What is UK FCA? UK FCA Review, Features

The UK FCA strictly supervises all financial services institutions registered in the UK through the Financial Services Authority.

About the UK FCA

• FCA stands for Financial Conduct Authority, which is the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the United Kingdom.

• To understand the origin of FCA, we still need to understand FSA and SIB organizations first.

• The full name of SIB is Securities and Investments Board, which was established in 1985.

• FSA is the full name of Financial Service Authority. It was reorganized from SIB in October 1997. The reorganized FSA is an independent non-governmental organization and is the unified regulatory body of the UK financial market. It exercises statutory duties and is directly responsible to the UK Treasury.

• Due to the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, on January 19, 2012, the FSA was split into two institutions: one is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the other is the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). Since then, the FSA has ceased to exist. The original FSA's regulatory power over brokers will be fully taken over by the FCA.

• The FCA is responsible for regulating banks, insurance and investment businesses, including securities and futures. The Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England (BOE) are both under the Treasury. The Financial Services Authority is responsible for financial business management, while the main task of the BOE is to maintain financial stability.

• The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is a regulatory body established under the Financial Services Act (2012) and is a subsidiary of the Bank of England. The PRA is responsible for prudential regulation and supervises banks, building societies, credit unions, insurance companies and major investment companies. Currently, the PRA supervises approximately 1,700 financial companies.

UK FCA Services

• The FCA is an independent body not affiliated with the Bank of England that regulates 56,000 financial services firms and the UK financial markets. It is also responsible for the prudential supervision of financial services firms that are not regulated by the PRA.

• The FCA is an independent public body that operates by charging fees to the firms we regulate. The FCA is accountable to HM Treasury, the UK financial system and Parliament.

• The work and plans of the FCA are formulated by the UK Financial Services and Markets Act (2000). The FCA works with consumer groups, trade associations, professional organizations, domestic regulatory authorities, EU parliamentarians and many relevant departments. Due to the extensiveness of its responsibilities, the FCA will take appropriate measures to prioritize regulatory treatment for regions and companies that are inconsistent with regulatory objectives.

UK FCA's objectives

1. Consumer protection - providing appropriate protection for consumers;

2. Safeguarding financial markets – protecting and enhancing the integrity of the UK financial system;

3. Promote market competition - promote market competitiveness related to consumer interests.