FCA concludes consumer investment policy sprint

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has concluded its six-week policy sprint, which aims to support new ways to help consumers make important investment decisions.

The regulator’s sprint is part of its work on targeted support, as it looks to tackle the gap between bespoke financial advice and guidance.

It comes after the FCA found that just 9% of UK consumers took regulated financial advice in the past year.

At a showcase on 8 April, FCA-authorised firms, including retail banks, platform providers and wealth managers, presented customer journeys they have developed to help and support people to consider cash to investment decisions.

This included models that were tested and refined using real customers in real time.

The FCA said that the work "provides a unique opportunity to reset the rules to create a new form of help" for customers who face decisions about their finances.

This is the first policy sprint that the regulator has run in this way, testing a future rule set before formal consultation involving industry, consumer groups and other regulators, such as the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The aim of the sprint is to help accelerate the final policy proposals that will be put out for consultation by the end of June 2025.

Executive director for consumers, competition and international at the FCA, Sarah Pritchard, said: "We want to see a consumer investment market where people can invest with confidence, understanding the risks and opportunities available to them. The sprint is an important step to achieving that goal, helping firms explore ways to support consumers and helping the FCA to refine the proposed policy framework before consultation. We look forward to seeing more innovative solutions emerge.

"We encourage firms and consumer groups to keep engaging with us, and for firms who are interested to use our sandboxes to start testing their innovative solutions now."



Share Story:

Recent Stories


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.


NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?

The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.

Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?



In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.

The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.

In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.