We’ve set out proposals for how we will collect more accurate data from consumer credit firms while making it easier for firms to supply it.

The proposed return should help us to better understand the sector, business models, how they change over time and whether firms continue to meet the threshold conditions.

These activities are held by just under 35,000 regulated firms. As part of the consultation all firms will receive an email, with a link to a prototype, for them to better understand the proposals and their potential impact on them.

This prototype, while not mandatory to use, will allow firms to view the newly proposed consumer credit regulatory return to understand the type of questions asked, the data we would like to collect and to submit a sample data set.

We’re asking firms to submit test data and give feedback on the questions within the prototype. The consultation closes on 31 October 2024.

These proposals, if made into rules, will be required to be submitted by all firms who hold the relevant activities on an ongoing basis. Testing and submitting data through this prototype is your opportunity to ensure the data you’re required to submit is relevant to your business and easy to both understand and provide.

We recognise that data reporting can be demanding for firms. Our proposed changes should make it easier for firms to supply data on an ongoing basis and reduce the number of ad hoc requests.

As part of improving our Authorisation forms, we’re reviewing the Firm Details Attestation (FDA) form to improve guidance, navigation and accessibility.

All firms must make sure we have your correct information by checking, amending (if required) and confirming your details at least annually, using Connect, in line with SUP 16.10 reporting requirements. Some of this information is published on the Financial Services Register.

The new FDA form will use the registered name, registered address and financial year-end held by Companies House as the official record for your firm.

Firms registered with Companies House must make sure your details are correct as soon as possible. Please go to the Companies House website to review and update your information.

To improve the data we hold, we’re strengthening the validation process for all existing fields on the FDA form, as well as verifying email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses.

We intend to start rolling out the new form later this year.

More on keeping your firm’s details up to date.

In its latest report, the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) found that while most professional bodies are complying with money laundering regulations, how they supervise is not consistently effective.

While most Professional Body Supervisors (PBSs) continue to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 standards, pockets of ineffectiveness remain in the core areas of supervision, risk-based approach, enforcement, and information and intelligence sharing.

OPBAS’s work links directly to the FCA’s Business Plan commitment to reduce and prevent financial crime. OPBAS will continue to act to address shortcomings and improve the consistency and effectiveness of PBSs.

Our new rules to protect access to cash came into force on 18 September and are already having a positive impact in local communities.

Under the rules, banks and building societies must assess whether changes to local services, like closing branches or cash machines, leave local communities lacking ways to take out or pay in cash.

Since the rules were confirmed in July LINK, which manages the UK’s cash access and ATM network, has reassessed the needs of local areas where banking services are changing.

On 9 September, we set out temporary measures for firms on ‘naming and marketing’ sustainability rules.

We're offering firms temporary flexibility to comply with ‘naming and marketing’ rules under our Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime until 2 April 2025.

We will allow funds with ‘sustainable’, ‘sustainability’ or ‘impact’ (or a variation of those terms) in their name that have applied by 1 October 2024, an additional 4 months to comply with the naming and marketing rules.

This is not market-wide forbearance on SDR that the Investment Association asked for – it is for a limited period for a limited population of funds.

In line with our recent announcement, the 1-, 3- and 6-month synthetic US dollar LIBOR settings will cease permanently after their final publication on the 30 September 2024.

Ahead of the deadline, firms with outstanding US dollar LIBOR exposures must continue their active transition efforts.

The cessation of the last remaining LIBOR settings is the final milestone in the transition away from LIBOR and will mark the end of LIBOR overall.

We’ve published new findings to help principal firms effectively monitor their Appointed Representatives (ARs).

The findings outline good practice and areas for improvement for principals on: 

• completing self-assessments and annual reviews
• AR monitoring and oversight
• AR onboarding and termination

This follows a review of how principals were meeting our enhanced AR rules, introduced in December 2022.

Principals, or firms who intend to have ARs in future, should consider the findings when assessing their obligations.

We’ve published Occasional Paper 65, asking, is timing of the essence? Testing when to engage UK pension customers.

Our research highlights when and how firms can improve their communications to help consumers make informed decisions about retirement savings.

It supports our ongoing work looking at how we can help firms to better support pension savers throughout the consumer journey.

The research also shows the importance of pre-testing communications to ensure they make the most impact and do not unintentionally discourage consumers. Firms are encouraged to read the research and explore innovative ways to talk to consumers about their pensions.

We’ve published an update on our actions since our July 2023 cash savings market review, and our work with the largest 9 firms on the value they provide.

Our analysis also shows that while firms were benefitting as base rates increased, these benefits were increasingly passed to savers. We continue to encourage savers to shop around to get the best rates.

We found firms could improve how they assess the value offered by their savings products. We expect firms to improve these assessments, having considered our feedback, and will take appropriate action where this is not the case.

We have also published an update on how firms across the financial services sector have assessed their products and services against the price and value outcome of the Consumer Duty.

We’re consulting on new rules to strengthen the safeguarding regime for payments and e-money firms to better protect customer money from firm failures.

The rules aim to ensure better safeguarding of customer funds by payments and e-money providers, quicker distribution of funds back to customers in the event of failures, and better supervision and enforcement from the FCA.

Read the consultation and respond by 13 December 2024.

We’re consulting on changes to our Payment Services and Electronic Money Approach Document to support new legislation to tackle authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Read the consultation and respond by 4 October 2024.

We’ve extended the current pause to the time firms have to issue final responses for motor finance complaints involving a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA) until 4 December 2025.

We introduced the pause while we examine whether motor finance customers have been overcharged because of the past use of DCAs.

We have extended the pause as it has taken longer to collect and review the data than we planned. There is also relevant ongoing litigation.

We now expect to set out next steps in May 2025. This could involve consulting on a redress scheme. So we are taking the precautionary step of pausing complaint handling until 4 December 2025, as it may take until then to implement it.

The Government is committed to replacing EU-inherited disclosure regulation with a new framework tailored to UK markets and firms. Our work on the new disclosure regime continues, with our consultation expected in the Autumn.

The Government has decided to take more immediate steps to exempt closed-ended UK-listed investment funds from the requirements of the current EU-inherited Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation and parts of Articles 50 and 51 of the MiFID Org Regulation.

We have immediately applied new forbearance to provide certainty for firms ahead of this legislation taking effect.

We ask managers who submitted information for their AIF002 returns to check they have completed all relevant fields in their submissions.

We’ve found not all relevant fields have been completed by Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).

These fields include ‘Legal Entity Identification code (LEI)’ (6A), ‘International Securities Identification Number (ISIN)’ (7A), ‘Does the AIF offer redemption or withdrawal rights in the ordinary course’ (209A). This information enables us to conduct our work effectively.

Please review your returns. And in future submissions, complete these and other relevant fields on an ongoing basis. Please make these changes ahead of the year-end submissions.

In September, we charged Mr Olumide Osunkoya for unlawfully operating a network of crypto ATMs without the required registration. The machines were found in multiple locations and processed £2.6m in crypto transactions between 29 December 2021 and 8 September 2023.

These charges mark our first criminal prosecution relating to unregistered cryptoasset activity under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. These are also the first charges brought against a person accused of running a network of crypto ATMs in the UK.

Mr Osunkoya will appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 30 September 2024.

In response to feedback, we are consulting on proposals to make it easier for Non-UCITS Retail Schemes (NURS) to invest into Long Term Asset Funds (LTAF). We are proposing amending our second scheme rules so that they do not apply to a NURS investing into LTAFs. This should remove the barrier that currently prevents a NURS from investing in LTAF.

These proposals should facilitate appropriately managed retail investment in long-term illiquid assets, in line with our policy intent when creating the LTAF.

These proposals are set out in Chapter 3 of September’s Quarterly Consultation Paper.

From 30 September, changes to the UK EMIR reporting requirements come into effect. This aims to make the reporting of derivatives more transparent and improve the quality of data firms report to trade repositories.

Our Policy Statement details our final rules on amendments to UK EMIR. To support firms’ implementation of the new reporting requirements, we have produced Q&As. More information is also available on our reporting obligations webpage.

We have published the latest data from firms who have signed up to the Government’s Mortgage Charter. There are 49 signatories, representing around 90% of the mortgage market.

The data suggests that a minimum of around 1.4 million mortgages have benefited from one or more of the options set out in the Charter, whether explicitly or through a business-as-usual channel.

Around 132,000 mortgages have temporarily reduced monthly payments via the FCA rules.

Along with the Bank of England, we have published the 2024 Q2 Mortgage Lending Statistics data for regulated firms carrying out mortgage lending and mortgage administration.

The data we publish includes:

• the outstanding value of all residential loans
• total gross advances by loan-to-value and income multiples
• value of new commitments
• proportion of mortgage loans above Bank Rate

The value of gross mortgage advances increased by 16.7% from the previous quarter to £60.2 billion, the first increase since 2023 Q3 and was 15.5% higher than a year earlier.

Our news and publications alerts keep you up to date with our press releases, speeches, statements, consultations, guidance, notices and decisions.

The 2024 FCA Innovation Services Autumn Expo will be hosted at the FCA London office on 4 November 2024. It will feature 14 cutting-edge projects developed through our FCA Innovation Hub services, including the Digital Sandbox, Regulatory Sandbox, and Innovation Pathways. These projects demonstrate the power of collaboration and innovation in driving change in the financial sector, with a focus on WealthTech, RegTech, and data enablement.

In addition to project showcases, the Expo will facilitate networking opportunities with industry leaders, innovators, incubators, members of the FCA team, academics, and stakeholders from the wider fintech ecosystem.

To attend please apply here.