The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that, due to the imminent UK general election, it will delay publishing the findings from its review of the treatment of domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs) by financial services firms until July 2024, when Parliament has returned.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to livestream an event on the Consumer Duty One Year On, on 31 July 2024. The event will focus on the impact the Duty has had in its first year; examples of good practice and areas for improvement; and the FCA’s priorities for the year ahead. Questions can be submitted upon registration.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will introduce changes to the National Storage Mechanism (NSM) and Electronic Submission System (ESS), effective from 3 November 2025, in line with Policy Statement PS24/19: Enhancing the National Storage Mechanism. Key changes include updating the list of headline codes and categories used to organise regulated information, removing redundant categories and eliminating the ‘classification’ field. Issuers will also be required to record the name and legal entity identifier (LEI) of any related issuers that are the subject of a disclosure, as well as those of the organisation making the disclosure. The updated systems will provide clearer visibility of corrections to previously filed disclosures, with previous versions retained on the NSM but hidden from the default view. The FCA has further advised that file uploads to the NSM via the ESS will be unavailable from 1–2 November 2025, in preparation for the launch.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has opened an enforcement investigation into The Claims Protection Agency Limited (TCPA) following concerns about its advertising and sales tactics in relation to potential motor finance claims. The FCA is investigating what customers were told about the amount of redress they might obtain, whether they were told they could make a claim for free, and whether they were pressurised to sign up. The FCA has not reached any conclusions on whether TCPA breached any regulatory requirements.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it is to investigate the use of personal guarantees by lenders to support loans to certain small businesses following a super-complaint from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FCA’s remit does not include lending to limited companies, but the regulator says it is committed to ‘do what it can to support small businesses within its defined remit’. If the FCA’s work identifies relevant information, it will share this with appropriate government departments, in particular the Treasury as it considers reforming the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will launch a market study into how pure protection insurance products are sold following concerns that competition is not working well in the market. The study will be launched later in 2024/25. The study will focus primarily on the sale of term assurance, critical illness cover, income protection insurance and whole-of-life insurance, including policies for over 50s that offer guaranteed acceptance.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will publish its final rules for the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange Systems (PISCES) in June 2025. Simultaneously, it will open applications for operators interested in running a PISCES platform. The FCA will test the regulatory framework using a sandbox until June 2030, enabling operators to trial various business models for trading private company shares. The FCA and HM Treasury will review the outcomes to determine whether to transfer PISCES into permanent legislation or consider alternative measures.

HM Treasury (HMT) has announced that ‘firm and proportionate rules’ will come into force from 2027 for cryptoassets firms, giving them legal clarity over the sector’s regulatory position and ‘boosting consumer confidence by ensuring consumers are robustly protected’. Firms will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the same way as other providers of financial products, including being subject to established transparency standards. A draft of statutory provisions to create the new regulated activities for cryptoassets, and an explainer document, have also been published.

The Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Nikhil Rathi, has responded to the letter of the chair of the Treasury Committee, Mel Stride, in relation to the prosecution of NatWest for money laundering. Rathi stated that responding in detail while the proceedings are underway would be ‘inappropriate’ and that the FCA will be able to respond in full once sentencing is complete and in light of the statement of agreed facts. The FCA expects to receive a date for the sentencing hearing from the Southwark Crown Court by 31 October 2021, anticipating it will be listed in early December.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it is reviewing and updating the requirements, directions and limitations applied to over 9,000 firms, and aims to amend and update around 11,000 requirements, directions or limitations. This follows a review to check that the data it holds is still accurate; reflects the current wording it uses for requirements, directions and limitations; and reflects any changes to legislation and firms' business models since they were imposed.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will review its client categorisation rules to help unlock investment opportunities and support the UK’s capital markets. The proposed reform aims to ensure that regulatory expectations remain proportionate for wealthy or experienced investors, while maintaining protections for retail clients. It forms part of the FCA’s broader growth agenda, which includes around 50 initiatives planned for delivery by the end of 2025 and builds on 10 already completed since January 2025. These include the launch of a private stock market (PISCES), a Digital Securities Sandbox in partnership with the Bank of England (BoE), and expanded pre-application support for firms in wholesale, payments and cryptoasset sectors. The FCA intends to publish its Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Objective (SICGO) report alongside its annual report on 10 July 2025. A consultation on elective professional client categorisation is expected later in 2025.

Law360, London: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that it will soon publish a long-awaited review into whether poorer customers are being penalised when they opt to pay their insurance premiums in monthly installments.