the board within the statutory deadline...
BoE and PRA update enforcement procedures
The BoE has updated its and the PRA’s statements of policy and procedures around enforcement in the light of the new powers given to the regulators under FSMA 2023. The new policies and procedures will be relevant...
FCA portfolio supervision letter to CRAs
The FCA has written a Dear CEO portfolio supervision letter to the credit rating agency sector. Its strategy continues to be driven by: addressing the inherent conflicts of interest with in the CRA business model; heavy...
FRC consults on Stewardship Code updates
The FRC is consulting on significant updates to the Stewardship Code, with a view to streamlining reporting requirements while ensuring a clearer focus on the purpose of Stewardship and delivering increased transparency...
FCA to consult on time extension for non-discretionary motor finance commission complaints
Following the Court of Appeal’s decision to allow appeals to the Supreme Court in relation to three cases of non-disclosure of non-discretionary commission for motor finance (we covered this in FIN here), the FCA...
FCA fines Metro Bank £16m for financial crime control failings
The FCA has fined Metro Bank PLC £16,675,200 for failures relating to the systems and controls it had in place to monitor transactions for money laundering risks. The period concerned spanned from June 2016 to December...
Critical third party rules finalised – but no designations yet
The BoE, PRA and FCA have finalised the package of measures that will set: the approach that HM Treasury will take to designating entities as being critical to the UK financial sector, following advice from the...
Government acts on “smarter” ring fencing regime
Following the 2023 consultation by the previous government on implementing the recommendations of the Panel led by Sir Keith Skeoch to review the workings of the ring-fencing regime for large banks that took effect in...
Treasury publishes draft Designated Activities supervision regulations
The Treasury has published draft Regulations to give the FCA supervisory and enforcement powers over certain activities which are to become Designated Activities for the purposes of FSMA following the changes introduced...
FCA improves enforcement disclosure processes
The FCA has completed its review of its disclosure processes in enforcement cases following a recommendation from the Upper Tribunal. The FCA is required to disclose all documents it relies on to build its case and any...
Insurance broker fined and banned for misuse of insurer funds
The FCA has fined the sole manager of Inspire Insurance Services Ltd over £1.1m and banned him from the financial services industry. Leigh Mackey had sole management control of the construction sector insurance broker...
PSR writes to tech firms on fraud enabler data
The PSR has written to online, social media and tech firms, telling them of its upcoming report on firms which are most commonly reported as enabling contact between fraudsters and victims. The letter to the relevant...
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act: Companies House reveals implementation timetable for upcoming changes
Companies House published a policy paper on 16 October 2024 setting out an indicative timetable for the changes at Companies House which are still to be introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act...
Suzanne GadoMarket Watch looks at MiFID transaction reporting
The latest edition of Market Watch focuses on FCA’s supervision of the UK MiFID transaction reporting requirements, including the findings from skilled persons reviews commissions to look into compliance. On the...
FCA sets out final rules on pensions dashboard services
Following two consultations, the FCA has published its policy statement setting out the regulatory framework for pensions dashboard service (PDS) firms. In addition to the standards the FCA expects of all regulated...
FATF publishes money laundering national risk assessment guidance
The FATF has published guidance on money laundering national risk assessments (NRAs). The guidance aims to support countries in conducting an NRA focussed on evaluating money laundering vulnerabilities. Key sections...
FCA convicts individuals for �1.5m investment fraud
The FCA has secured convictions against two individuals in relation to a �1.5m investment fraud.
Between February 2017 and June 2019, Raymondip Bedi and Patrick Mavanga defrauded at least 65 investors by cold calling consumers and directing them to a professional-looking website which offered high returns for fake crypto investments.
At an earlier hearing, Bedi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under FSMA and money laundering offences, and Mavanga pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to breach the general prohibition under FSMA and possession of false identification documents with an improper intention. They will be sentenced at a later date.
The jury were unable to reach a verdict on a third defendant, who will be retrialled in September 2025. A fourth defendant, Rowena Bedi, was acquitted of money laundering, and a further individual, Minas Filippidis is wanted in relation to the same offences.
The FCA has attempted to contact defrauded investors and has drawn attention to its ScamSmart campaign.
FCA speaks on transition finance
Emily Shepperd, speaking at the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association Leadership Summit, spoke of the role the financial services sector can play in helping to plug the net zero gap. She spoke of the...
Failure to prevent fraud offence to take effect next September
The provisions of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 relating to the new offence of failure to prevent fraud that will apply to large companies will take effect from 1 September 2025. Off the back of...
FCA begins criminal proceedings against individuals and firms for unauthorised business
The FCA has begun criminal proceedings against Anthony Hay, Laura Hay, Tim Stewart, Premier Finance GB Ltd and Proserv GBR Limited, for allegedly engaging in authorised business. The individuals are jointly charged in...
OFSI updates sanctions FAQs
OFSI has updated its FAQs on financial sanctions. The main newly featured question addresses whether overseas subsidiaries of UK entities are expected to comply with UK sanctions – the answer being that the...
FCA updates crypto registration stats
The FCA’s monthly update of its statistics on applications for registration under the MLRs for cryptoasset firms shows that in the past month it has received 1 application, rejected 1, and 1 has been withdrawn. ...
Lords Committee publishes enforcement proposal views
The House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee, which took over from its predecessor in gathering evidence on the FCA’s controversial enforcement proposals has published several pieces of written...
FCA makes market rules to support growth
A new set of transparency rules for bond and derivatives trades will take effect on 1 December 2025. The FCA says the rules will both provide more information to investors and also reduce costs for firms, and will also...
FCA partially reopens commercial and bespoke insurance consultation
Following its consultation on the regulation of commercial and bespoke insurance business, which closed on 16 September, the FCA has partially reopened questions in the discussion paper to gather more feedback. The...
FCA portfolio letter for SIPP operators
The latest in the current series of FCA portfolio supervision letters is aimed at the CEOs of SIPP operators. The FCA has recently completed its 2024 SIPP data request and will be using the information from it in its...
Treasury Committee calls for evidence on protecting cash
The Treasury Committee has opened a call for evidence to help it decide whether to legislate to require businesses to accept physical cash. It is asking for views generally, but particularly on issues such as: are there...
BoE speaks on AI and financial stability
Sarah Breedon spoke at a conference on the opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies in the financial ecosytem. She delved into the novel features of Generative AI and what it might mean for financial...
CoP takes wider effect
From 31 October, the expanded roll out of Confirmation of Payee now means that 99% of all transactions made through Faster Payments and CHAPs are within scope, as the PSR’s SD17 took effect. The initial grouping...
FCA welcomes Project Guardian tokenisation report
The FCA has welcomed the report on tokenisation in the asset management sector, published by “Project Guardian”, an international collaboration of industry and regulators led by the MAS. The report sets out...
Transition Plan Taskforce publishes final report
The Transition Plan Taskforce has finished its work and published its final report, which identifies key opportunities and challenges for global adoption of transition plans. Dame Amanda Blanc and Tulip Siddiq, Co...
Regulators confirm change in control assessment guideline update
The PRA and FCA have confirmed updates to their guidance on the prudential assessment of acquisitions and changes in control of regulated firms. The joint PRA/FCA supervisory statement, and the FCA’s Finalised...
FCA publishes SDR and investment labels disclosure examples
The FCA has published examples across a section of investment labels to demonstrate how firms might meet disclosure requirements under the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels regime, which...
FCA publishes lessons for operational resilience post-CrowdStrike
The FCA has published its observations and key lessons from how firms responded to the July 2024 CrowdStrike outage, and their preparedness to respond to future incidents. The FCA noted that it has seen a continuing...
PRA feeds back on CRR changes
The PRA has published feedback to its consultation on changes to certain parts of its rulebook in respect of: Disclosure and reporting in respect of various CRR requirements; changes to the Policyholder Protection Part...
FCA updates statement on motor finance judgment
The FCA has updated its website to make more prominently the comments made by Nikhil Rathi on the current state of the complaints pause in relation to DCAs and the possibility that it could now be expanded to other...
FCA bans more advisers over pension transfer advice
The FCA has banned two more individuals for pension advice transfer failings in respect of transferring out of defined benefit pension schemes, including the BSPS. It has also banned Steven Hodgson and Paul Adams from...
Alison Potter to become FCA and PSR decision-making chair
The FCA and PSR Boards have appointed Alison Potter as chair of the FCA Regulatory Decisions Committee and the PSR Enforcement Decisions Committee. She takes over from Tim Parkes with effect from 1 November.
Treasury publishes SME reviews as part of Budget
As part of the 2024 Budget, HM Treasury has published post-implementation reviews of the Small and Medium Sized Business (Finance Platform) Regulations 2015. These Regulations introduced a Bank Referral Scheme to...
FCA speaks on private market growth.. and motor finance
Nikhil Rathi, speaking at the Investment Association, spoke of the growth of private markets and the FCA’s support for initiatives that get companies the best options for financing. In an interesting segue, he...
TNFD publishes guidance on nature transition planning
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures has published a discussion paper containing draft guidance on nature transition planning for corporates and financial institutions when developing a transition plan...
SFO and CoLP work towards easier fraud reporting
The SFO and City of London police have advised that, with effect from 28 October, all fraud referrals that are not from companies or whistleblowers should be made to Action Fraud either online or via the call centre...
FATF holds October plenary
Key highlights from FATF’s October plenary meeting are: approval of the last 2 reports of the fourth assessment cycle; removal of Senegal from the high-risk monitoring list and addition of Algeria, Angola, Cote...