Context
The FCA, as an organisation, wants to learn lessons and continuously improve, and uses tools such as ‘lessons learned’ reviews, internal audits and scrutiny by the National Audit Office, to identify and address any areas where the FCA can improve its regulatory approach.
Key points to note and next actions
- For the most serious issues, the Financial Services Act 2012 (the Act) requires the FCA to publish a statement of policy setting out the matters it will take into account to decide whether it carries out an investigation into possible regulatory failure, and to give a report of the findings and recommendations to the Treasury for publication.
- The FCA has, therefore, reviewed its policy for investigating and reporting on regulatory failure to ensure it is fit for purpose given the time elapsed (last version published in 2013).
- The only substantive change from the policy published in 2013 is that the FCA has have revised the monetary thresholds for ‘significance’ of consumer detriment in line with inflation. It will continue to do this periodically. It appears that there are no further changes
- The Statement of Policy is a 12-page document, which includes details of the relevant statutory provisions and information about investigating and reporting on regulatory failures, and which explains how the FCA will carry out investigations.