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More than 100 pages of regulations covering consumer finance, investment and mortgage lending will be “retired” by the UK financial watchdog in response to calls from businesses and governments to streamline rules.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it would withdraw hundreds of supervisory publications and review “normative disclosure rules” to give businesses more flexibility in areas such as online trading.
A rare announcement for regulators known for creating new rules than regulators destroy comes after Prime Minister Rachel Reeves released a “radical action plan to reduce the deficit” to cut regulatory costs for businesses every quarter.
The simplification of the FCA’s rules book, reaching over 10,000 pages, came as regulators prepared to announce a new five-year strategy on Tuesday.
Last year, Watchdog asked financial companies to propose rules that could be scrapped because they overlap with the new consumer obligation regime.
One area the FCA plans to review is the credit ad rulebook to find out if long conditions are still needed. It also considers whether companies need to continue to continue with UK regulations for overseas customers in areas such as insurance.
“Now, consumer obligations are fully emphasised, and we will make immediate changes where our stakeholders want us to, reduce unnecessary costs, support growth, and ultimately help our consumers achieve better results.”
Some companies complain that consumer obligations are ambiguous and that FCA prefers to maintain detailed rules and understand exactly what activities are permitted.
“We’ve received clear feedback from the industry, and now it’s not time for a wide range of changes to the rules,” WatchDog added, “We continue to engage with the industry and others to balance without extensive overhauls.”
Directory publications that FCA will retire with a new approach include “Dear CEO” letters to bosses in a particular sector, portfolio letters, and reviews of multi-farms and themes prior to the previous three-year strategy launched in 2022.
Pritchard said: “These proposals are part of a long-term effort that will help maintain future rules, reduce the burden on financial companies, and help the ambitious government goals reduce the costs of regulations.”
