On 8 December 2023, the National Audit Office published a report ‘Financial services regulation: Adapting to change’ which examines the FCA’s efforts to respond to the changes in its regulatory powers and remit, as well as to the pace of change in the market.
The report sets out:
- The changes to the financial services landscape, what this means for the FCA’s accountability and strategy, and how it is changing in response.
- Whether the FCA has the tools and resources it needs to identify and respond to change, and to influence future innovation and change.
- How the FCA measures, reports, and learns from its performance.
Among other things the report concludes that the FCA is attempting a significant amount of change, on a number of fronts, all at the same time. This brings risks. It has recently experienced high staff turnover, which is disruptive; it is still working on the transformation programme it started in 2020; and it must now respond to its new role under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.