The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) move to review its regulatory mission and redefine itself away from a “very sorry history.”
Hugh Savill, the industry body’s director of regulation, said that the FCA mission review is a “clear commitment” to assessing the way the agency works as a conduct regulator.
“We are pleased that being clearer on expectations, process, and analysis is a priority. This will benefit consumers and industry,” he said.
Savill praised Andrew Bailey, who was appointed as FCA head in July, for “rightly setting the tone from the top.”
“We look forward to engaging with the review,” said Savill.
On Wednesday, the financial watchdog revealed its plan to review its regulatory mission and create a “guiding set of principles around the strategic choices the FCA makes.”
“Establishing and embedding a clear mission for the FCA is critical to our success, both as a regulator and to UK financial services as a whole,” Bailey said.
“This will improve accountability and transparency of how and why we make the choices that we do,” he added.
Bailey cited past scandals that hit the financial services industry including those involving payment protection insurance, wholesale market products and money laundering.
“This is a very sorry history, and the future needs to be radically different from the past. We owe this to the public who are the consumers of financial services,” said Bailey.
In developing a new mission, the FCA said it will engage stakeholders in a “very open” consultation process that will cover key themes such as consumer protection, regulatory intervention, competition, supervision and enforcement.
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