- Where the FCA came from and what is meant by "twin peaks". The Financial Services Act 2012 created a new model of regulation in the UK. The twin peaks model saw the Financial Services Authority (FSA) being replaced by two new regulators. The Act created the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and the FCA. In simple terms the PRA can be thought of as the prudential regulator and the FCA as the conduct regulator. Firms which are not in the scope of the PRA are prudentially supervised by the FCA.
- Competition is not just for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The FCA also has a competition objective and they are keen to talk about it. The strategic objective of the FCA is to ensure that the relevant markets function well. People are familiar with the idea of the FCA's consumer protection role, however the competition element may not be so obvious. Promoting effective competition in the interests of consumers is an FCA objective.
- Regulatory technology is not just about the sandbox. The regulatory sandbox allows authorised and unauthorised businesses to test new ideas with real customers. The FCA oversees these trials with safeguards for consumers. RegTech is now on the horizon. The FCA is looking at how technology can be used to regulate firms. There is scope for machines regulating financial services firms in the future!
- There is an FCA Head for Scotland. The FCA announced the creation of this new role, Head of Department, Scotland, in July 2017. The FCA appointed Maggie Craig at the time of the announcement however the role itself came into existence in September 2017.
- The FCA is keen to engage in Scotland. There are 90 FCA staff in Scotland. The FCA recognises the strategic importance of the financial services sector and the significant FinTech presence in Scotland.
There is not a twitter handle for the FCA in Scotland. News is shared via main handle @TheFCA for example the Head of Scotland announcement.
