On 26 November 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Policy Statement 21/16 ‘Issuing statutory notices – a new approach to decision makers’ (PS21/16).

In PS21/16 the FCA provides feedback to Consultation Paper 21/25 ‘Issuing statutory notices – a new approach to decision makers’ in which it set out proposals to move some decision making from its Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) to its Authorisations, Supervision and Enforcement Divisions. The FCA also sets out the final changes to the Decisions Procedure and Penalties Manual (DEPP) and the Enforcement Guide (EG) as proposed in the consultation. This transfers decision-making from the RDC to Executive Procedures in certain authorisations, interventions, straightforward cancellation cases and decisions whether to commence civil and criminal proceedings. The changes to DEPP and EG came into force on 26 November 2021.

As part of its commitment to improve operational effectiveness, the FCA recognises the importance of transparency around its processes and decisions. The FCA will carry out a 6 month post-implementation review to assess the effectiveness of the changes, and it will include in its Annual Report similar data on Executive decisions and outcomes that it currently provided for the RDC once such data is available.