Brief
FCA Regulatory Brief – Priority Actions for Firms
The FCA's recent activities highlight its focus on several key areas: conduct and culture, tech adoption, data and reporting efficiency, and global reach. The blog emphasizes that firms should proactively align with these themes to prepare for future supervision.
Michaela Clarke
Operations & Compliance Coordinator
The FCA’s output over the past fortnight sharpened its focus on:
- Conduct & culture – rising whistle-blowing cases and fresh insider-dealing convictions foreshadow tougher enforcement.
- Tech adoption – new live-testing proposals for AI and a roadmap for crypto-trading venues demand forward-looking risk controls.
- Data & reporting efficiency – streamlined consumer-credit returns signal a broader “smarter reporting” push.
- Global reach – speeches on UK-China cooperation and the appointment of a dedicated payments lead underscore growing cross-border scrutiny.
Firms that proactively map these themes to their SM&CR accountability, Consumer Duty evidence and operational-resilience plans will be best placed for the 2025/ 26 supervisory cycle.
Top-ten developments, why they matter, and 30-day actions
| # | Release & date | Why it matters | What firms should do within 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whistle-blowing data Q1 2025 – 12 May FCA | 468 cases closed; enforcement or s166 action followed in 2.6 % of closures, with conduct and market-abuse themes dominant |
|
| 2 | PS25/4 – pooled-fund research payment option – 9 May FCA | Restores joint-payment accounts, reversing MiFID II unbundling constraints for UCITS/AIF managers |
|
| 3 | Insider-dealing conviction – 9 May FCA | Professional traders pleaded guilty; FCA stresses personal accountability and will seek confiscation orders |
|
| 4 | Review of smaller asset managers – 8 May FCA | Liquidity stress-testing and valuation controls weakest; targeted follow-ups expected |
|
| 5 | David Geale appointed Exec Director Payments & Digital Finance – 8 May FCA | Signals consolidation of PSR into FCA and intensified scrutiny of payments, open-banking and crypto sectors |
|
| 6 | Consumer-credit data-return overhaul – 7 May FCA | New return replaces two existing returns and pauses four more, cutting 28 % of questions | Identify changed fields; align IT schemas Update data-governance policy and brief finance teams |
| 7 | Crypto trading-platform roadmap (DP25/1) – 2 May FCA | Frames future rules on intermediaries, staking, lending and DeFi; feedback due 13 June |
|
| 8 | Restriction on Direct Trading Technologies – 2 May FCA | Own-initiative requirement freezes CFD broker for governance and FR&C failings, showing faster supervisory intervention |
|
| 9 | AI live-testing service engagement paper – 29 Apr FCA | Proposed sandbox allows 12-18-month live validation of AI models starting Sept 2025 |
|
| 10 | Speech: strengthening UK-China financial partnership – 12 May FCA | FCA chair highlights deeper cooperation on green finance, wealth management and supervision |
|
Need expert regulatory guidance?
Our ex-regulator team helps firms navigate complex requirements and evidence compliance with confidence.
Book a Free Scoping CallRelated insights
View all insights →
CACEIS and WealthTek: testing the control chain behind client-asset protection
The FCA censured CACEIS UK and recorded a £31.7m voluntary payment after failures to act on information that exposed WealthTek clients to financial-crime risk.
CP26/16 has closed: what firms should prepare for next
CP26/16 closed on 9 July 2026. Its proposals concern safekeeping delegation and the authorised fund registration function, not a new FCA data return.
In-house, outsourced or co-sourced compliance: a governance comparison
A comparison of compliance resourcing models through accountability, capability, information access, provider oversight, continuity and exit planning.