The FCA has finalised a package of reforms aimed at simplifying insurance regulation, reducing costs for firms, and supporting growth, all while maintaining appropriate protections for consumers and smaller commercial clients. These measures, set out in Policy Statement PS25/21 and related consultations, mark one of the FCA’s most significant recalibrations of insurance conduct rules since the introduction of the Consumer Duty. Below, we break down what’s changing, who it aff

The FCA has launched one of the most ambitious reform packages in recent years, aimed at reshaping the UK’s investment landscape. This set of proposals is designed to boost domestic investment and modernise client categorisation rules, all while ensuring that regulatory protections remain targeted where they are truly needed. Coming ahead of the 2025 festive period, the package includes proposals to reform client classification, introduce a new Consumer Composite Investments

On 4 December 2025, HM Treasury (HMT) published a policy paper setting out the UK Government’s intention to introduce a provisional licences authorisation regime for early-stage financial services firms seeking FCA authorisation. This reform, first promised in the Regulation Action Plan (March 2025), aims to reduce friction for innovative start-ups while preserving high standards of consumer protection and market integrity. The proposal responds directly to challenges faced b

On 21 November 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued CP25/32 – Improving the UK Transaction Reporting Regime, marking the most significant review of MiFIR transaction reporting since its original 2018 introduction and UK onshoring in 2020. The proposals aim to simplify reporting, cut industry costs, and improve data quality, while setting out a long-term reform agenda in collaboration with HM Treasury and the Bank of England. The consultation is now open, with re

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today published its latest multi-firm review into risk assessment processes and controls, setting out examples of good and poor practice in Business-Wide Risk Assessments (BWRAs) and Customer Risk Assessments (CRAs). The findings, which form part of the FCA’s 2025–2030 strategy to reduce financial crime harm, underline the regulator’s expectation that firms must not only have risk assessments in place, but that these must be robust, tailo

In November 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) jointly published their long-awaited guidelines for firms under the Berne Financial Services Agreement (BFSA). The Agreement marks a new chapter in UK-Swiss financial services cooperation — a post-Brexit milestone aimed at simplifying cross-border trade in financial services for wholesale and sophisticated clients, through a framework of mutual recognition . Ac