The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has charged John Burford, the sole director of Financial Trading Strategies Limited (FTS), with operating an unauthorised business and misleading investors. Burford is suspected of generating over £1m from unauthorised activities between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023. He allegedly accepted money from more than 100 investors, providing investment advice and management services without proper authorisation. FTS promoted paid subscription services through its website, which included daily trade alerts offering advice on trading opportunities and investments in three 'Tramline' funds. The FCA claims that Burford repeatedly misrepresented the value of these funds and the amount of money lost during trading. The FCA is prosecuting Burford for breaches of sections 19 and 23(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and section 993(1) of the Companies Act 2006. Burford is scheduled to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 23 May 2025.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has charged Richard Bloomfield with five counts of insider dealing. The FCA alleges that in his role as a solicitor at a law firm, Bloomfield worked on an acquisition of Seraphine Group PLC and used inside information obtained through his role to deal in securities of Seraphine Group PLC on five occasions between 28 March 2022 and 10 January 2023. The FCA is not investigating the law firm or Seraphine Group PLC in this case.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has commenced criminal proceedings against Bobosher Sharipov and Bekzod Avazov for insider dealing offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1993 (CJA 1993). Sharipov, who worked at investment bank Jefferies International Limited and advised GCP Student Living Plc (GCP) on a potential takeover, is charged with the improper disclosure of inside information contrary to CJA 1993, s 52(2)(b). Avazov is charged with dealing in price-affected securities in relation to inside information contrary to CJA 1993, s 52(1). He is alleged to have used confidential information provided by Sharipov to trade in GCP shares and spread bets, generating profits of almost £70,000. The alleged offences occurred in 2021. The case was formally sent to Southwark Crown Court, and neither defendant has entered a plea.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has brought charges against nine individuals in relation to an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme promoted on social media. The defendants will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 13 June 2024.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a speech delivered by its Chief Economist, Kate Collyer, at Warwick Business School on 15 September 2025, outlining its strategy to support the UK’s financial services growth by rebalancing risk. The strategy, which responds to stalled financial sector productivity—recorded at just 0.4% annualised growth over the past decade—advocates for smarter, tech-positive regulation that provides firms with more space to innovate while maintaining essential market protections.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, has outlined plans to reshape the UK mortgage market to make sustainable homeownership more accessible and adaptable to changing economic and social conditions. Speaking at the L&G Mortgage Club’s 30th Anniversary Conference on 11 November 2025, he said the FCA’s ongoing Mortgage Rule Review seeks to create a system that better serves diverse borrower needs, including those with irregular incomes or limited deposits, while ensuring affordability and resilience. Measures introduced this year have already widened access for first-time buyers, with 85% of lenders updating affordability approaches. The FCA is also supporting innovation through its AI sandbox and a new three-month Mortgage TechSprint. Rathi emphasised the need for system-wide collaboration between regulators, lenders and government to modernise processes, including digitalising homebuying and reviewing outdated schemes such as the Mortgage Charter.

Law360, London: The head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned that UK businesses are woefully under-insured against the risk of a massive cyberattack.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement clarifying that its sustainability regulations do not prevent investment in, or finance for, defence companies. The FCA emphasised that while its sustainable finance rules aim to ensure trustworthy information and improve market transparency, they do not require financial institutions to treat defence companies differently to those in other sectors. The FCA says that its rules should not be confused with individual policies of financial institutions.

Impact of Brexit on CASS and the FCA’s powers and requirements Following the FCA’s decision to leave the EU, the UK government ‘onshored’ and preserved most EU and EU-derived law as it stood immediately before the UK’s departure. ‘Onshoring’ is the process of amending legislation and regulatory requirements so that they work in a UK-only context, including EU legislation that form part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018). The EU(W)A 2018, as amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, made provision for the ratification and implementation in domestic law of the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU. The Withdrawal Agreement sets out the arrangements for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. It included a transition period (or, to use the UK government’s phraseology, an ‘implementation period’) beginning on 31 January 2020 and ending on 31 December 2020 (IP completion day). During the implementation period, the UK was treated, for most purposes, as if it were still an EU Member State with access to EU markets on current terms

Background the FCA client classification requirements This Practice Note provides an overview of how a client is defined in chapter 3 of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Conduct of Business sourcebook (COBS), as well as the categorisation of such clients as retail clients, professional clients or eligible counterparties. The rules in COBS 3 are derived from the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Directive 2004/39/EC) (MiFID). MiFID was replaced by the recast MiFID (Directive 2014/65/EU) (MiFID II) and the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Regulation (EU) 600/2014, OJ L 173, 12.6.2014) (EU MiFIR) (together the EU MiFID II framework). As amended, the majority of the EU MiFID II framework has applied since 3 January 2018, and EU Member States had until 3 July 2017 to transpose the provisions of MiFID II into national law. The MiFID II Directive contains provisions which amended the original client categorisation requirements under MiFID. The FCA consulted its implementation approach to changes to the previous client categorisation regime introduced by MiFID II in consultation paper CP16/29: Markets in Financial Instruments Directive

Background to the client money rules The rules governing how a firm must safeguard and handle client money held in relation to its investment business are found in chapter 7 of the Clients Assets sourcebook (CASS 7), which forms part of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Handbook. These rules provide more detail on the FCA's overarching requirement in Principle for Business 10 that 'a firm must arrange adequate protection for clients' assets when it is responsible for them'. This Practice Note describes what does and does not amount to client money, the requirements contained in CASS 7 to pay client money into particular accounts, the need for segregation of that money, and for due diligence in relation to the entities with whom it is placed. It does not cover the way in which client money will be distributed on the event of a firm's insolvency (or 'pooling event'). These issues, which are dealt with by the rules in CASS 7A, are covered in Practice Note: Client money distribution and transfer. Major changes to the client money rules

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has decided to take no further action against Wellesley & Co Limited (WCL) following an investigation that found no evidence of serious misconduct. The investigation, announced in 2022, focused on whether investors had been misled or defrauded by WCL in relation to high-risk property development investments promoted and arranged by the firm. These products were not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FCA reviewed marketing materials, risk warnings, banking transactions and investor evidence, and found that the risks were fairly described and there were no signs of fraud or misuse of funds. WCL was the only authorised entity in the Wellesley Group and entered administration on 30 April 2025. The investigation followed Wellesley Finance Ltd’s (WFL) Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in October 2020, under which around £80m of the £134.7m owed to 12,000 investors was returned. The CVA was completed in 2022 and the FCA confirmed that all obligations under the arrangement were met.