In the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to retire more than 100 pages of outdated guidance, withdraw hundreds of supervisory publications, and take other actions to reduce the burden on businesses and improve outcomes for consumers.
The mentioned regulator announced the specified plans in a press release that was published on Tuesday, March 25. It was noted that in this case, feedback from industry and others in response to a Call for Input it issued in July was a factor impacting the decision. The regulator asked what measures should be taken to simplify its consumer duty rules.
The Consumer Duty rules were published in July 2022 and entered into full force last summer. These rules set standards for consumer protection across financial services.
Sarah Pritchard, executive director of supervision, policy, competition, and international at the FCA, said that now that the Consumer Duty is in full force, the regulation is making changes quickly where stakeholders want it to, to cut unnecessary costs, support growth and ultimately help consumers get better outcomes.
By retiring outdated guidance, the FCA aims to make it easier for consumer finance, investment, and mortgage firms to navigate regulations.
The regulator will also consider changing its disclosure rules. In this case, the goal is to provide companies with more flexibility in the context of their customer communication practices. Moreover, the FCA will consider whether firms should apply the rules in force in the United Kingdom in their interactions with consumers living in other countries.
The regulator outlined its plans in a Feedback Statement, FS25/2. The FCA will consult with stakeholders on these proposals. In the summer, the regulator will hold an in-person summit. The FCA will publish the full program outline in September.
Sarah Pritchard stated that these proposals are part of the regulator’s long-term efforts to future-proof its rules, reduce burdens for financial firms, and help the ambitious government targets to cut the cost of regulation.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to abolish another agency in the first half of the current month. In this case, it means the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The mentioned intention is part of a broader effort by the United Kingdom Government to streamline regulation. In this case, the focus is on small businesses and the larger business climate. The PSR will be consolidated into the FCA. It is worth noting that these agencies were among the UK financial authorities, which in December announced that they were working to improve cooperation within the framework of the government’s National Payments Vision. In this case, it means an initiative that aims to support the payments sector in delivering economic growth in the United Kingdom.
It is possible that the announced actions of the FCA will be the first step towards a broader transformation of the UK regulatory environment, which will be a process with beneficial consequences from the point of view of the financial services sector in the context of the conditions and circumstances of its functioning.
As we have reported earlier, FCA Introduces Crypto Advertising Limits.
