We've announced a series of reforms to improve transparency, support growth and keep UK wholesale markets competitive and resilient.

We've published equity market transparency reforms, including the framework for a future equity consolidated tape. This will bring trading information from across the market into one place.

This will make market-wide data easier to access and use, helping investors build a clearer picture of liquidity and trading activity across UK equity markets.

We've launched a market activity reporter for shares, giving visibility of overall UK equity market activity while the consolidated tape is developed.

We've also simplified the UK equity IPO process, removing the 7-day waiting period for connected research and streamlining information-sharing requirements.

These changes reduce costs and execution risk for issuers, making it easier for companies to access public markets and raise capital.

Alongside this, we've finalised our transaction reporting regime, reducing reporting requirements and removing low-value obligations.

We've also finalised enhancements to fund liquidity risk management, strengthening liquidity risk processes and promoting the effective use of anti-dilution tools. This is to help protect investors while supporting continued access to investment opportunities.

The reforms will save firms more than £100m a year while letting us receive the high-quality data we need to detect market abuse and monitor markets effectively.

From 17 September 2026, RegData will operate every day from 7am until midnight, including weekends and bank holidays.

Until then, its hours will remain:

• Monday to Friday: 7am to 10pm

• Weekends and bank holidays: 8am to 5pm

The longer hours will improve access to our digital services and give firms more flexibility.

What isn't changing?

• Support arrangements remain unchanged and firms should continue to use existing channels for queries relating to submissions or access. Firms do not need to take any action.

• This change applies to RegData operating hours only. There are no changes to firms' reporting obligations, submission processes or other systems as part of this.

This change is part of ongoing improvements to our digital services and is intended to provide a more consistent and accessible experience for firms.

We’ve strengthened our international presence with the appointment of Sabina Saini and Darine Obeid as Financial Services Attachés for India and the UAE respectively.

They join our global network of attachés across Washington DC, Brussels, Singapore and Sydney, helping to deepen international regulatory cooperation, support UK exports and attract investment into the UK.

Earlier this year, we worked with firms across asset management, wealth management and payments to support rapidly-growing businesses.

In our Early High Growth Oversight pilot, we assessed whether firms’ governance, risk management and control frameworks were developing in line with their growth.

We’ve published a review of the good and poor practice we found, highlighting the importance of investing early in governance, risk management and controls.

Early High Growth Oversight shows how we're supporting innovative and growing firms, alongside initiatives such as the Scale-up Unit, Innovation Pathways, and Pre-Application Support Service (PASS).

We’ve published feedback from our review of motor finance redress scheme implementation plans, highlighting examples of good and poor practice to help firms strengthen their preparations.

Examples of good practice are: clear operational workflows, robust data governance, tested decision-making frameworks, strong controls over redress calculations, effective quality assurance and early planning for multiple representative scenarios.

We also identified weaknesses, such as high-level planning, untested assumptions, and insufficient oversight.

Firms should review the feedback, address any gaps and ensure they can demonstrate readiness to deliver fair, consistent and timely consumer outcomes.

We will continue to engage with firms where our concerns remain and may ask for more information if firms’ plans do not demonstrate sufficient readiness.

We have highlighted financial crime risks among unregulated lenders, known as Annex 1 firms.

We’re concerned that some firms may rely too heavily on group-level controls or off-the-shelf procedures that aren’t tailored to their own risks, governance and operations.

If you’re carrying out these activities without being registered, you should submit an application for registration.

We are increasing our scrutiny of registration applications, which firms should expect to take longer. We have also sent an information request to currently registered firms.

These firms must be registered with us for anti-money laundering purposes if carrying out relevant activities.

ClearScore, Modulr, Teya, Urban Jungle and Zilch, spanning payments, consumer finance, credit information and insurtech, have been announced as the first firms regulated solely by us to take part in our Scale-up Unit.

The initiative gives them tailored support so they can innovate and navigate regulation, and grow sustainably while developing new products, responding to policy changes and managing the challenges of rapid growth.

This sits alongside our other programmes, such as Innovation Pathways, Pre-Application Support Service (PASS) and Early and High Growth Oversight function, creating a clear pathway from start-up to scale-up.

Ahead of the crypto authorisations gateway opening in September, firms can request a pre-application meeting with us through our pre-application support service (PASS).

These free, optional meetings give firms an opportunity to introduce and explain their business model, discuss the authorisation process and understand our expectations.

Engaging with PASS can help firms prepare higher-quality applications and make the authorisation process smoother.

In the coming months, firms will start to see changes in the way they interact with our fund authorisations team.

We’re developing a secure, digitised application gateway – the first step to us ultimately delivering dynamic forms that ask questions based on what applicants are looking to do.

We expect these dynamic forms to improve applicants’ experience: there will be less need for follow-up questions and it will shorten the time it takes us to reach a decision.

Read our consultation for more information and send us your feedback by 22 October 2026.

We’ve issued another warning to consumers about the risks of investing in loan notes and mini-bonds issued by unregulated companies, after continuing to see people lose money in these high-risk investments.

We permanently banned the marketing of speculative illiquid securities, including mini-bonds and loan notes, to retail investors from 1 January 2021.

But consumers may still come across adverts for loan notes and mini-bonds in everyday places, including social media, online adverts or websites promoting high fixed returns.

We are seeing more cases of fraudsters and other criminals trying to enter the advice market by buying firms from owners who are looking to exit.

If you are considering selling your firm, you should carry out careful checks on the buyer and consider whether the sale could increase the risk of financial crime or harm to consumers.

You should apply the same care and attention to selling your firm as you do to running it. Taking appropriate steps before completing a sale can help protect consumers and reduce the risk of your firm being used for financial crime.

Firms can now access our Handbook data directly through our new API (Application Programming Interface).

The Handbook API opens our rulebook up in a structured, machine-readable format. It’s free and lets firms integrate compliance into their own systems, or work with third-party providers.

Making our rules easier to access and use will help make better compliance decisions faster.

This is part of our work to be a smarter regulator, supporting a more efficient, responsive and forward-looking regulatory environment.

As per Handbook Notice 132, 1 August 2025, you no longer need to submit nil REP008 returns if there’s nothing to report.

You will still see the task on your task list annually in My FCA but, if no action is needed, tasks will be automatically removed after the submission due date with no late fees.

We’re looking to appoint experienced individuals to our independent Financial Services Consumer Panel, which helps reflect the consumer voice in regulatory policy and decision-making.

We’re particularly keen to hear from those with expertise in mortgages and consumer finance, retail investments or retail insurance.

This is a unique opportunity to provide constructive challenge, influence regulatory thinking and help improve outcomes for consumers and small businesses across the UK.

Applications are open until 19 September 2026.

We have published our wealth management survey report 2026, which looks at discretionary portfolio management and how firms are serving clients in a growing and changing market.

Firms in our wealth management portfolio support more than 5.5 million retail clients and manage almost £1 trillion of assets.

The sector is evolving quickly as firms grow, specialise, consolidate and make greater use of technology.

This brings opportunities for firms and consumers. A stronger wealth management sector can support growth, build trust in investing and help clients make better-informed decisions about their financial futures.

Read the report for more information.

We have published the latest Product Sales Data (PSD) statistics.

The publication includes aggregated data from firms in the mortgages and retail investments sectors and covers sales from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025.

You can explore the data through our interactive mortgages dashboard and retail investments dashboard.

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