In its Business Plan 2023/24, the
FCA has set out an ambitious programme for the next 12 months to
achieve better outcomes for consumers and markets, in line with
its 3-year strategy.
, Chief Executive of the FCA,
said: 'We set out a bold vision last year of what we wanted
the FCA to be, and we are well underway to achieving our
objectives thanks to our talented colleagues and the better use
of technology and data across our organisation.
'With many consumers across the UK struggling with the cost of
living and markets events causing concern, we have put in place
vital changes over the past few years which mean we’re better set
up to face these challenges.'
The FCA’s strategy is designed to be flexible and with the
changing economic picture, the FCA is accelerating its work in 4
areas over the next year through further investment and increased
resources.
Putting Consumers’ needs first
Last year, the FCA moved quickly to support people with the
rising cost of living. It reminded 3,500
lenders of how they should be supporting borrowers in
financial difficulty and told 32 lenders to make changes to the
way they treat customers - leading to £29m being secured in
compensation to their customers. The FCA will continue to
prioritise protecting people from unfair treatment, with more
staff being allocated to ensure firms support consumers who are
struggling financially.
In July, the Consumer Duty will come into force. The Duty will
play a leading role in meeting the FCA’s objective of putting
consumers’ needs first. The FCA has committed to providing
additional resource to make sure the transition is smooth for
both consumers and firms. Setting higher and clearer standards of
consumer protection will not only benefit consumers. The FCA aims
to use the Duty to encourage more innovation and competition, as
it could lead to a more simplified approach to regulation.
Preparing financial services for the future
The FCA will continue its urgent work with its partners and
deliver the outcomes of the new Future Regulatory Framework
(FRF) and Edinburgh Reforms. More than £12m will be
invested to prepare for the FRF, which will help support the UK’s
wider economic growth and international competitiveness, in line
with the FCA’s new secondary objective.
The FCA will continue to support innovative and high growth
firms, including through its world-leading Sandbox and its Early
and High Growth Oversight function.
New cost benefit analysis panels will also be established to
support the effectiveness of the FCA’s programme of work.
Strengthening the UK’s position in global wholesale
markets
To make the UK a more attractive place for business, the FCA will
set out further proposals to reform the listing regime to attract
world leading firms and encourage competition.
The FCA wants to use the opportunity provided by the FRF to see
if improvements can be made to asset management regulation.
The FCA is already seeking views and will bring forward
proposals, based on the feedback it receives, later this
year.
As part of the Edinburgh Reforms, the FCA will consult this year
on consolidated tapes, which could improve the overall cost,
quality and accessibility of wholesale data. Consolidated tapes
take data from across the wholesale market and distributes it in
single, standardised feeds.
Reducing and preventing financial crime
The FCA continues to look for innovative ways of reducing and
preventing financial crime, as it harms confidence and integrity
in the UK’s market and puts consumers’ money at risk. This
includes a strengthened authorisation process, improved
assessments of regulated firms and more staff to investigate and
prosecute offenders.
Alongside this, the FCA continues to develop tools to find scam
sites. It is already using machine
learning and other tools to find and remove scams, with
hundreds of websites taken down as a result and more than 1800
alerts being issued during 2022.
Much of the work to deliver on its commitments is well underway
and the FCA wants to prioritise its work to bring the most
benefits to consumers, firms and the wider economy. Later this
year, the FCA will publish the first set of results against
the outcomes and performance
metrics included in its strategy.
The FCA has also published the consultation on its
fees and levies for the year ahead. In recognition
of the pressure firms are under, the FCA is proposing to freeze
application fees, and the minimum fees firms pay which affects
more than 17,000 FCA-regulated firms.
Notes to editors
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The Business Plan 2023/24
-
The 3 year strategy
