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FCA fines overview:
- Who: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) levied 26 fines in 2022, more than doubling the total of 10 fines given in 2021, according to RPC, an international law firm.
- Why: The increase in FCA fines is partly due to a report released by the Treasury Select Committee on a mini-bond scandal that recommended the FCA be more “proactive” with protecting retail investors, according to RPC.
- Where: The FCA is the conduct regulator for around 50,000 financial services firms in the UK.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) handed out a total of 26 fines in 2022, more than double a total of 10 fines given the year before.
The FCA fines revolved around retail customer mistreatment, including giving bad advice to pensioners and treating customers with guarantor loans poorly, FTAdviser reports.
There were also reportedly more than three times as many fines issued by the UK regulator to individuals last year, with the number increasing from three in 2021 to 10 in 2022.
The FCA stated that its goal is to protect consumers who are under financial stress during the current cost-of-living crisis from making poor and/or investment or borrowing decisions, according to FTAdviser.
The year-over-year increase in FCA fines can be partly attributed to the Treasury Select Committee 2021 report on a mini-bond scandal, which recommended that the FCA be more “proactive” in protecting retail investors, according to RPC.
FCA took more ‘proactive,’ ‘assertive’ approach to supervision in 2022, RCA says
“Alongside its enforcement activities and levying of fines and other penalties, we have also seen the FCA taking a more proactive and assertive approach to supervision,” Jonathan Cary, Partner at RPC, says in a statement.
Going forward into the new year, consumers should expect to see “enforcement action in relation to the implementation by firms of the FCA’s new Consumer Duty,” he says.
“This requires firms to clearly demonstrate that they are prioritising their customers and, where problems do arise, they are able to look at the root causes objectively,” Cary says.
Last March, the FCA began requiring “Buy Now, Pay Later” companies, including Clearpay, Klarna, Laybuy and Openpay, to change the terms of their contracts after determining they may have been harming consumers as currently written.
Do you believe the FCA is doing a good job protecting consumers? Let us know in the comments!
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