The FCA has published a research note on mortgage arrears risk among first-time buyers, using loan-level Product Sales Data spanning 2015 to 2025. Higher income and – on average – incentivised interest rate...
Category - Topics
Laura WilesFCA updates on MMF reform
The FCA says responses to consultation on money market fund reforms generally supported the proposed changes but several respondents were concerned about the proposed increase in MMF liquidity levels. As a result, the...
Michael LewisTreasury publishes AI Adoption Insights signatories
The Treasury has published the signatories to its AI Adoption Insights agreement, under which industry participants commit to sharing data and insights from their business to help develop the government’s...
UK Finance launches access to banking scheme
UK Finance has announced its expanded ‘Breaking the Cycle’ pilot, aimed at improving access to banking services for people who many face barriers to opening a bank account. The initiative is delivered in...
Emma RadmoreTreasury calls for evidence on access to banking
HM Treasury has published a Call for Evidence as part of its Independent Review into Access to Banking Services. The review is looking to: identify which in-person banking services are essential or important to...
FCA gets confiscation order
The FCA has secured a confiscation order of nearly half a million pounds against Daniel Pugh, who was convicted of Ponzi scheme fraud and is currently in prison. The amount confiscated is the total value of assets the...
FCA warns on car finance “money tips”
The FCA has warned consumers about “money tips” ads for car finance that CMCs and law firms have been posting on social media. It says these ads are often disguised as apparent independent advice from an...
FCA and OFSI update MoU
The FCA and OFSI have agreed a new MoU to replace the 2023 version. As usual, the MoU addresses information sharing and cooperation, and permissible uses of information.
FCA places restriction on EMI over financial crime concerns
The FCA has imposed a restriction on Euro Exchange Securities UK requiring it to cease carrying out any regulated electronic money or payment services. The regulator had serious concerns around the firm’s...
Debt resolution firms enter administration
Two debt resolution firms authorised to carry out debt purchasing and debt collection activities have entered administration. Silicon Marketing Limited entered administration on 21 May 2026, with Carrie James and Nick...
Consumer Panel responds on Crypto Perimeter Guidance
This week, the Consumer Panel responded to the FCA’s consultation on Perimeter Guidance for the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime. The Panel has welcomed and broadly supports the proposed guidance, noting...
Stephen WilsonFCA proposes simplified climate disclosure rules
The FCA has published its latest quarterly consultation on miscellaneous amendments to its Handbook. Proposed amendments include: Following a post-implementation review of climate disclosure rules, simplifying...
BoE and FCA reaffirm FMI MoU
BoE and FCA have reaffirmed the arrangements under their Memorandum of Understanding on the supervision of FMIs. The regulators consider that the arrangements remain effective, highlighted recent collaborations in...
AR data shows increased revenue but fewer principals
The FCA has updated its website with details on the appointed representatives population and activity. There are currently around 33,000 active ARs and 2,400 principals, representing a reduction of 5.3% in principals...
FCA cancels permission of another car sales company
The FCA has issued a final notice cancelling the consumer credit permissions of 786 Motor Solutions. The firm had failed to satisfy the suitability threshold condition and was not judged to be fit and proper to conduct...
Operational resilience group publishes frontier AI guidance
The Cross Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG) has published its Firm Guidance for Frontier AI, consolidating a range of industry and public authority commentary on frontier AI models. These models –...
Katie SimmondsFOS warns that festival refunds are not guaranteed
The FOS has clarified misconceptions around section 75 or chargeback claims, warning consumers that refunds of festival tickets may not be guaranteed. It also highlighted that it receives thousands of complaints each...
WBD advises on payment services firm Halo Financial special administration
Halo Financial Limited – a firm authorised by the FCA to provide foreign exchange services – has entered special administration under the Payment and Electronic Money Special Administration Regime (PESAR). Bai Cham and...
Harry WellsFCA investigates CMC
The FCA has started an enforcement investigation into Consultation Claims Limited, a claims management company. It is concerned about the firm’s activities in relation to motor finance claims between April and...
FCA updates on AML expectations for crypto firms
As part of its series of webinars for firms applying for crypto registration and authorisation, the FCA has published a set of FAQs on its expectations of firms once cryptofirms require full FCA authorisation. Among...
FCA warns football clubs on “questionable” sponsorships
The FCA has written to several football clubs to warn them about their relationships with unauthorised firms, including crypto businesses and trading platforms, who may be breaching UK laws in providing financial...
Committee report questions UK approach on stablecoins
A report from the Financial Services Regulation Committee raises concerns about how the UK proposes to regulate stablecoins. It is concerned both that the UK is lagging behind other jurisdictions in getting a regulatory...
Why financing decarbonisation has become a smart investment
Simon Crichton, head of nature, food and resource at Triodos Bank UK and I (Chris) recorded a podcast for The Scotsman on why financing decarbonisation has become a smart investment. Read a summary of it and listen to...
Chris McLauchlanFSM Bill to have second reading
The Financial Services and Markets Bill is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 8 June.
Distributions for Argento Wealth investors
The FCA has confirmed that investors eligible for payment in the pro rata distribution of Argento Wealth Limited assets, following the High Court judgment of 19 May, must now act by 1 August. The FCA will write to all...
FCA updates on BNPL TPR register
As of 2 June, 8 firms that currently provide BNPL products that will be regulated as deferred payment credit from 15 July have registered with the FCA’s temporary permissions regime, meaning they can continue...
FCA announces launch of UK Payments Initiative
The new UK Payments Initiative will pave the way for progress in open banking and commercial variable recurring payments. The UKPI is an industry led scheme that the FCA says will give people more choice on how and when...
JMLSG consults on guidance changes
The JMLSG is consulting on various changes to Part I of its guidance in anticipation of the upcoming changes to the MLRs. The changes affect: para 2.9 in relation to clarifying what “unusually” means; para 5...
FCA introduces Retail Banking Business Model return
The FCA is introducing an annual regulatory reporting return for retail banks and building societies, which will replace its d hoc collections of Retail Banking Business Model (R2B2) data. The return will feature a core...
FCA publishes latest Handbook Notice
The FCA has published Handbook Notice 141 which sets out a number of changes, most of which we’ve reported on elsewhere, including: Changes to COLL to support the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in authorised...
Blankstone Sington returns all client assets in investment bank special administration
Blankstone Sington – an FCA authorised wealth management and stockbroking firm – has returned 100% of its clients’ money and assets following the transfer of the business to Redmayne Bentley. Andrew Poxon, Alex...
FCA updates on benchmark review
The FCA has continued its work on benchmarks by publishing the results of its review of benchmark calculations. It looked specifically at error handling arrangements, and saw that firms took either a quantitative (data...
PRA makes rules on Pillar 2A review – Phase 1
The PRA has published its policy statement and final rules following its consultation on updating the Pillar 2A methodologies and guidance ahead of a fuller modernisation of its approach to Pillar 2A capital. Following...
FCA pleased with sanctions compliance progress but…
The FCA has been assessing firms’ sanctions systems and controls since early 2022. It latest review has found that firms have made several improvements over time, and now have controls that will often identify...
FCA publishes skilled persons report update
The FCA has published details of the number of skilled persons reports commissioned between 1 January and 301 March 2026. There were 4 in total, relating to consumer investments (2), insurance and payment and digital...
PRA confirms CRR definitions within Rulebook
The PRA has published a policy statement confirming how it is restating within its Rulebook those CRR definitions that are necessary for effective operation of regulation. These definitions, as amended, contain few...
FCA wants fin prom approvers to do better
The FCA has reviewed a selection of 10 firms that approve financial promotions. It selected firms who were approving promotions for unregulated BNPL, crowdfunding and corporate finance firms.While it was pleased that...
FCA to host Annual Public Meeting in Edinburgh for the first time
The FCA will hold its Annual Public Meeting in Edinburgh on 6 October 2026. The regulator has today opened a new office space in Edinburgh, and the event later this year will mark the first time the APM has been held in...
SPI SB Remit enters administration
Sukate & Bezeboh Ltd (t/a SB Remit) – a small payments institution (SPI) – has entered administration. Frank Ofonagoro and Charles Turner of Opus were appointed joint administrators of the firm on 22 May...
ex LCF CEO jailed for contempt
Michael Thomson, the former CEO of LCF, has been jailed for 6 months for selling restrained luxury items. His assets are subject to restraint proceedings, and he had already received a suspended sentence for...
City of London supports drive to digital wholesale markets
The City of London Corporation will lead the secretariat working with the government to help create a tokenised wholesale financial markets system,. It plans a report on cross-border digital asset issuance in the...
FCA updates operating metrics
The FCA’s latest set of operating metrics shows new firm authorisations for consumer investments, insurance and wholesale are struggling to meet the new targets, and EMR/PSR authorisation and VOP applications also...
SMCR changes – what difference will Phase 1 make?
Read our article that looks at the immediate SMCR changes that are already in force or coming soon, ahead of more changes to come.
Study puts UK at top of foreign investment in financial and professional services
The City of London Corporation says the UK attracted £1.7bn in foreign direct investment in financial and professional services in 2025, ahead of Spain and France. It was the third most popular destination globally by...
FCA publishes findings from Transition Finance Pilot
The FCA has published its findings from the Transition Finance Pilot in which it looked at barriers to scaling finance for climate solutions. During the exercise, which also involved the PRA and the Green Finance...
John ConnorCommittee launches consumer insurance regulation inquiry
The House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee has launched an inquiry into the regulation of the consumer insurance market. The inquiry seeks views particularly on how home and travel insurance policies are...
PSR consults on card scheme profitability reporting
The PSR is consulting on plans to require Mastercard and Visa to report their UK financial performance after finding that the schemes’ profit margins are higher than it would expect in competitive markets. It...
PRA updates on insurance branch policy
The PRA has published its feedback statement on changes to its policy on insurance third-country branches. It has made minimal changes to what it consulted on and has now finalised changes to various relevant...
FCA consults on fund asset registration
The FCA is consulting on making sure authorised investment funds can invest in private markets such as real estate, infrastructure, private credit and private equity, while ensuring investor protection. It is proposing:...
FCA publishes guide for smaller credit brokers
The FCA has published a guide intended for smaller credit brokers to understand what is required of them, and is aimed at both full permission and limited permission firms, and also those appointed as ARs or IARs for...
Treasury Committee asks FCA to update on redress scheme
The Treasury Committee has written to the FCA asking for an update on the consequences of the legal challenges to the motor finance commission redress scheme. The questions cover: consequences of the challenges –...
FCA warns young drivers about fake car insurance
The FCA is warning young drivers against buying car insurance through social media and messaging apps. It says about half of young drivers have bought cover this way, but many are not confident they would spot a scam...
FCA opens scale up unit
The FCA has opened its scale-up unit, so that fast-growing and innovative businesses can apply to get more support to help them grow. The service was already available to dual authorised firms (6 are currently in the...
Financial Services and Markets Bill starts legislative process
The Financial Services and Markets Bill has been published and has started its parliamentary passage in the House of Lords, where it has had its first reading but the second reading, which is when debate starts, does...
Commercial Payments Bill introduced into Parliament
The Commercial Payments Bill has now been published. Some takeaways for Commercial lawyers: 💡 The name of the Bill has changed (was the Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill). 💡 There are carve outs for public...
Victoria FergusonOFSI fines Deutsche Bank London
OFSI has imposed a penalty of £165,000 on Deutsche Bank AG London Branch for breaches of the Russian sanctions regulations. It found that the bank had processed two payments totalling around £635,000 on behalf of a...
BoE speaks on modernising money
Sarah Breedon has spoken at City Week on the BoE’s vision of the future of UK finance. She focused on how responsible adoption of tokenisation can be good for financial stability and will support sustainable...
PRA to consult on ring-fencing changes
The PRA has confirmed it will be consulting over the summer on rules that will allow firms more flexibility on how they share operational resources across the ringfence, following the Government confirmation that this...
FCA asks for CMC market study scope views
The FCA is consulting on the scope of its upcoming market study on claims management services. When it announced the study it said it wanted to understand the root causes of some of practices it has observed in the...
Government confirms CCA reform plans
The Government has finally published its policy statement on the final approach to reform of the Consumer Credit Act and its response to its consultation on Phase 1 reform. It has confirmed: it will be repealing most of...
FCA updates on BNPL registrations
The FCA has updated its website resources on the upcoming changes to buy now pay later (deferred payment credit) regulation. The window for unregulated firms currently providing services that will require regulation...
Update on plans for ring-fencing reform
HM Treasury has published a policy paper with the formalised plans for the reform of the ring-fencing regime, which was heralded in the Mansion House speech in 2025. The changes will not revoke the regime in its...
Regulators seek views on tokenisation in wholesale markets
The BoE and FCA have set out their vision for how firms can adopt tokenisation and DLT, which they say has the potential to streamline wholesale markets. The regulators have listened to firms’ requests for more...
BoE consults on settlement hours extension
The BoE is consulting on how it will move RTGS and CHAPS toward near 24×7 operation. CHAPS will be opening at 01:30 from September 2027 and the next stage could involve: an additional settlement day at the weekend...
FCA publishes credit rating agency review
The FCA has published the results of its multi-firm review of how UK-registered credit rating agencies conduct surveillance on ratings, and the methodologies and internal controls they use. It found that some firms...
PRA publishes firm feedback summary
The PRA has published the results of its 2025 survey of firms in which it asked questions to help it identify how it could supervise better. Last year’s exercise included more firms than previous surveys so...
FCA opens “AI Input Zone” and asks for contributions
The FCA has reopened its AI Input Zone which forms part of its AI Lab, and is asking for views on what “good” looks like in safe and responsible AI development. The FCA wants to create a good and poor...
What’s new in employment law? May 2026
Read our monthly update on employment law developments and interesting cases.
Karen Plumbley-JonesBoE speaks on operational resilience
Liz Oakes of the BoE has spoken of the importance of operational and cyber resilience in a changing world. She stressed that firms must develop strong risk management frameworks as their first line of defence, and...
BoE speaks on choice in payments
Victoria Cleland, speaking in Washington D.C, spoke of the importance of maintaining choice in payments and payment methods, to promote competition, inclusion and innovation. She noted that cash is still important to...
Lords to appoint financial regulation committee
The Order paper for the House of Lords for 14 May disclosed the intention to move to appoint a select committee to consider matters relating to financial regulation.
FCA speaks on working together to fight financial crime
Nikhil Rathi has delivered a speech about the importance of working together to fight financial crime. He focussed on the need to empower consumers to spot scams and for firms and regulators to work together to prevent...
Government commissions banking service review
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has commissioned an independent review into the availability of face to face banking services. It will look at the impact on customer of branch closures and will inform the...
Government to reform MMF regulations
The Government and the FCA are to reform the UK Money Market Fund regulations. They say recent market stresses have shown that these funds need to be more resilient, so the Government will now legislate as soon as...
PRA speaks on clinical supervision
Sam Woods has spoken on how banking supervision has evolved and what the role of a supervisor is now and will be in the future. He spoke of the differences between prudential regulation and the more interventionist...
New challenge for agentic AI in ecommerce
Innovate Finance has announced a challenge set by Colibrix One, a payments infrastructure provider, and BitGN, a technology innovation organisation, challenging innovative firms to participate in a sandbox environment...
The King’s Speech – what it means for employment law
Today’s King’s Speech was notable as much for what it didn’t include as to what it did. There was no mention of the long‑anticipated Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, suggesting we may now be waiting until next year...
New FCA Board appointments
The FCA has appointed Simon Wells as executive director of markets, and Johan Sekora as COO.
FCA reviews support to bereaved customers
The FCA is to carry out a review of how consumer investment firms are supporting bereaved customers, following research that shows that not even half the customers surveyed felt they had received the right support. The...
King’s Speech confirms late payment reforms
The King’s Speech took place on 13 May, setting out the government’s legislative priorities for the year ahead. One of those priorities is tackling late payments. We already knew this was a priority for the...
OFSI updates on changes to regulations
OFSI has notified firms of changes to financial sanctions regulations. The changes involve: changing reporting currencies from euro to sterling; expressing the “high value dealer” and “art market...
UK Finance welcomes new FOS registration proposals
UK Finance has published its response to the consultation on modernising the redress framework. It is particularly supportive of a structured registration stage for complaints. It says that a clear gateway with...
Government responds on cross-cutting reforms
The Government has published its response to its consultation on cross cutting reforms as part of the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. It has confirmed that it will: legislate to set the shorter...
FCA fines and bans individual over pension transfer advice
The FCA has fined Frank Breuer, formerly joint owner and sole director of Bluesky Wealth Management Limited, £755,000 and banned him. Mr Breuer carried out at least 16 DB pension transfers, which the firm was permitted...
King’s Speech confirms promised regulatory reforms
The King’s Speech, given on 13 May, was expected to cover several of the regulatory reforms already consulted on. While not all the development were mentioned in the speech itself, the Briefing notes accompanying...
Identification doctrine expanding to all criminal offences
The Crime and Policing Act 2026 will expand the identification doctrine from 29 June 2026. s250 of the Act replaces the ECCTA provisions that expanded the doctrine for specific economic crime offences only. Under the...
UK Finance publishes growth plan
UK Finance has published its 9 point Plan for Growth to show how the financial services sector can help with delivery of the Government’s economic growth ambitions. The 9 point plan focuses on: reducing bank...
OFSI celebrates 10th anniversary
OFSI has hosted an international conference on sanctions to celebrate its 10th anniversary. It showcased its ability to bring together a cross-sector group of partners to whom it could set out its strategy. Panels...
HMT feeds back on commercial credit data sharing
HM Treasury has published feedback on its consultation and call for evidence on commercial credit data sharing and the Bank Referral Scheme. The Government will be going ahead with its proposal to legislate to...
SFO hosts international economic crime conference
The SFO, together with the French Parquet National Financier and the Swiss Office of the Attorney General, hosted an international economic crime conference in London. Over 100 investigators and prosecutors from around...
Tech firms urged to help fight fraud
The City of London Corporation is asking tech firms to help it support the development of digital verification services to help financial institutions continue to fight fraud. The digital verification service is...
Ombudsman News reports on latest developments
The latest edition of Ombudsman News from the FOS: reminds firms the consultation on modernising the redress scheme is just closing; includes a blog on the impact AI has had on complaints and how the FOS is adapting;...
FCA publishes latest whistleblowing data
The FCA has published whistleblowing data for Q1 2026. Numbers were up on both the previous quarter, and the same quarter last year, with 355 new reports (with over 900 allegations in total) being received against under...
FCA places restrictions on unregistered lender
The FCA has placed restrictions on a lender that has never been authorised by or registered with it. Kingscrown Finance Limited provides business and investment lending, but was not an Annex I registered firm. The firm...
FCA updates on motor redress scheme – implementation plans still due by 12 May
The FCA has issued its promised update on the status of the motor finance commission redress scheme. It doesn’t know when the case for the challenge to the scheme will be heard, but it is unlikely this will be...
Credit broker host enters liquidation
Kanda Products and Services Ltd, a credit broker that had a network of around 700 IARs, has entered liquidation. The firm mainly appointed as its IARs traders who wanted to introduce customers to finance for home...
FCA updates EMI/API approach document
The FCA has updated its guidance and “approach” document for e-money and payment firms, primarily to take account of the new safeguarding rules, which took effect today (7 May). The accompanying website...
FCA confirms Competition Act investigations
The FCA is investigating Mastercard, PayPal and Visa for suspected anti-competitive conduct linked to PayPal’s digital wallet. The FCA has currently reached no conclusions or made any findings, but has made its...
FCA launches CMC market review
The FCA has announced a review of claims management practices, to establish the root cause of poor practices, following increasing concerns that CMCs and law firms are sometimes failing consumers. The FCA says that...