UK financial watchdog outlines plan to boost protection, enforcement

London

THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set out a 3-year strategy on Thursday (Apr 7) that will see it move faster to protect consumers from financial harm and create targets to oversee the United Kingdom's financial markets more assertively and efficiently.

The plan sets out 13 commitments over 3 areas: to reduce and prevent serious harm to consumers, set higher standards and promote more competition in the industry. For the first time, the watchdog will publish measures that it can be judged against.

The FCA also said it is recruiting more staff to help police the markets, hiring 80 employees who will focus on shutting down problem firms that do not meet basic regulatory standards.

Chief executive officer Nikhil Rathi told Bloomberg TV the changes will mean faster decisions against misbehaving firms, and in turn cheaper regulatory costs for those that stick to the rules. The watchdog needs to be efficient at approving new companies, as well as on social media platforms that host financial advertising, he said.

"We've pressed Meta and Twitter also to give us clear timetables for action," following a pledge by Alphabet's Google to crack down on scam ads, Rathi explained. "We're particularly concerned that vulnerable consumers can go online and really quickly get duped out of very substantial portions of their life savings."

Meanwhile, the watchdog is pulling together new teams to monitor compliance with sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, Rathi noted. The regulator is "watching very closely" any use of cryptocurrency and e-money companies to skirt the restrictions, he added.

Last July, Rathi said the regulator would be bolder in protecting consumers, with plans to strengthen rules on financial promotions, crack down on scams and high-risk investments and improve the standard of pension advice.

The past few months have also been marked by a prolonged dispute between the regulator and staff over compensation, part of Rathi's attempts to revamp the regulator since his appointment in 2020.

The focus on consumers comes with the FCA, which was established in the aftermath of the financial crisis, under pressure to act more forcefully. It has faced criticism after a mini-bond scandal in 2019 exposed retail investors to losses on more than US$300 million in investments. The FCA made its first criminal prosecution last year under 2007 money laundering rules, as part of its more proactive stance. BLOOMBERG