FCA launches three-year strategy to improve outcomes

The three-year strategy reflects the FCA’s broad and growing remit, as it prioritises resources to prevent serious harm, set higher standards and promote competition.

The regulator will also hold itself accountable against published outcomes and performance metrics. 

A key aim of the strategy is to close down problem firms, which do not meet basic regulatory standards. The FCA is recruiting 80 employees to work on the initiative, which it says “will protect consumers from potential fraud, poor treatment and create a better market”.

In March, Brian Corr, interim director of retail lending at FCA alluded to the move, saying it has identified firms at risk of falling below standards, has engaged with them directly and that enforcement remains an option, in a speech at the 2022 Credit Summit, sponsored by Equifax.

The FCA said that for every pound spent on its operations, consumers and small businesses benefit by at least £11. It also said it is responding to the rising cost of living, which could drive greater demand for credit products. 

The strategy builds on activities launched last July, when Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, committed the regulator to become more innovative, assertive and adaptive and to “transform the FCA into a data-led platform”.

Rathi said: “Our new strategy enables the FCA to respond more quickly to the rapidly changing financial services sector. It will give us a foundation to continuously improve for the benefit of our stakeholders, and respond swiftly to economic and geopolitical developments”.