Treasury sought to cap motor finance payouts, court filings claim Banking The government sought to cap payouts in the motor finance scandal at a level lenders could absorb and the City regulator acted “unlawfully” in failing to protect consumers, new court filings seen by City AM allege. Both the Treasury and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are facing fresh scrutiny over the motor finance redress scheme as [...]
Investors risk losing life savings with unregulated services, watchdog warns Regulation The UK’s financial watchdog has warned everyday investors could lose their life savings if they pump cash into high-risk unregulated investment services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the recent failure of Woodville Consultants, a litigation funder which raised cashed through unregulated loan notes, had revealed the risks facing investors. Woodville collapsed in July [...]
A £3bn reckoning that will reshape buy now, pay later Regulation Buy now, pay later providers are cheering the arrival of new regulations.In this week’s column Samuel Norman considers how the industry could be reshaped. Five years ago, the government revealed plans to crack down on the buy now, pay later market after an industry review found financial risks posed by the ease with which consumers [...]
Motor finance war of words heats up as City watchdog blasts law firm’s motives July 8, 2026 A blistering war of words has broken out between the City watchdog and the firms leading the consumer legal challenge to its £9bn motor finance scheme. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has urged the Upper Tribunal to throw out the case entirely as it slammed Courmacs Legal and its client Consumer Voice, for a serious [...]
Motor finance revs up City watchdog’s PR spend June 22, 2026 The motor finance scandal has helped rev up the financial watchdog’s spend on public relations agencies as it fought to warn consumers of the risks of using claims management firms. The car mis-selling saga – where City banks have been put on the hook for billions in compensation over the use of ‘secret’ car deals [...]
House of Lords lashes out at Labour for ‘eliminating’ its oversight of financial watchdogs June 18, 2026 An influential group of peers have hit out at the government for ditching the Lords’ oversight of financial watchdogs as part of legislation passed in the King’s Speech. Writing in her capacity as chair of the Lords’ Financial Services Regulation Committee, Baroness Noakes said the government had “eliminated” an “integral” part of the regulatory system. [...]
HSBC coughs up $25m over Australian scam failures June 18, 2026 HSBC has agreed to cough up just shy of $25m after admitting to failures in protecting customers in Australia from scammers. The Australian arm of Europe’s biggest lender was investigated by the watchdog over alleged “widespread and systematic failures” to shield its customers targeted by fraudsters. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it [...]
Revolut faced orders to fix ‘deficiencies’ in product launches in Europe June 10, 2026 Revolut faced a regulatory slap-down from the European Central Bank last year as restrictions were placed on its operations in the continent. Europe’s most valuable fintech company had its permission to release new products across the 27 countries covered in the European Economic Area temporarily suspended last summer. The bank was instructed to rectify “deficiencies” [...]
Ovo to cough up £10.4m for exposing vulnerable customers to harm June 3, 2026 Energy supplier Ovo is set to cough up a hefty sum after an investigation by the watchdog concluded that it had left vulnerable customers at risk of harm. The firm – which focuses on smart technology, green energy tariffs, and carbon-reduction goals – will pay £7m into Ofgem’s voluntary redress fund, which is used for [...]
Andrew Bailey steers push for Anthropic to meet global watchdog over Mythos May 18, 2026 The global financial watchdog is set to discuss the capabilities of the Mythos tool with Anthropic following a push from Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey. The Financial Stability Board, which brings together finance bigwigs from across the G20 nations, will be briefed on the vulnerabilities in the global financial system identified by Mythos. It [...]