The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have published a joint consultation paper CP25/1 on the Management Expenses Levy Limit (MELL) for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for the financial year 2025/2026. Responses are sought by 7 February 2025. After considering the responses, the FCA will issue a Handbook Notice, and the PRA will publish a Policy Statement, so that the final rules for the MELL are in place by 1 April 2025, the start of the FSCS's financial year.

Search and seizure—the law The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) (together, the Regulators) have powers of entry, search and seizure under warrant. The most important of these, and the focus of this Practice Note, is the power under section 176 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). A selection of the Regulators’ other significant powers of entry, search and seizure with and without a warrant are listed below under Other powers of search and seizure. This Practice Note: • addresses the Regulators’ powers of entry, search and seizure • considers the obligations on firms and individuals to co-operate with the Regulators • provides practical advice on how to prepare for a dawn raid, and • considers in detail how firms and individuals should respond to the execution of a warrant Power to apply for warrant Under FSMA 2000, s 176, the Regulators have the power to apply to a magistrate for a warrant to enter

Background The power to require a firm to obtain a view from a third party (a ‘skilled person’) about aspects of a regulated firm’s activities under section 166 of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012, is used regularly by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) as part of their regulatory toolkits. Either the FCA or the PRA can use this power in circumstances where they require additional detailed information about a certain aspect of a firm's business and do not have the expertise or resources to conduct the work themselves, or where, for some reason, the firm is not likely to provide an objective view. The power can be used in support of supervisory or enforcement work. The FCA or the PRA can commission two types of skilled person review: • the appointment of a skilled person to produce a report under FSMA 2000, s 166, or • the collection or updating of information

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its annual report 2025/26, reporting £5.6 billion in estimated benefits to consumers, firms and the wider economy. Enforcement highlights include 11 years' combined imprisonment for insider dealing, a £42 million fine against Barclays for anti-money laundering failures and a coordinated finfluencer crackdown yielding three arrests and 650 social media takedown requests. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) simultaneously published its annual report, noting £243 million reimbursed to authorised push payment (APP) fraud victims and 53% growth in open banking payments in 2025, alongside progress towards the transfer of PSR functions to the FCA under the Financial Services and Markets Bill introduced in May 2026.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have outlined the next steps for open banking in the UK with the aim of giving consumers and businesses more choice in how they make and receive payments safely, securely and efficiently. Building on the progress made in 2024 through voluntary funding from 20 leading firms, the initiatives include enhancing fraud analysis, consumer protections, and introducing new services like variable recurring payments.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have implemented measures to combat Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, which caused £485m in losses in 2022. The FCA has developed a synthetic dataset using agent-based simulations to foster innovations in fraud detection while ensuring consumer privacy. This dataset, which includes detailed information on identities, transactions, telecom data, and fraud instances, helps model, detect, and mitigate seven types of APP scams. It is available on the FCA Innovation platform and continues to evolve with new scam types and enhanced consumer profiles. The PSR has issued a policy statement (PS25/3) detailing its approach to publishing APP scam data for 2024, including a new reimbursement policy for victims. The PSR plans to issue two reports for 2024 due to this policy change and will seek stakeholder input in Spring 2025 to ensure future reporting meets consumer needs and regulatory requirements.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have published documents providing an update on the core principles of the methodology each regulator uses to measure the costs and benefits of their policy interventions. The FCA anticipates it will establish a cost benefit analysis (CBA) panel, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA 2023), later in 2024. Both regulators will then finalise statements of policy on their use of CBAs for public consultation.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the findings of its joint 2023/2024 survey with the Practitioner Panel, providing feedback on regulated firms’ perceptions of the FCA's performance. Although the FCA say that the majority of firms provided positive feedback, with over three quarters reporting a high level of satisfaction the survey identified areas where the FCA could improve.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Practitioner Panel have launched their joint survey for 2024 to gather feedback on how the FCA is regulating the industry. The survey will be sent to all fixed firms and 25,000 flexible firms, and has been made shorter compared to previous years to make it easier to respond. The results will help the panel and the FCA better understand issues affecting firms and assess any changes that could be made to the regulatory approach.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Practitioner Panel have launched a joint survey for 2025, targeting all regulated firms to gather feedback on the FCA's regulatory practices. Conducted by Verian, the survey aims to understand issues affecting firms and assess potential changes for improved efficiency and effectiveness. The survey is part of the FCA's three-year performance evaluation strategy, with results to be presented to the Practitioner Panel and FCA Board, and published in summer 2025.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and HM Treasury have issued a call for input (CfI) and consultation respectively, consulting on reforms to simplify regulations for alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs). The FCA aims to streamline the regime, making it more proportionate and encouraging effective risk management, with plans to create bespoke regimes for investment trusts and venture capital firms. HM Treasury's consultation seeks to reduce regulatory burdens on AIFMs, enhancing the UK's attractiveness for capital management and supporting economic growth. The proposed changes are expected to save time and money for asset managers and are part of the government's Plan for Change. Responses to the CfI and the consultation are sought by 9 June 2025, with the FCA planning for the detailed rules to be consulted on in the first half of 2026.

On 30 January 2025, Contis Financial Services Limited (CFSL), an e-money firm, was placed into special administration, according to an FCA announcement. The Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations 2021 introduced a special administration regime for payment and e-money institutions.  This is similar to an ordinary administration however, the special administrators have an additional objective of returning customer funds as soon as reasonably practicable.