The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which took over from the Financial Services Authority earlier this year, previously only revealed enforcements once action had been taken, however in a bid to be more open about its processes, it said it will go public with actions that are imminent.
“We listened carefully to views from inside and outside the industry, said Tracey McDermott, the FCA’s director of enforcement. “I believe we have got the balance right so we now have in place a regime that enables us to provide information to consumers, investors and firms earlier about the actions we are taking to tackle misconduct.”
FCA gets tough
Before taking charge as the City’s watchdog in the spring, the FCA pledged to get tougher on errant firms, and also vowed to name and shame individuals in order to hold those in positions of power to account.
The FCA said that by disclosing proposed enforcement actions its processes would be more transparent and would better support the regulatory system.
However, there is a caveat in the new powers, in that rather than revealing every punishment it intends to hand out, the regulator said it will “consider the circumstances of each case” in decidding whether it was appropriate to publish an enforcement, and if so, which details it would make public.
The FCA said it would also consult the person under investigation and take into account any evidence that may be harmful if published.
