On 25 November 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched its first competition to fund research into how regulation can support national growth. The competition will award funding for several research projects that focus on growth, competitiveness and regulation in the UK financial services sector.
Background
In 2023, the FCA was set a new secondary objective to support growth and competitiveness over the medium to long term. Last month it published a summary of recent literature on growth, competitiveness and regulation in financial sector which highlighted several important gaps grouped into the following three research themes:
- Growth and productivity of the UK financial services sector.
- International competitiveness of the UK financial services sector.
- Supporting the real economy and considering regulatory impacts.
The competition
Applicants are being asked to propose research topics that address the gaps under these three research themes. The FCA flags that these are broad topic areas and it does not expect participants to follow each gap strictly if they believe there are other areas to research or to cover all gaps or research themes. Research proposals should aim to focus on areas where the FCA has regulatory powers to influence change.
Next steps
The deadline for applications is 15 December 2024 and a panel of judges will select the winning proposals by 22 December 2024. The winners of the competition will have until 31 March 2025 to complete their research.