FCA pushes back on union recognition demands November 17, 2021 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has pushed back on union demands to give official recognition to Unite the Union as the representative of staff at the watchdog. The new Unite general secretary Sharon Graham wrote to the regulator’s CEO Nikhil Rathi ten days ago, alleging that “staff at the Financial Conduct Authority are flooding to [...]
FCA unveils plans to ban debt advice firms charging referral fees November 17, 2021 Debt packager firms will be banned from chasing commission to refer those in financial distress on to other providers of debt solutions, under new plans unveiled by the UK’s financial watchdog today. The ban concerns debt advice firms that rely on income from referral fees paid by the other firms that they recommend – a [...]
Brexit in the City: New powers for watchdogs FCA and PRA as UK moves away from EU rules November 10, 2021 The City’s main regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), will be given new powers to set rules as the UK moves away from the EU framework after Brexit, according to Government proposals. Regulators will be required to consider how the UK’s financial sector can grow and compete internationally when setting [...]
John Lewis in hot water as “misleading” ad is pulled October 27, 2021 John Lewis was forced to apologise after it aired an ad that was considered potentially misleading by the financial watchdog. “This advert has been withdrawn because the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers the content to be potentially misleading and could cause customers to be confused about John Lewis’s new home contents insurance offering,” the department [...]
Buy Now Pay Later regulation imminent: ‘FCA very keen to be on front foot’ October 20, 2021 Government proposals to regulate the interest free Buy Now, Pay Later market are expected by the end of October, according to industry insiders. Buy now, Pay Later products have boomed in popularity in the UK over the past five years, The Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) industry was recently estimated to have financed £3billion in [...]
Redress on the horizon? NAO begins probing FCA’s handling of British Steel transfer debacle October 20, 2021 The National Audit Office (NAO) has begun its probe into the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) handling of the British Steel transfer debacle. The investigation is still in its early stages, but the audit watchdog said that it aims to publish its findings in Spring next year. The 2017 scandal involved 7,700 British Steel Pension Scheme [...]
Watchdog blames social media ‘hype’ and competitiveness for younger investors’ bets on crypto October 20, 2021 Three quarters of younger investors in the UK who place their bets on high-risk products, such as cryptocurrencies, say they are driven by “competition” with friends and their own past investments, according to new research from the FCA. Of the 1000 UK younger investors that the FCA surveyed between the ages of 18 and 40 [...]
Advisers call on FCA to strengthen investor protections following Woodford collapse October 19, 2021 Financial advisers have called on the City’s watchdog to impose stronger investor protections where illiquid assets are held in funds, drawing on lessons learned from the collapse of Neil Woodford’s flagship fund. Since the fund was shuttered by former star stockpicker Woodford in late 2019, the biggest lesson learned among financial advisers was to give [...]
City bosses warn FCA over listings reform that would ‘undermine’ London market October 17, 2021 Proposed restrictions on the number of smaller companies listed on the London stock exchange as part of the FCA’s shake up of the market could “undermine” the City’s competitiveness rather than improve it, a group of City figures has warned. An increase to the minimum market capitalisation for companies to list on the main stock [...]
Civil war: FCA staff pushing for union involvement after pay cut row with CEO Nikhil Rathi October 12, 2021 The Financial Conduct Authority may soon be a unionised workplace, if trade union activists get their way. A formal petition has been launched by Unite the union to gauge interest after what the union said was a significant increase in staff at the regulator joining the union. Staff are said to be unhappy with chief [...]