On 16 May 2023, the FCA published a speech given by its Executive Director of Markets and of International, Sarah Pritchard, at the Capital Markets insights launch conference. The speech covers the need for the UK financial services market and the FCA itself to continue to evolve to keep up with changing global markets, looking in particular at the proposed reforms to the prospectus regime as well as its recent work to address the Wholesale Markets Review commitments and the wind-down of LIBOR.

Points of interest in Ms Pritchard’s speech include:

• The UK ‘must not be shy’ about highlighting its strengths as a full service, global wholesale market with a deep and broad base of expertise, and it must continue to evolve to ensure this remains the case.
• Following its recent proposals to reform listing requirements, the FCA plans to consider ‘shortly’ what, if any, reforms it should make to the prospectus rules.
• The FCA will be thinking about how forward-looking information should be covered in prospectuses, how to approach setting requirements for issuers seeking to admit securities to junior markets, and what rules it should set for firms that choose to operate a public offer platform to allow companies to raise capital from investors without being admitted to a public market.
• The FCA plans to play its part to drive productivity by improving its own operational efficiency, making proportionate regulation, and increasing trust, effective competition and innovation in stable and international markets.
• As it sets the plans for future regulatory reform, the FCA intends to innovate in the way it engages with industry and other stakeholder groups, so that it can work to develop rules that drive the right outcomes. In addition to publishing consultation papers and inviting written input, the FCA will also run thematic blueprints and workshops, sprints and other live events to allow it to collaborate on future reform and take each issue theme by theme, focusing on outcomes and options.