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The UK’s financial watchdog has bowed to longstanding pressure and ditched a plan to frequently “name and shame” companies it is investigating.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has decided not to go ahead with applying a new public interest test for announcing investigations into regulated firms “given the lack of consensus” over the plans.
The decision comes as the government puts pressure on regulators to help “rip out bureaucracy that blocks investment” as part of its growth agenda.
Critics had pushed back against the FCA’s plan to be more transparent with the public and whistleblowers when investigating potential wrongdoing in the City.
The FCA had already watered down the proposals, first announced early last year, after an outcry from businesses and criticism from the then-City minister, Tulip Siddiq. The revised plan would have given companies 10 days’ notice before any public announcement was made.
Siddiq had publicly called on the regulator to rethink its plans and suggested she could overrule it if it pressed ahead with disclosing the companies it investigated.
Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, said: “Considerable concerns remain about our proposal to change the way we publicise investigations into regulated firms, so we will stick to publicising in exceptional circumstances, as we do today.”
He said it was not possible to move forward with naming and shaming firms without consensus.
The drive towards naming and shaming firms was partly prompted by an outcry after the FCA was unable to publish names of financial advisers who gave flawed advice to pensioners at British Steel. The FCA argued that earlier disclosure of an investigation may have prevented some pensioners from being harmed.
“We will implement changes which have commanded wider support and which we believe will help support our efforts to protect consumers from harm,” Rathi said.
He said there was a broader conversation to be had about what regulations the public, government, and business wanted. “What we need to have is a proper debate,” he said.
For every step towards deregulation, the tolerance for the results needed to be considered, he added, using an example of how relaxing mortgage lending rules would result in higher default rates.
The government has abolished the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) as part of an “efficiency drive” and the FCA will absorb it and its 160 staff. The government presented the step as part of its efforts to boost UK economic growth.
The FCA and PSR share premises in Stratford, east London. PSR staff are on FCA contracts.
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Separately, the Guardian has reported on how peers linked to big City firms also sit on a new Lords committee scrutinising regulation of the financial services industry.
The Lords committee warned in February that announcing enforcement investigations early without addressing concerns over the plans could damage the reputation of companies that may never face regulatory action.
Meanwhile, the FCA and its sister organisation at the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority, have dropped work on rules to improve diversity and inclusion, the watchdog confirmed.
Rathi dismissed suggestions this was part of a US-led trend towards killing off diversity initiatives, and instead pointed to new government legislation on workers’ rights.
He said there was a need to avoid “duplication” in this area and ensure FCA rules were in line with the legislation. The regulator would monitor enforcement of employer responsibilities to protect its staff against harassment. This would inform its work on taking a tougher line on allegations of bullying, sexual harassment, and discrimination against financial professionals or firms, he added.
The FCA, which plans to publish its final policy in June, remains “committed” to investigating non-financial misconduct and considered it essential for “market integrity”, Rathi said.
