We are committed to becoming a more effective and more transparent regulator. To do so we must assess our performance regularly and hold ourselves to account publicly.
This report sets out how we performed in 2022/23 against 54 operating service metrics, including how we have dealt with regulatory applications, telephone enquiries and other correspondence. Some of these standards are voluntary, others are set by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). We also report on requirements under other legislation, including the Freedom of Information Act, the Payment Services Regulations and Electronic Money Regulations.
We categorise these standards into 5 areas:
- Open communication: We are committed to being as transparent as possible. It’s important to provide appropriate information about our regulatory decisions to the firms we regulate and consumers. We assess our performance through standards, like the timeliness of our responses to consumers, firms, MPs and others.
- Enabling business: Firms that apply for authorisation must meet our standards before they are authorised or regulated. We are rigorous with firms when they apply. If we do authorise them, we need to know what they are using their authorisation for. Our standards capture how promptly we authorise firms and individuals.
- Regulating existing businesses: We enable the firms we regulate to vary how they work, for example, by varying regulatory permissions. Responding in this way ensures firms maintain high regulatory standards and allows us to deal with requests from firms and individuals efficiently. Our standards assess for example how quickly we process requests for variation of permission.
- Listing transactions: We review and approve documents produced in connection with corporate finance transactions by public companies, assess eligibility for listing of new applicants to the Official List and provide guidance on the Listing Rules and Prospectus Rules; we have put in place a system of voluntary targets for the above, in advance of statutory deadlines. We also maintain the Official List, the list of securities admitted to trading on a UK regulated market.
- Enforcement data: This highlights the different types of action that we took during 2022/23.
Download the 54 operating service metrics table for 2022/23 (PDF)[1]
1. Summary
In 2022/23 we achieved or exceeded the targets set for 68.5% of the 54 standards we measure. This is a significant improvement on 2021/22 when we achieved or exceeded 51% of the targets.
We have also reduced the number of areas where our performance is not meeting our minimum target, down to 13% in 2022/23 compared to 30% the previous year.
Notable improvements in 2022/23 include:
- Answering 96.7% of firm calls to our contact centre, exceeding our target of 95%.
- Achieved our initial acknowledgement of complaints and stage 1 completion targets and improved our local area response to complaints target that are all set at 95%.
- Met our target of 90% to process a complete registration application from a mutual society within 15 working days of receipt. We determined 2,943 applications, completing 92% within the timeframe.
- The time taken to process appointed representative notifications within 5 days of the request. We processed notifications within the 5-day voluntary target of 95% for 89.5% of the time, an increase from 44.7% last year.
- Enforcement has obtained a range of outcomes this year, protecting consumers, and market integrity. This includes issuing 24 financial penalties on firms and individuals for breaching our rules, which is over double the number in previous years. Due to our early engagement work we opened 158 intervention cases and opened 51 cases using our own initiative powers We started criminal proceedings against 16 individuals for a range of offences including insider dealing, money laundering and fraud. We announced[2] a proposed redress package of up to £235m pounds to over 300,000 investors who had lost out when the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) was suspended because of failures by Link Fund Solutions in its management of the WEIF. As of 1 April, we had 589 investigations open covering issues like market abuse and investment scams.
Areas where we recognise further improvement is needed:
- Responding to requests for information from MPs within 15 days. We met this timeframe for 73% of requests against our target of 80%.
- Responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests within the statutory timeframe of 20 working days. We achieved this for 67.5% of requests against our target of 90%. We are delivering a programme to improve this, for example through a more flexible resourcing model, technology enhancements and process simplification.
- Responding to subject access requests for information made under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR 2018) within our target timeframe of 1 month. Averaged across the year, we responded to 67.2% of requests within 1 month, an improvement from 43.6% last year but notably between October 2022 to March 2023 we met our 90% target. We will strive to maintain this improved performance to meet our 90% standard throughout 2023/24.
- Processing an application for ‘approved person’ status. We processed 87.5% of applications but our target is 98%. We remain committed to improving our performance around processing times in our Authorisations division. As set out in our published Authorisations updates in October 2022[3] and March 2023[4], we have a programme of strategic transformation activity in progress. This will improve the application process and drive efficiencies in our internal processes.
We keep the standards under review adding new measures and retiring redundant measures where appropriate. Our intention in making these changes is to ensure we are providing meaningful measures on which we can be held to account.
This year we have made several changes to the standards we report. The main change is to the Supervision Hub standards. We are providing data on our average speed of answer to bring our reporting in line with the industry standard measure of performance, as well as reporting the monthly data alongside the annual data to show how our accessibility varies over the year.
We have also amended our Red/Amber/Green (RAG) measure to process a complete application within 2 months of receipt for Non-UCITS Retail Schemes and within 1 month for Qualified Investor Schemes (QIS) (graph 19). This means all types of UK-based collective investment schemes now have a RAG measure that are aligned with our other authorisation standards.
2. Open communication
As a public body, transparency is critical to how we operate. We communicate with firms and consumers in a variety of ways. Our audiences range from MPs and firms to consumers and the wider public.
Standards
2.1. Supervision Hub
Our Supervision Hub[5] is our first point of interaction with firms and consumers. It includes dedicated consumer and firm helplines as well as providing email and online communication channels. We are committed to providing online and telephone support when it is needed. We regularly review the queries we receive. We update our website to encourage and allow firms and consumers to self-serve where they can.
Our Supervision Hub’s purpose is to:
- Prevent harm through direct conversations with consumers to identify and avoid fraud, scams and other detriment.
- Guide firms to understand their regulatory responsibilities and increase their compliance and standards.
- Deliver actionable intelligence across the FCA.
Telephone calls
We monitor the performance of our telephony service by measuring:
- The proportion of calls that are ended before they are answered, known as ‘the abandonment rate.’ Our voluntary target is less than 5%.
- The average speed to answer (ASA). Our voluntary target is less than 120 seconds.
- The proportion of calls that are answered within 20 seconds. Our voluntary target is more than 80%.
- Our Consumer Satisfaction (CSAT) score. Our voluntary target is over 80%.
Our CSAT score is derived from post call surveys which ask callers a range of questions about their experience interacting with the FCA.
We will stop reporting the proportion of calls answered within 20 seconds from 2023/24 as we are replacing this standard with the average speed to answer (ASA). ASA, along with the abandonment rate, is the industry standard way of measuring telephony service.
Letters, emails, web forms and webchat
We monitor the performance of our correspondence service by measuring:
- The proportion of emails, web forms and webchats that we provide a substantive response to within 2 working days. Our voluntary target is more than 90%.
- The proportion of letters that we respond to within 5 days. Our voluntary target is 90%.
- Our Consumer Satisfaction (CSAT) score. Our voluntary target is over 80%.
Our CSAT score is derived from surveys which ask those who contact us a range of questions about their experience interacting with the FCA.
These standards apply to correspondence that:
- requires a response
- is addressed to our Supervision Hub
- is from a regulated firm or organisation (or from its professional adviser where the firm or entity name is given)
- from a consumer
The standards do not include correspondence subject to statutory operating service standards. For example, requests for information under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Firm helpline
The main challenge to meeting our firm telephony standards is contact spikes, particularly those driven by major regulatory reporting deadlines in April, May and invoicing queries in July and August. We also need to train a significant number of new joiners.
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We answered 96.7% of the calls we received, with the abandonment rate (3.3%) being within our tolerance of <5%.
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Our average speed of answer of 74 seconds was within our tolerance of <120 seconds for the year.
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We answered 73% of calls within 20 seconds across the reporting period, narrowly missing our voluntary target of 80%.
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Our telephony CSAT score was above our voluntary target of 80% throughout the year.
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Our service level in relation to email correspondence was above our voluntary target of 90% throughout the year.
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Our service level in relation to correspondence by letter was above our voluntary target of 90% throughout the year.
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Our firm correspondence CSAT score for the year was 77%. This narrowly missed our voluntary target of 80%. One of the key causes of dissatisfaction is the need for firms to contact us by email to reset their password to FCA systems. In March 2023 we introduced Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) which will allow firms to reset their password without the need to contact us.
Consumer helpline
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We answered 96.4% of calls to our consumer helpline, with the abandonment rate (3.6%) being within our tolerance of <5%. The higher abandonment rate in March was a result of higher than forecast attrition limiting available resource.
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Our consumer helpline average speed to answer of 51 seconds was well within our tolerance of 120 seconds.
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We answered 76.3% of consumer calls within 20 seconds, narrowly missing our voluntary target of 80%. The lower scores from December-March (shown in graph 4c) were the result of resource constraints impacting service. This service level pressure will continue until a cohort of new joiners, currently in training, join the team this year.
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Our consumer telephony CSAT score was 91% above our voluntary target of 80%.
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Our service level in relation to email correspondence from consumers was 92%, above our voluntary target of 90%.
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Our service level in relation to responding to letters from consumers was 92%, above our voluntary target of 90%.
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Our consumer correspondence CSAT score was 81%, above our voluntary target of 80%.
2.2. MPs’ letters
As part of our accountability to Parliament, we respond to requests for information from MPs and peers through:
- letters
- parliamentary questions
- evidence to All Party Parliamentary Groups
We must give a full and prompt reply to any letter addressed to us or any member of staff from:
- Members of Parliament
- Members of the House of Lords
- Members of the Scottish Parliament
- the Welsh Assembly
- the Northern Ireland Assembly
These letters may be sent on behalf of a constituent or groups of constituents. As a public authority accountable to Parliament, it’s important we provide a considered response to these letters, so we set ourselves target SLAs for responding.
Our SLAs are paused if we must seek more information externally, for example from a constituency office, a firm, or another organisation. The period it takes us to respond, therefore, can be longer than the reported SLA.
We have set a voluntary target of 80% to provide a substantive reply to letters from MPs within 15 working days and a voluntary target of 98% to respond within 20 days (previously 100%).
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While the volume of letters received in this reporting period was lower than last year’s (544 in 2022/23, compared to 664 in 2021/22), it remains higher than any pre-pandemic period.
The proportion of letters that are sent within our SLA increased throughout this reporting period, culminating in the majority of months achieving SLA. However, the team missed the 15 day and 20-day SLA for the year as a whole.
Most responses that were not sent within our SLA were complex consumer cases with substantial associated correspondence and data. We contact MPs’ offices to keep them updated when we require additional time to review and consider the files that can accompany such queries.
We will continue to increase the percentage of letters responded to within the SLA through:
- additional resourcing
- training new staff (some turnover in the team contributed to some delays)
- introducing a new customer relationship management system
Recruitment is underway to return the team to full capacity, which is expected to be completed by September 2023. We are also reviewing new ways of working to make the team more efficient and enable the team to reply faster. By taking these actions, the MPs letters team are expecting to be within SLA for both 15 days and 20 days in 2023/24.
2.3. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
FOIA provides a general right of access to all information held by a public authority, subject to relevant exemptions and other conditions.
The volume of FOIA requests received in 2022/23 has reduced to 815 (from 926 in 2021/22) and is now back to pre-pandemic levels.
Performance for April 2022 to March 2023 was at 68%, with 668 of the 989 requests completed within the statutory timeframe of 20 working days. Our target is 90%. Though we recognise that this remains below the expected standards, our compliance rate has improved month on month, from 59% in April 2022 to 77% in March 2023.
During the same period, we have reduced the number of active breached requests from 149 in April 2022 to 9 in March 2023 (10% active cases in breach). We are also engaged in a comprehensive programme to drive further improvements through a more flexible resourcing model, technology enhancements and process simplification. We expect to meet our target service standard during 2023/24.
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2.4. Data Protection requests
Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, individuals have a right to request access to any of their personal data which we hold. This is known as a subject access request.
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The UK GDPR sets a timeframe of 1 month for responding to subject access requests. This can be extended to 2 months for more complex requests. The Information Commissioner has accepted that public bodies, including us, may not be able to meet the statutory requirements in every case. We operate to a target of 90% for Data Protection requests completed within this timeframe.
In 2022/23, we responded to 67% of requests within the target timeframe. Although this remains below the standards we expect of ourselves, it is a marked improvement on 2021/22. The figures April 2022 to September 2022, reveal a low level of compliance as we focussed on clearing a backlog of breached cases.
During Q3-Q4 2022/23 (October 2022 to March 2023), we met our target, closing 93% of requests (111 of 119) within the target timeframe. We expect to maintain recent performance and meet our target operating service standard throughout 2023/24.
2.5. Complaints
Under the Financial Services Act 2012, we are required to maintain a Complaints Scheme for the investigation of complaints arising in connection with the exercise of, or failure to exercise any of our relevant functions. The statutory requirements include that the Complaints Scheme must be designed so that complaints are investigated as quickly as possible.
Our operating service standards for responding to complaints are:
Acknowledgement: acknowledge a complaint within 5 business days of receipt. Our voluntary target is that 95% of complainants should receive an acknowledgement within 5 business days of receipt.
Completion (complaints dealt with by the local business area): complete an investigation and send a decision to the complainant within 10 working days. Our voluntary target is that 95% of complainants should receive a decision within 10 working days of receipt. The response to the complainant should also inform them of their right to ask for a Stage 1 investigation (meaning handled by the independent internal Complaints Department).
Completion (complaints dealt with by the central Complaints Department, known as Stage 1 complaints): complete an investigation or provide the complainant with a reasonable timescale to investigate the complaint within 20 working days of receipt. Our voluntary target is that we should achieve this for 95% of Stage 1 complaints.
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During 2022/23 we received a higher number of complaints (1,454 in 2022/23 compared to 1,212 in 2021/22).
In 2022/23 due to ongoing investment in our resources, training and processes we have continued to drive down our backlog and age profile of cases and sought to exploit continuous improvement opportunities with particular emphasis on our Triage and Early Response to complaints and our core investigation functions.
Through these interventions and process improvements we have:
- Improved our Local Area response to complaints (Standard 1). In 2021/22 we achieved 59.8%. In 2022/23 we achieved 90.66%. Our target is 95%.
- Improved our initial acknowledgement of complaints (Standard 2). In 2021 we achieved 93.7%. In 2022/23 we achieved 98.08% against our target of 95%.
- Improved our Stage 1 completion (Standard 3). In 2021 we achieved 68.3%. In 2022/23 we achieved 97.8% against our target of 95% target.
We expect to maintain these improvements in 2023/24 as our team and processes continue to develop, including working with our business stakeholders to drive further improvements in our response to local area complaint resolution.
2.6. Payment of suppliers
From 2021/22, we revised this standard to process payment from the supplier's invoice date rather than the date we receive the invoice. The standard is to pay all valid invoices received in line with industry best practice. We have set a voluntary target to pay a minimum of 80% of all invoices within our standard payment terms of 30 days. There was an improvement from the prior year in the time taken to settle supplier invoices as demonstrated in graph 12a, within all 3 ageing categories.
In addition to graph 12a, we are providing a second graph (graph 12b) which shows the percentage of supplier invoices paid within supplier terms, set at a voluntary target of paying 80% of all supplier invoices within agreed supplier terms.
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2.7. FCA systems
We have set voluntary standards to ensure that we are monitoring the availability of our external facing Information Services (IS) systems.
Operating service standard: Ensure availability of external facing IS systems – 98.5% within the times below.
The Financial Services Register: A public record of financial services firms, individuals and other bodies under our regulatory jurisdiction, as defined in FSMA.
Operating service standard: Ensure availability of the FS register system – Mon-Fri, 7am-8pm
FCA website: Our website is our main digital channel for our consumer and firm audiences. It now encompasses the functionality of the Fee Calculator. This was previously a separate service.
Standard: Ensure availability of the FCA website – 24 hours x 365 days.
RegData (Regulatory Data) submission system: RegData is our system for collecting, validating and storing regulatory data.
Operating service standard: Ensure availability of the RegData system – Mon-Fri, 7am-10pm, and Sat-Sun, 7am-5pm
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Graph 13 shows we achieved our target again this year despite some issues. The FCA website data now encompasses the Fee Calculator data.
RegData: This was the first full reporting year for RegData, achieving 99.45% availability against our published target.
The issues affecting availability occurred in the first week of January 2023.
The first arose because a system service account expired on 31 December. A misconfiguration in the error detection meant that no out-of-hours alert was raised until 3 January when staff recommenced work. This misconfiguration has been rectified. Improved monitoring and alerting has been put in place.
Two other availability issues came from when the servers, which RegData depends on, crashed due to a large volume of traffic requests. This stemmed from an internal memory leak as opposed to malicious activity. Rectifying activities included rebuilding the servers and increasing capacity. So, these issues should not reoccur.
3. Enabling business & preventing harm
FSMA states that no individual or firm can legally carry on FSMA-regulated activities in the UK unless they are authorised by us to do so or exempt. This is the so-called ‘general prohibition’ in section 19 of the Act. An individual or firm must apply to us for a ‘Part 4A permission’ to carry on those activities.
We use authorisation to prevent harm. We do this by ensuring that all authorised firms meet common sets of minimum standards at the start. We refer to these standards as the Threshold Conditions (the conditions).
We will only authorise firms where they meet the conditions and continue to do so. If they do not, we will not allow them to enter the relevant financial market.
Performance declined in 2021/22 and further declined in the first half of 2022/23. We published more detail on this in October 2022[4]. In summary there were a range of factors including increased scrutiny at the gateway to ensure firms and individuals meet the high standards we expect of them, incomplete or poor quality applications and an increased volume of applications.
To address the delays, we recruited additional case officers, made changes to streamline our processes and issued more detailed guidance to applicants in several sectors. Performance improved in the second half of 2022/23 although this is not fully reflected in the full year numbers reported here. To provide additional transparency performance we are now reporting operating service metrics for Authorisations[7] quarterly.
We have previously set voluntary targets for some Authorisations metrics. Due to the additional checks at the gateway they are no longer appropriate and we will not be including them in the quarterly metrics. For completeness they are reported here for 2022/23 but we will not include them in next year’s annual report.
We said last year we reset the RAG status for a number of metrics such that ≥98% was reported as green, allowing for the small number of cases where additional engagement and scrutiny was required for us to effectively perform our objectives. We are taking the same approach this year.
Standards
3.1. Authorisation applications
A firm supplying the information we request on the application form will not necessarily be enough for the application to be regarded as ‘complete’. An application is regarded as complete only when we have received all the required information and evidence for us to be able to determine the application.
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In most cases, we have a statutory requirement to process a complete application for Part 4A permission within 6 months of receipt of a complete application (s55V(1) FSMA 1) or within 12 months of receipt of an incomplete application (s55V(2) FSMA). Whilst we are committed to achieving this where possible, it is expected that over the course of a year, a small number of cases may need additional time for greater scrutiny or engagement for good reasons, for example where required to meet our objectives effectively.
Graph 14 shows this year we achieved 94.5%. Of 2,130 cases, 117 missed the target. These applications were legally or technically complex and required significant engagement with the firms.
3.2. Approved persons status
A firm applying to carry on regulated activities must also apply under Part V of FSMA for approval of one or more individuals to perform the controlled functions on its behalf once authorised (its ‘approved persons’). We must be satisfied that approved persons are fit and proper. This means that they have the honesty, integrity, reputation, competence and capability and financial ability to perform their role and comply with the code of conduct in the Handbook.
Processing an application for ‘approved person’ status
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Our statutory requirement is to determine approved person applications within 3 months unless it is attached to an application for part 4A permission. Graph 15 shows improvement in this standard compared to the previous year, from 85.9% to 87.5%.
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We also had a voluntary target of 85% to respond in 5 days for controlled functions applications and 10 days for SMR and SIF-related applications. Graph 16 shows improvement in this standard compared to the previous year, from 10.2% to 33.9%.
3.3. Money laundering registrations
Provisions relating to the assessment period for registration of ‘Annex 1 financial institutions’ under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information of the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs) broadly sets out that, within 45 days of either (1) the date on which we receive an application for registration from an Annex 1 financial institution, or (2) where the application is incomplete, the date on which we receive any further information, we must give the applicant notice:
- of our decision to register the applicant, or
- that we are minded not to register them, the reason for this and the right to make representations to us within a specified period (which may not be less than 28 days)
We have a statutory requirement of 100% to process registration applications for firms who want to carry on business in the UK as an Annex 1 financial institution. We are required to do so within 45 calendar days of receiving an application or any further required information (Reg59(3) MLRs).
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Graph 17 shows that we are at 98.8%, an improvement over FY21/22.
3.4. Authorised unit trusts (AUT), open-ended investment companies (OEIC) and authorised contractual schemes (ACS)
This covers all applications for us to authorise all types of UK-based collective investment schemes.
We have a statutory target of 100% to process applications for the authorisation of new schemes under section 242 FSMA for AUTs, regulation 12 of the OEIC Regulations 2001 and 261C FSMA for ACS within 6 months of receiving a complete application or within 12 months of receiving an incomplete application.
If these involve an Undertaking for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) we are required to process these within 2 months. For the year 2022/23 – these include the 2 Long Term Asset Funds that were authorised by the FCA in March 2023.
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Graph 18 shows that we have achieved 100% for the last 3 years.
We also aim to process complete applications to authorise Non-UCITS Retail Schemes (NURS) within 2 months and within 1 month for Qualified Investor Schemes (QIS). These are voluntary standards.
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Graph 19 shows that we achieved 96.2% in 2020/21; 89.7% in 2021/2022 and 100% in 2022/23. We have for this last period amended our red/amber/green targets so that they are more stretching. This is more in line with other red/amber/green targets reflected throughout this document but considers the complexity of these applications and the stretching voluntary timescales we have set ourselves for these applications.
3.5. Mutual Society registrations
A mutual society is an organisation owned by its members and run for their benefit or for the benefit of the community. They include building societies, friendly societies, credit unions and registered societies. Registered societies include co-operative and community benefit societies, formerly known as ‘industrial and provident societies’.
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We had a voluntary target to process a complete registration application from a mutual society within 15 working days of receipt. Graph 20 shows that we achieved 92%, an improvement over previous years. We determined 2,943 applications during the year – broadly similar to the volume of determinations in FY21/22 (3,012). Determination times vary depending on factors including the volume of submissions, quality of information provided in the application, the complexity of the submission, and the issues and concerns identified during our registration assessment.
As well as determining applications, the Mutuals function also responds to queries from public facing inboxes, provides a public records function, processes annual returns and accounts, and takes action to tackle non-compliance – including the use of powers. During peak periods of demand more applications were processed beyond the SLA.
3.6. Payment Services Regulations and Electronic Money Regulations
Firms that intend to provide payment services by way of business in the UK must apply to become:
- an ‘authorised’ payment institution
- or ‘registered’ as a small payment institution
- or account information service provider
unless they are already another type of payment service provider or exempt. This is a requirement of the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (the PSRs).
Firms that intend to issue electronic money by way of business in the UK, must apply to become:
- an ‘authorised’ electronic money institution
- ‘registered’ as a small electronic money institution, unless they are already another type of electronic money issuer. This is a requirement of the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (the EMRs)
Find out more about electronic money and payment institutions[8]
We have multiple standards for Payment Services for PSRs and EMRs, and they each have their own statutory requirements as follows:
PSRs and EMRs authorisation applications
To process a complete application for authorisation under PSRs and EMRs – target is 100% within 3 months of the received date of a complete application or within 12 months of the received date of an incomplete application.
PSRs and EMRs registration applications
To process a complete application for registration under PSRs and EMRs – target is 100% within 3 months of the received date of a complete application or within 12 months of the received date of an incomplete application.
PSRs and EMRs variations of registration
To process a complete application for a variation of registration under PSRs and EMRs – target is 100% within 3 months of the received date of a complete application or within 12 months of the received date of an incomplete application.
PSRs and EMRs variations of authorisation
To process a complete application for a variation of authorisation under PSRs and EMRs – target is 100% within 3 months of the received date of a complete application or within 12 months of the received date of an incomplete application.
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Graph 21 shows we have made improvements in PSR, EMR Authorisation and EMR Registration. This is largely due to the increase in resource that we have applied to this area.
PSR Registration percentage reduced slightly due to delayed allocation timeframes at the beginning of last year creating more breaches than the previous year. As stated for the other standards, we expect these figures to improve next year.
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Graph 22 Shows all targets were achieved for PSR and EMR Variation of Registration and Authorisation.
Applications for agents to be included on the register
There is a statutory requirement of 2 months for processing 100% of applications for UK agents of payment services firms to be included on the register. The graph below shows our reporting against that standard.
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Graph 23 shows that we did not meet the 100% SLA. Due to an increase in the volume of applications and finite staff the allocation of cases was delayed, resulting in breaches of the statutory deadline. Following an increase in resource, we expect performance to improve in the coming year.
4. Regulating existing businesses
The decision to authorise a firm or individual is not a one-off. Firms and individuals may contact us to request changes to activities they are permitted to do. Our response to these requests should create public value by preventing harm. Standards in this section reflect how quickly we have considered and responded to notifications and requests to vary permissions.
We remain committed to improving our performance against standards for regulating existing businesses. In some areas it has been necessary to allow additional time for scrutiny of requests to ensure make sure firms and individuals continue to meet the high standards we expect of them. Where we have experienced a higher-than-normal number of requests, we have recruited additional resources to help us respond within the required timeframes. We continue to focus on improving our processes.
Standards
We must be informed in writing of any proposed changes to:
- a trust
- its trustee
- its manager (under s. 251 of FSMA)
We need to be satisfied that any changes will not adversely affect a trust’s compliance with our requirements.
4.1. Alterations to a collective investment scheme (CIS)
We need to be satisfied, and informed in writing, that any proposed changes to certain features of an authorised OEIC (under regulation 21 of the Open-Ended Investment Companies Regulations 2001) will not adversely affect the OEIC's compliance with our requirements.
We must be informed in writing of any proposed changes to certain features of an authorised contractual scheme (under section 261Q of FSMA). We need to be satisfied that following any changes, the scheme will continue to comply with our requirements.
Overseas collective investment schemes which are not UCITS may be recognised as individual schemes if the individual schemes satisfy the requirements set out in section 272 of FSMA. So, firms must inform us in writing of any proposed changes to an individually recognised overseas scheme (under s. 277 of FSMA).
Our standard practice is to acknowledge and give written approval wherever feasible. However, if we do not, then the proposal (under s. 251, 261Q and 277 of FSMA and regulation 21 of the OEIC regulations) gets automatic approval 1 month from the date we received notice.
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We have a statutory requirement to consider notice of proposed alterations to a CIS, and if appropriate, issue a warning notice. Graph 24 shows we have achieved the 100% target for the last 3 years.
4.2. Variation of permission
Firms may change the nature of their business and apply to add, vary, or remove any regulated activities, investment or customer types. They may also apply to add or vary a requirement or limitation to, or remove a requirement or limitation from, the scope of their Part 4A permission.
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We have a statutory requirement to process a complete application from an authorised firm for a variation of permission within 6 months (s55V(1) of FSMA) or 12 months of receiving an incomplete application (s55V(2) of FSMA). Graph 25 shows that we met the standard in 98.5% of cases.
4.3. Cancellation of Part 4A permission
An authorised person with permission to carry on regulated activities (Part 4A permission) can apply to us to cancel their permission. Changes to individual regulated activities involve a variation of permission, whereas the cancellation of all permissions means that the firm would no longer be permitted to carry on any FSMA-regulated activities in the UK.
We may refuse an application for cancellation if it may cause harm to consumers or potential consumers. This may be the case, for example, if a firm has outstanding customer complaints.
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We have a statutory requirement of to determine a complete application for cancellation of Part 4A permission within 6 months (s55V(1) of FSMA) or 12 months of receipt of an incomplete application (s55V(2) of FSMA). Graph 26 shows we have achieved this in 99.4% of cases.
4.4. Appointed representatives
An appointed representative is a company or individual that an authorised person (a principal) has contracted to carry on regulated activities on its behalf. The principal is responsible for the appointed representative complying with our rules.
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Graph 27 shows how we have performed against the voluntary target of processing 95% of complete notifications for appointed representative status within 5 working days of the request. We processed the notifications within the 5-day voluntary target 89.5% of the time. Although this is below the target, it is a significant improvement over prior years — due to the deployment of additional resources.
We have considered the appropriateness of this voluntary standard and have determined it is no longer appropriate. We do not intend to report on this standard going forward.
4.5. Post-event notification to change our static data on a regulated firm
‘Static data’ is basic information on firms that is essential to effective regulation. Static data must be kept up to date because it is used by:
- us
- the Financial Ombudsman Service
- the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
- Financial Services Register users
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When we process a complete ‘post-event’ notification to change the details on a regulated firm, we have set ourselves the voluntary target to process 95% of notifications within 5 working days of receipt. Graph 28 shows we have processed 100% of notifications within our target this year.
4.6. Pre-event notification to change our static data on a regulated firm
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As with ‘post-event’ notification, we have also set ourselves the same target for ‘pre-event’ notifications. For the last 3 years, we have achieved 100% for this standard, as shown by graph 29.
4.7. Notification of a proposed change in control
Controllers and firms must notify us before acquiring or increasing control (in line with part 12 of FSMA). A ‘controller’ refers broadly to a person who holds shares in or is entitled to exercise or control the exercise of voting power or significant influence in a UK-authorised firm or a parent of a UK-authorised firm. The legislation allows us to object to the acquisition of, or increase in control, or to approve with conditions. More information on control thresholds or bands[9] and change in control requirements[10].
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We have a statutory requirement to make a decision after receiving a ‘complete’ notification of a proposed change in control. Our target is to do this within 60 working days of acknowledgement of receipt (s189(1) of FSMA).
We received 1,510 pre-notifications this year and 1,412 met the operating service standard, resulting in 94.9% of decisions being made within 60 working days. We have received high volumes of notifications in recent years, many of which have been of increasing complexity.
This has meant we allocated cases closer to the 60 working days deadline after which notifications are automatically approved. We took action to address this, and by the end of March 2023, we were allocating change in control notifications to case officers within 24 hours.
5. Listing Transactions
The Listing Transactions (LT) Department encompasses our transaction review functions and the management of the Official List through our Listing Applications team.
Standards
An issuer must make a prospectus approved by us available to the public before certain securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market in the UK. Where an application for approval is made to us, we must notify the applicant of our decision within the deadlines specified in the Prospectus Regulation.
Unless we require further information, we must determine an application from a new issuer within 20 working days, and all other applications within 10 working days. We have put in place a system of voluntary targets for us to provide comments on submissions in advance of the statutory deadlines. For new issuers, we aim to provide comments on the initial submissions within 10 working days if the document is submitted in complete form.
We have set a voluntary target to comment on the initial proof of a document submitted for pre-vetting by a new applicant, or an unlisted issuer, undertaking a public offer and preparing a prospectus for the first time. Our aim is to comment on submission within 10 working days 95% of the time. We have achieved this target this year as shown in graph 31 but with a slight decrease compared to 2021/22.
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Graph 32 shows our voluntary standard to comment on the initial proof of a document submitted for pre-vetting by a listed issuer, or by an unlisted issuer, undertaking a public offer that has previously produced a prospectus. Our target is to comment on submissions within 5 working days 95% of the time.
This also covers documents submitted to us for approval that do not fall under the new issuer standard. This is principally prospectuses and circulars issued by already listed companies. We aim to comment within 5 working days if the document is submitted in complete form. We achieved our target with a small decline compared to 2021/22.
All documents requiring our approval before publication must be submitted in substantially complete form. We often review several proofs of these documents before approval. As well as commenting on the initial proofs, we also aim to comment on subsequent proofs within 3 or 5 working days, depending on the document.
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As mentioned above, we have set voluntary standards to comment on subsequent proofs of submissions. The standard for new issuers is within 5 working days from receipt for comments on subsequent proofs of document submitted for pre-vetting by a new applicant, or by an unlisted issuer, undertaking a public offer and preparing a prospectus for the first time.
The standard for existing issuers is within 3 working days from the day of receipt for comments on subsequent proofs of document submitted for pre-vetting by a listed issuer, or by an unlisted issuer, undertaking a public offer and that has previously produced a prospectus.
Graph 33 shows a marked improvement from 2021/22 for the target for new issuers, where we have a 2.6% improvement in our target. This improvement was partially expected following the adoption of the new rules on increasing the minimum market capitalisation for equity listings, adopted in December 2021.
We sometimes give guidance on applying our rules. We respond to reasonable requests for guidance and other queries made by, or on behalf of, the named party required to comply with the applicable rule. Our final standard is also voluntary. We aim to provide either a substantive reply or a request for further substantive information within 5 working days with a target of 95%. We achieved this target again this year with a slight decline compared to 2021/22 — as shown in graph 34.
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6. Enforcement data 2022/23
Our enforcement data shows the enforcement action we took in 2022/23 and forms part of our Annual Report[11].
We use a range of tools in enforcement to protect consumers and act against firms and individuals who don’t meet our standards. We use the most effective tool at the appropriate time. This could be:
- assertive intervention to prevent further harm
- cancellation of authorisation
- bringing regulatory, civil or criminal enforcement action
Unless otherwise stated, the data for 2022/23 is for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. The figures relating to cases currently open represent the position at 1 April 2023.
6.1. Early action
Receiving information and initial enquiries
Our Whistleblowing team receives and captures all whistleblowing disclosures, and refers all cases to relevant areas for assessment and further action, if required. The intelligence that’s received informs our work. In many cases, it allows us to take action to prevent harm before it occurs, or before a firm becomes non-compliant or in breach.
Find out more about our work and data related to whistleblowing[12].
Enforcement plays a pivotal role in the work of the cross organisational Financial Promotions and Enforcement Taskforce. The work they do is covered in the ‘Enabling consumers to help themselves’ section of the Annual Report[13].
We also issue warnings and alerts to consumers and firms. These warnings show firms that appear to be carrying out regulated activities without our authorisation. Our work includes issuing specific alerts that are published on our Warning List[13]. We also refer potential cases to other agencies, including the police.
6.2. Interventions action
The Interventions team within Enforcement supports our commitment to reduce and prevent serious harm and deal with problem firms. It works closely with colleagues in our Supervision, Policy and Competition Division (SPC) to proactively identify and respond to concerns about firms or individuals that present a risk of ongoing harm or loss to consumers or market integrity. The Interventions team, working with SPC, use a variety of tools to take early and swift action.
Enforcement opens an intervention case when SPC raises concerns with us upon identifying firms which pose risks of ongoing harm or loss to consumers. The tools we use range from more informal early engagement to use of our formal requirements. For example, this could be:
- obtaining voluntary undertakings from a firm to do, or refrain from carrying out, a certain activity)
- issuing voluntary imposition of requirements (VREQs)
- use of our own initiative powers
Early engagement and steps
During the 2022/23 financial year, we opened 158 interventions cases in the early engagement stage with SPC. Some of these cases resulted in the issuing of VREQs on firms.
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During the 2022/23 financial year, we closed 89 cases of this type, with an average case duration of 67 days. During this time, Enforcement also supported:
- the securing of 70 VREQs
- 3 directions under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 or section 137S of the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA)
- 8 undertakings from various firms
Our own initiative powers
In these cases, Enforcement engages in preparing and making applications to exercise the use of our own initiative powers through instruments such as:
- Own Initiative Requirements (OIREQs)
- Own Initiative Variation of Permissions (OIVOPs)
During the 2022/23 financial year, we opened 51 cases where we considered the use of our own initiative powers.
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During 2022/23, we closed 24 cases of this type, with an average case duration of 62 days. We also supported the issuing of 19 OIREQs, 1 OIVOP and 3 cases where both OIREQs and OIVOPs were used. Some of these are still the subject of appeal or representations from the subject firms.
6.3. Threshold conditions cases
Firms and individuals must always meet certain minimum standards (the Threshold Conditions for firms, and the Fit and Proper test for individuals) to continue to be authorised by us.
In line with our strategy, the Threshold Conditions team (TCT) within Enforcement acts against firms and individuals where these criteria are not met.
Meeting these basic standards is an important part of maintaining a regulated environment that consumers, markets and the industry can trust.
Table 1: The issue types of our cases
|
TCT case types |
Why we take action |
|---|---|
|
Directory Person |
The firm has failed to submit a Directory Persons Attestation |
|
FDA |
The firm has failed to submit a Firm Details Attestation |
|
Fee |
The firm has failed to pay its annual fee and collections process has been exhausted |
|
Returns |
The firm has failed to submit a Regulatory Return |
|
Use it or lose it (UIOLI) |
The firm has failed to carry on regulated activity related to the permissions it holds |
|
Failure to meet standards |
Failure to meet standards cases are more complex where a firm or individual has failed to meet our minimum standards to the extent that we no longer consider they should remain regulated and/or should be prohibited from carrying on financial services in the future |
Of the 1,207 cases opened during the period, 1,158 were against firms and 49 related to individuals. A firm may have more than one case associated with it. For example, a UIOLI case as well as a fee case.
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Of the 858 cases that we closed during 2022/23, 17% (150) of firms voluntarily cancelled their authorisation following our engagement and 5% (45) resulted in us issuing a Final Notice. We issue Final Notices when we revoke a firm’s permissions entirely, or when we prohibit an individual from operating in the financial services industry.
Other outcomes included firms agreeing to take action to meet the standards we require, and cases being discontinued in favour of other regulatory action (for example, variation of permissions or ongoing supervisory oversight).
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Dealing with problem firms
Enforcement plays a pivotal role in our strategic focus of dealing with problem firms. This work is covered in ‘Focus 1: Reducing and preventing serious harm – Dealing with problem firms in the Annual Report[14]’.
6.4. Enforcement Investigations: Retail, Wholesale and Unauthorised Business
Enforcement cases mean investigations where we’ve decided to appoint investigators under Pt XI of FSMA. Investigations into a wide range of suspected serious misconduct are undertaken by Enforcement teams in:
• Retail and Regulatory Investigations (RRI)
RRI investigates regulated firms and their management and how they engage with consumers. RRI investigates sectors covering retail banking, stockbroking, asset management, mortgage broking and lending, insurance intermediation, financial advice, consumer credit and payment services. RRI deals with firms that sell unsuitable products or services to consumers, mishandle client money and assets, or have governance and systemic issues. The team also investigates financial crime matters and takes action against individuals holding accountable significant influence functions.
• Wholesale and Unauthorised Business Investigations (WUBI)
The Wholesale departments aim to protect consumers and market integrity. They investigate and take enforcement action against regulatory breaches and criminal offences by firms and individuals operating in the wholesale arena, including as participants in our financial markets.
The Unauthorised Business department protects consumers by investigating and taking enforcement action against firms and individuals carrying on regulated activities without authorisation, in breach of the general prohibition and/or contravening restrictions on financial promotions. Typical WUBI cases include insider dealing, market manipulation, delayed or inaccurate disclosures to our financial markets, breaches of the listing rules, systems and controls failings, and consumer scams such as boiler rooms.
The figures below don’t duplicate the data for the Threshold Conditions or interventions cases.
Below, we provide a breakdown of our investigation and litigation portfolio into case type by suspected civil, criminal and regulatory breaches.
We don’t pre-judge the outcome of an investigation. If we investigate a breach that might be the subject of criminal, civil or regulatory proceedings, we’ll open those cases on a dual-track basis.
The figures reflect the number of persons, either firms or individuals, placed under investigation (which we refer to as either subjects or cases). The figures don’t refer to the number of investigations.
An individual investigation will usually have a number of cases, because we open one case per subject. This means we have more cases open than investigations.
In 2022/23, we opened 100 enforcement cases and closed 107 enforcement cases.
As of 1 April 2023, we had 591 open enforcement cases, relating to 224 investigations.
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Table 2: Open cases at end of financial year 2022/23: by primary issue under investigation and case type
|
Primary issue under investigation |
Civil |
Criminal |
Dual track |
Regulatory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Unauthorised business |
49 |
112 |
45 |
|
|
Misleading statements |
|
20 |
10 |
7 |
|
Listing/Prospectus Rules/Disclosure Transparency Rules (DTR) Breaches |
|
|
|
6 |
|
Market manipulation |
|
|
4 |
11 |
|
Insider dealing |
|
20 |
46 |
2 |
|
Wholesale conduct |
1 |
3 |
4 |
49 |
|
Financial crime |
1 |
5 |
9 |
15 |
|
Retail lending |
|
|
|
5 |
|
Investment scam |
|
|
9 |
6 |
|
Pension scam |
|
|
|
11 |
|
Advice − pensions |
|
|
1 |
57 |
|
Retail conduct |
4 |
2 |
10 |
67 |
|
Total |
55 |
162 |
138 |
236 |
We closed 107 enforcement cases during 2022/23.
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Table 3: Closed Cases during financial year 2022/23: by primary issue under investigation and case type
|
Primary issue under investigation |
Civil |
Criminal |
Dual track |
Regulatory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Unauthorised business |
1 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Misleading statements |
|
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
Listing/Prospectus Rules/Disclosure Transparency Rules (DTR) Breaches |
|
|
|
2 |
|
Market manipulation |
|
|
|
2 |
|
Insider dealing |
|
12 |
11 |
3 |
|
Wholesale conduct |
|
|
5 |
15 |
|
Financial crime |
|
|
3 |
19 |
|
Retail lending |
|
|
|
4 |
|
Investment scam |
|
|
|
2 |
|
Pension scam |
|
|
|
|
|
Advice − pensions |
|
|
|
5 |
|
Retail conduct |
|
|
|
4 |
|
Total |
1 |
20 |
28 |
58 |
Duration of enforcement cases
We set out below the mean average duration of the investigation stage and the resolution/litigation stage of our open and closed enforcement cases.
We calculate the investigation stage from the date when we decided to investigate (this pre-dates the formal appointment of enforcement investigators under Pt XI of FSMA) through to the initial findings of the investigation team.
For cases that go beyond the investigation stage, because the decision is made to take enforcement action, we’ve calculated the mean average duration of that resolution/litigation stage until the case is closed. We’ve excluded 10 cases that are classified as ‘on hold’, for example because a defendant has absconded.
The duration of an investigation depends on:
- the size and complexity of the issues
- the age of the facts
- the circumstances under investigation
- the cooperation of witnesses
- the availability of evidence
- the volume of documents or digital records to be obtained and reviewed
- the time taken to resolve claims of legal professional privilege
It may also depend on the co-operation of other law enforcement agencies or regulators − possibly in other jurisdictions.
An enforcement case will remain open on our case management system throughout the entire resolution of the case and exhaustion of all litigation (for example, through our Regulatory Decisions Committee and the conclusion of any court action).
In criminal proceedings, a case will remain open post-conviction while any confiscation orders imposed by the courts remain outstanding. For example, confiscation orders to deprive an offender of their proceeds of crime.
Open cases
Table 4: The mean average duration of the investigation stage and the resolution or litigation stage for cases open as of 1 April 2023 in months
|
|
Regulatory |
Civil |
Dual track |
Criminal |
Overall average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Investigation stage |
33 |
27 |
19 |
36 |
30 |
|
Resolution/litigation stage |
25 |
41 |
20 |
43 |
34 |
Closed cases
Investigation stage
Table 5: The mean average duration of the investigation stage in months, for cases closed in the past 3 years
|
|
Regulatory |
Civil |
Dual track |
Criminal |
Overall average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2020/21 |
25 |
17 |
20 |
29 |
25 |
|
2021/22 |
38 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
34 |
|
2022/23 |
40 |
15 |
30 |
59 |
41 |
Resolution or litigation stage
Table 6: The mean average duration of the resolution or litigation stage in months, for cases closed in the past 3 years
|
|
Regulatory |
Civil |
Dual track |
Criminal |
Overall average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2020/21 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
13 |
|
2021/22 |
28 |
42 |
0 |
40 |
33 |
|
2022/23 |
24 |
65 |
26 |
9 |
23 |
6.5. Penalties
We’ve issued 28 Final Notices in 2022/23 (excluding Final Notices issued through our Threshold Conditions work).
The largest single penalty was £107.7m imposed on Santander UK for failures in relation to its anti-money laundering (AML) controls. Further large penalties imposed include TSB Bank (£29.7m) and Citigroup Global Markets Limited (£12.5m).
Table 7: Financial penalties imposed by the FCA annually: overall and by subject type
|
|
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Total number imposed |
10 |
12 |
24 |
|
Value |
£189.8m |
£331m |
£199.3m |
|
Number imposed upon firms |
8 |
9 |
15 |
|
Value |
£189.6m |
£330.6m |
£197.9m |
|
Number imposed upon individuals |
2 |
3 |
9 |
|
Value |
£0.2m |
£0.4m |
£1.4m |
6.6. Redress
Separate to any financial penalty imposed by us, some firms who we investigated voluntarily decided to make payments to consumers to cover losses suffered through the misconduct we investigated.
Firms made over £4m of this kind of payment during 2022/23.
6.7. Criminal outcomes
The courts postponed prosecutions that were due to be tried during the financial year 2022/23.
In 2022/23, we obtained a conviction in 1 criminal case where an individual pleaded guilty. This individual awaits trial for other matters and so has yet to be sentenced by the court. On 3 April 2023, 4 individuals were convicted for their involvement in an investment fraud.
During 2022/23, we instituted criminal proceedings against 13 individuals for a range of criminal offences, including:
- market manipulation
- breaches of the general prohibition
- conspiracy to defraud
- money laundering
- perverting the course of justice
As of 1 April 2023, 20 individuals faced prosecution by us in the criminal courts.
6.8. Proceeds of crime
Confiscation orders
A confiscation order is made after conviction, to deprive a defendant of the benefit they’ve obtained from crime. Due to a lack of trials during 2022/23, we haven’t obtained any confiscation orders.
We’ve continued to enforce existing confiscation orders to secure compensation for victims and deprive criminals of their proceeds of crime.
In cases where there are consumer losses, the Court may order that compensation is paid to victims from confiscation money recovered. If there are no identified victims, or the money recovered through confiscation is over and above the amount of compensation ordered, then this money is paid to the Home Office.
We’re a member of the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme. As part of this scheme, we receive a portion of the money recovered and paid to the Home Office following successful proceedings conducted under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
During 2022/23, we recovered over £307,113, of which £54,553.19 was compensated to victims and the remainder was paid to the Home Office.
In appropriate cases, where subjects are under criminal investigation and the statutory criteria are met, we obtain restraint orders from the criminal courts.
We obtained 5 restraint orders in 2022/23 with assets of approximately £3.3m restrained.
6.9. Law and international
Increasing numbers of our investigations have an international angle, and the underlying misconduct we tackle often involves multiple jurisdictions.
Effective cooperation with international regulators and law enforcement agencies is vital to the work we do, particularly in relation to tackling online harm.
We dedicate significant resource to building, maintaining, and strengthening international cooperation. We take steps to ensure all appropriate action occurs to assist international partners to protect financial markets and prevent harm.
One example of this is our response to a recent judicial review permission claim.
In the case of R (Sutton) v Financial Conduct Authority, we issued notices requiring production of information by UK residents, to assist the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in an investigation of certain crude oil trading on a US derivatives exchange.
An application for permission to judicially review our decision was brought by the UK subjects to overturn the decision to seek evidence from them. We successfully defended our decision in the High Court and the Court of Appeal and permission for judicial review was refused.
Our powers to seek information needed for investigations, including where doing so is to assist a foreign regulator, are vital in ensuring investigations involving multiple jurisdictions can be conducted properly.
This action confirmed that we won’t permit subjects of international investigations who are in the UK to hide behind unmeritorious claims or to delay international investigations through abuse of legitimate remedies.
Our work with international groups
We work closely with international groups like the International Organisation of Securities Commission’s (IOSCO) committee on enforcement and the exchange of information to tackle cross-border misconduct.
We continue to be one of the biggest users of IOSCO’s Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU). We’re also the largest recipient of requests for assistance under this agreement, cooperating with 70 authorities in 65 countries in 2021/2022.
One of our directors is currently Chair of IOSCO’s MMoU Monitoring Group. The agenda of this group is focussed on the continued success of, and full compliance with, this essential cooperation agreement, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.