The Financial Conduct Authority will prioritise protecting consumers through the Consumer Duty and Advice Guidance Boundary Review over the coming 12 months.
In its Business Plan for 2024-25, FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi said the FCA will continue to deliver the 13 commitments made in its three-year strategy to achieve better outcomes for consumers and markets.
Specific issues the City watchdog will prioritise include testing if firms are meeting the high standards set by the Consumer Duty, as well as supporting people’s long-term financial wellbeing through the Advice Guidance Boundary Review and making sure pension products deliver value for money.
Other priorities include contributing to UK competitiveness and growth by improving the attractiveness and reach of UK wholesale markets, supporting firms to invest, innovate and expand and continuing to make it quicker and easier for firms to apply for authorisation.
Rathi said: “We’ve already made significant progress in delivering against the bold vision we set out in our strategy two years ago, including the game-changing introduction of the Consumer Duty and proposing the most far-reaching reforms to wholesale market regulation and the listing regime in decades.
“We remain resolute in supporting the vital role the financial sector plays in the UK’s long-term economic growth, embracing the potential benefits that technology presents both for us and the firms we regulate, while also continuing to protect consumers and ensure market integrity.”
The FCA said the planned programme of work builds on the progress made over recent years to become a more outcomes-based, assertive and data-led regulator and it will continue to automate more of its analytics tools to help detect and respond to consumer harms faster.
In 2023, the watchdog removed over 10,000 potentially misleading adverts and sent out 2,243 warnings about unauthorised firms and individuals.
