United Kingdom: Financial Services

The Bill aims to deliver key aspects of the Leeds Reforms, drive modernisation of regulation of the financial services sector, enable growth, and make consumer protections and redress fit for the digital age.

Movement in the currency market remained highly volatile last week amid conflicting signals surrounding a potential US-Iran peace agreement, the uncertainty surrounding which is likely to continue to influence trends this week.

The Financial Reporting Council has finalized guidance on retrospective actuarial confirmations following the Virgin Media decision, while HMRC's latest newsletter announces the withdrawal of Pension Schemes Online and reminds schemes of upcoming deadlines. These developments provide crucial clarity for pension scheme trustees navigating historic alterations and regulatory compliance requirements.

In this article, we explore the extensive range of investigative and enforcement powers of the U.K.'s principal financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), practical tips for handling requests for information and investigations, recent changes to the FCA's approach to investigations and enforcement, and how the FCA is increasingly turning to its supervisory toolkit to achieve its desired outcomes.

In view of the unfolding political drama in the U.K., you'd be forgiven to have missed the recent King's Speech, the opening salvo to the 2026/7 parliamentary session.

The UK government has announced significant reforms to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, scrapping the phase two consultation and moving forward with changes that will remove automatic unenforceability sanctions while shifting many prescriptive requirements from statute to FCA rules.

The UK government has published a policy statement setting out proposed reforms to the consumer credit regime. The measures are expected to be included in the Financial Services and Markets Bill announced...

The Financial Conduct Authority has released its innovation insights report for 2025, revealing significant trends in the global fintech market including substantial investment in digital assets, AI integration, and open finance developments.

David highlights how the market has faced sustained pressure from declining IPO activity, increased regulatory burden and growing competition from private capital. From David’s perspective, these challenges have underscored the need to reposition AIM as a more competitive and clearly differentiated growth market, capable of attracting both UK and international companies.