With the regulation of consumer credit having come under the wing of the FCA last April, the number of firms that the FCA is responsible for has trebled over the past eighteen months.
The Regulator has seen the need to provide a ’sharper focus’ in its approach and hence firms will see a structural reorganisation so that the FCA can ensure the right outcome for consumers and the markets.
Possibly of most interest to firms will be the, temporary, merger of Authorisations and Supervision under the control of Tracey McDermott until April when two new Divisions will be created “allowing for a clearer distinction between our approach to the regulation of large and smaller firms”. The sharpening of focus will include the removal of the distinction between C3 and C4 firms and supervising individual firms on a more risk-based model; Regulatory Roundup 54 provides further details of the current supervisory approach to C4 firms, being the categorisation under which the vast majority of firms fall within.
Elsewhere changes will include the creation of a new Risk Division and a Market Oversight Division which will incorporate UKLA and Market Monitoring functions; we are advised that other specialist market supervision functions will be integrated with Supervision.
The structural changes, which commenced on 5 January 2015 and will be fully in place by 1 April 2015, will see the departure of Clive Adamson (Director of Supervision), Zitah McMillan (Director of Communications and International) and Victoria Raffe (Director of Authorisations).
The links provided include ‘before and after’ charts, although note that Lesley Titcomb (Chief Operating Officer) will also be leaving at the end of January to become CEO of The Pensions Regulator.
