On 2 July 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation paper setting out proposals for how it intends to simply consumer investment disclosures.

Background

In December 2025, the FCA published a policy statement (PS25/20) setting out final rules for a new disclosure regime for packaged retail investment products now consumer composite investments (CCIs). These rules replaced disclosure documents for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) and Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) with a new CCI ‘product summary’. The FCA sets out that this consultation paper fulfils a commitment in PS25/20 to review the requirements derived from the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) in 2026.

Summary

The FCA are proposing changes intended to amend the current requirements in relation to:

  • Costs and charges:
    • Further align the rules in the Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS) with the new CCI regime and to make cost disclosures more consistent throughout the investment journey, this is intended to ensure that the pre-sale presentation of product costs under FCA rules in COBS aligns with the disclosure framework for CCIs.
    • Remove the MiFID-derived cumulative effect illustration pre-sale and post-sale and instead require firms to show how costs have impacted returns in regular post‑sale reporting.
    • Allow firms to use CCI cost categories in their regular post-sale reporting while maintaining the requirement for consumers to be told the total costs they have paid in pounds and pence.
    • Remove most prescriptive requirements for business with professional clients while retaining obligations on firms to provide them with transparent cost disclosures and other core information.
  • Cash holdings:
    • Embed expectations that consumers are clearly told about the interest rates they will receive on their cash balances or any fees they pay on cash held in investment accounts, in particular that firms must explain in a consumer-friendly way how they set the interest rate consumers will receive on their cash.
    • Codify a requirement that firms do not both charge fees and retain interest on cash holdings (double dipping) as set out previously in the FCA’s 2023 Dear CEO letter.
  • Simplifying and streaming disclosures:
    • Simplify and streamline rules for MiFID, Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), and non-MiFID business to reduce burden on firms and ensure a more consistent consumer experience, as the FCA considers that the co-existence of three similar but distinct regimes increases complexity. In particular, the FCA proposes that it will consolidate these rules into one new chapter, COBS 6A and remove the distinction between MiFID, IDD, and non-MiFID business where possible.

Next steps

The FCA have asked for feedback on these proposals by 21 August 2026 and intend to publish a policy statement with final rules by the end of 2026.