FCA

Financial Conduct Authority (UK)

Medium Impact

FCA sets out growth-focused regulatory agenda in response to Prime Minister

Published

Jul 21, 2026

Topics

Regulatory reform, Growth and competitiveness, Consumer Duty, Regulatory reporting, Wholesale markets, Digital finance, Open banking, Authorisations, Mortgages, Financial services innovation

Executive Summary

The FCA’s 16 January 2025 letter to the Prime Minister sets out a broad growth-oriented regulatory agenda rather than immediate binding rule changes. The FCA confirms that growth will be a cornerstone of its strategy through to 2030, while maintaining its statutory objectives for consumer protection, market integrity and competition. The agenda includes planned 2025 work on the prospectus regime, retail access to corporate bonds, asset management simplification, fixed income consolidated tape, digital securities, open banking variable recurring payments, authorisations digitisation and reporting burden reduction. The FCA also proposes going further by removing the need for a Consumer Duty Board Champion, reviewing redundant returns, simplifying mortgage lending and advice rules, consulting on outdated mortgage guidance, and extending support for wholesale, payments and crypto firms. Firms should treat the letter as an early policy signal and prepare for consultations and implementation planning, but should not change compliance controls until FCA rules, guidance or formal consultations are issued.

What Changed

modifiedGrowth prioritisation elevated in FCA strategy

Growth and competitiveness formed part of the FCA’s remit and recent reform programme, but this letter frames growth as a central strategic priority.

New

The FCA will prioritise reforms that support capital investment, liquidity, innovation, regulatory simplification, start-up growth, exports and inward investment.

modifiedWholesale markets reform agenda expanded

Wholesale reforms were being pursued through separate initiatives and market reviews.

New

The FCA presents them as part of a coordinated growth programme and adds an accelerated review of capital requirements for specialised trading firms to improve liquidity.

newDigital finance and open banking priorities identified

Digital finance initiatives existed, including digital securities sandbox work and digital assets planning, but the letter adds specific 2025 growth priorities.

New

Variable recurring payments, open finance, potential contactless limit flexibility, electronic securities and digital service standards are highlighted as policy areas to explore or deliver.

removedConsumer Duty Board Champion requirement to be removed

Firms had been expected to appoint a Consumer Duty Board Champion as part of governance arrangements.

New

The FCA intends to remove that specific need, while the underlying Consumer Duty remains in force.

modifiedReporting burden and mortgage guidance reviews signalled

Firms remained subject to existing FCA reporting returns and mortgage conduct guidance unless formally changed.

New

The FCA intends to consult or work toward simplification, including potential removal of maturing interest-only mortgage and other outdated guidance.

Business Impact

Who is affected

Directly affected

FCA-authorised firms, firms seeking FCA authorisation, wholesale market participants, asset managers, insurers, mortgage lenders and advisers, payments firms, open banking participants, crypto firms and firms using the regulatory sandbox.

Indirectly affected

technology providers, regtech vendors, compliance advisers, consumer finance platforms, investors, trade associations and firms dependent on FCA reporting or authorisation workflows.

Jurisdictions

United Kingdom

Business processes

Regulatory strategy and horizon scanning, Consumer Duty governance, Regulatory reporting inventory management, Mortgage lending and advice policy management, Wholesale markets change management, Open banking and payments product development, Authorisations and regulatory sandbox onboarding, Digital finance and data strategy

Estimated effort

Medium

Compliance risk

Medium

Affected Reports

Consumer Duty governance map and Board Champion terms of referenceRegulatory reporting inventory and redundant-return decommissioning trackerMortgage lending, advice and guidance inventoryAuthorisations pre-application and regulatory sandbox onboarding workflowDigital payments and open banking change-impact register

Field	Validation rule

Recommended Actions

7 suggested next steps· derived from source analysis

1
Confirmed actionStep 1 of 7
do not remove existing Consumer Duty governance, mortgage conduct controls or FCA reporting returns until the FCA issues formal rule changes, guidance updates or consultation outcomes.
2
AI generatedStep 2 of 7
assign ownership for monitoring FCA consultations flowing from this letter, especially Consumer Duty governance, mortgage rules, reporting simplification, open finance and wholesale market reforms.
3
AI generatedStep 3 of 7
map current FCA returns and identify low-value or duplicative submissions so the firm can respond quickly if the FCA consults on redundant returns.
4
AI generatedStep 4 of 7
review Board and senior management packs to understand where Consumer Duty Champion responsibilities are embedded and how governance could be simplified if the FCA removes the specific requirement.
5
AI generatedStep 5 of 7
for mortgage businesses, catalogue policies linked to responsible lending, advice, maturing interest-only mortgages and Mortgage Charter-related processes to assess future change impact.
6
AI generatedStep 6 of 7
payments and open banking firms should assess technical, risk and customer-impact implications of variable recurring payments and possible contactless limit flexibility.
7
AI generatedStep 7 of 7
firms seeking authorisation, sandbox access or crypto, payments and wholesale permissions should monitor FCA service changes and prepare to use expanded pre-application support where available.

Timeline

other

Dec 24, 2024

The Prime Minister’s letter and the Chancellor’s recommendations on growth were issued, as referenced by the FCA.

publication

Jan 16, 2025

The FCA responded to the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Secretary of State with its growth-focused regulatory agenda.

implementation

2025

The FCA states that it already planned significant work during 2025 across wholesale markets, digital finance, reporting burden reduction and authorisations, and that it will go further in selected areas.

other

2030

The FCA says growth will be a cornerstone of its strategy through to 2030.

Sources

AI-generated analysis is based on the following primary sources. Always verify against the official publication.

Regulatory correspondenceFinancial Conduct AuthorityJan 16, 2025
FCA letter: A new approach to ensure regulators and regulations support growth ↗
https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/correspondence/fca-letter-new-approach-support-growth.pdf

Related Evidence

Verified source support for this analysis

The evidence agent checks whether the drafted finding is supported by official publications and relevant public source material.

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