The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined financial advice firm Inspirational Financial Management Ltd (IFM), which is in administration, £897,840, and banned Arthur Cobill and William Hofstetter for British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) advice and oversight failings. IFM poorly advised people to transfer out of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, including the BSPS.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a notice to provide information on incidents of non-financial misconduct addressed to all regulated Lloyd’s Managing Agents & London Market Insurers (including P&I Clubs) and Lloyd’s and London Market Insurance Intermediaries (and Managing General Agents). The FCA is exercising its formal powers such that all recipients are required to provide the information to the FCA by the 5 March 2024. A failure to comply with the information request may result in contempt of court and FCA enforcement action, including a search of the premises under warrant.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a policy statement on the UK transparency regime for bonds and derivatives, detailing pre-trade and post-trade transparency rules under MiFIR. Transparency calculations for liquidity will be replaced by proxies, and the Financial Instruments Transparency System (FITRS) will be discontinued. The definition of a systematic internaliser (SI) is now qualitative. Changes take effect on 1 December 2025, with the bond consolidated tape going live thereafter. The tender for a provider starts in December 2024.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published policy statement PS25/23: Tackling non‑financial misconduct in financial services—Guidance in the Code of Conduct (COCON) and the Fit and Proper test for Employees and Senior Personnel (FIT) sourcebooks. It contains final guidance on serious non-financial misconduct (NFM) in the financial services sector, and aims to help firms tackle bullying, harassment and violence after they asked for additional support. The guidance will come into force on 1 September 2026, at the same time as the new rule at COCON 1.1.7FR. The guidance explains how firms can apply FCA rules on minimum standards of behaviour for financial services employees, and the factors they should take into account when assessing whether someone is fit and proper for their role.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has updated its consumer warning on Northern Provident Investments (NPI), after the firm entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation. Jason Baker and Geoff Rowley of FRP Advisory Trading Limited (FRP) were appointed as joint liquidators on 20 August 2021. The FCA says there is a high risk of scammers trying to take advantage of customers. It sets out the steps customers should take if contacted by people claiming to be from NPI or FRP.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement noting that it has become aware of promotional material indicating that Coinburp Limited is intending to launch the CoinBurp $BURP Token and Initial DEX Offering on 26 July 2021. The statement points out that the firm does not yet hold full FCA registration under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended) (MLRs) but has submitted an application to the FCA for registration.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement relating to Hartley Pensions Limited, which is in administration. The statement concerns a letter sent to members of Hartley-administered pension schemes by Tony Flanagan (a director of Hartley and the director of the companies that act as trustee of the Hartley SIPPS), without the agreement of either the joint administrators or the FCA. The regulator says the communication contains factual inaccuracies which may have caused customers concern.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement on the Promethean Finance Limited tribunal decision, noting that the time for the firm to appeal the Upper Tribunal’s 5 August 2024 decision has now passed and the FCA has published its Second Supervisory Notice setting out the action it took against Promethean and the basis for that action.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it has received a legal challenge to its decision to award the contract for the bond consolidated tape (CT) provider. The FCA says the challenge means it can’t enter into a contract with the successful bidder as quickly as planned.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will not object to requests from recognised investment exchanges (RIEs) to create a UK listed market segment for cryptoasset-backed exchange traded notes (cETNs). These products would be available for professional investors, such as investment firms and credit institutions authorised or regulated to operate in financial markets only.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement noting that, on 12 January 2024, the Administrative Court refused permission for Promethean Finance Limited to bring a judicial review claim to challenge the FCA’s rules that ban referral fees for debt packagers. The ban is intended to ensure consumers get better advice and help them to access a suitable debt solution where appropriate.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has updated its webpage on consultation paper CP24/8: Extending the SDR regime to Portfolio Management to note that it is carefully considering the feedback to ensure that the regime protects consumers but also recognises and takes account of any practical challenges that firms may have. The FCA is aware that it is taking longer than expected for some asset managers to comply with the sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) and labelling regime and of the potential impact this might have on portfolio managers. This has been highlighted to the FCA in the consultation feedback and industry engagement. The FCA intends to publish a policy statement and further information about implementation in Q2 2025.