FCA Business Plan 2017/2018 and FCA Mission 2017

The FCA has today published its Business Plan for 2017/2018, setting out both “cross-sector” and “sector specific” priorities, the latter of which are discussed in more detail in a separate FCA Sector Views document. In addition, the FCA today published its Mission for 2017.

The FCA has published the Business Plan, Sector Views and Mission together to provide a complete picture of the way the FCA identifies and assesses risks and how and why it has chosen its Business Plan priorities.

FCA Business Plan 2017/2018

The FCA has identified six cross-sector priorities which will inform its approach to its core regulatory functions (Supervision, Enforcement and Authorisations) and which are intended to drive its direction and decision making on specialist workstreams such as thematic projects, market studies and policy development:

1. Firms’ culture and governance
2. Financial crime and anti-money laundering
3. Promoting competition and innovation
4. Technological change and resilience
5. Treatment of existing customers
6. Consumer vulnerability and access to financial services.

In addition, the FCA has published its priorities for seven sectors, highlighting key issues in each area and its view on how each sector is performing. These seven sectors are:

1. Wholesale financial markets
2. Investment management
3. Pensions and retirement income
4. Retail banking
5. Retail lending
6. General insurance and protection
7. Retail investments.

FCA Mission for 2017

The purpose of the Mission is to provide clear explanations of how the FCA interprets its broad strategic objective to ensure that the financial markets function well, the reasoning behind the FCA’s decisions and the tools available to pursue this objective. The key message arising from the Mission is delivering public value, which the FCA states is at the core of regulation and will affect the decisions taken, divided into three themes:

1. The FCA’s remit - both its core regulated activities and those in its wider perimeter
2. Transparency - from its regulatory decision making to costs
3. Measuring impact - including the costs and benefits of intervention.

The Mission states that further detail on specific regulatory functions - Authorisations, Supervision and Enforcement - will follow in the coming year. However, there will be no changes to the FCA Handbook until the Brexit negotiations are further progressed.

Next steps

Simmons & Simmons will publish more detailed commentary on the matters highlighted by the Business Plan and Mission on elexica in the coming days. Should you wish to discuss the Business Plan or Mission in more detail, please contact Emma Sutcliffe.