On 29 July 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Objective (SICGO) report 2023/24, in fulfilment of its obligation under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, section 26. The FCA also published a set of SICGO metrics to show the impact of its work.

In the SICGO report, the FCA reflects on the first year of its new secondary objective, and outlines the work it has done to:

  • Put competitiveness and growth at the heart of the FCA.
  • Help financial services firms to succeed.
  • Enable financial services to facilitate the competitiveness and growth of the UK economy.
  • Support and drive innovation.
  • Enhance trust and reduce the costs of harm and market instability.
  • Pursue a proportionate approach to minimise the impact on growth.

Following HM Treasury’s call for proposals on measuring the success of the FCA’s secondary objective, it agreed to publish a set of metrics. The FCA explains that it has supplemented these with further metrics from its existing framework, where they can contribute to a more complete picture of its impact on growth and competitiveness. On its new SICGO metrics webpage, the FCA sets out metrics under 4 themes:

  • Authorisations and operational efficiency.
  • Policy and regulatory impact.
  • Data collection.
  • Digital and innovation.