We have imposed restrictions on wealth management firm, London Stone Securities Limited. The firm cannot undertake any regulated activity, charge any further fees to existing clients or take on new clients without our express permission. The firm was also required to withdraw all financial promotions and keep assets in the business. This follows serious concerns about London Stone Securities Limited not delivering good client outcomes. The firm was charging excessive fees, which do not appear to be justified, clearly relate to benefits for the firm’s clients or provide fair value. Low value investment portfolios were particularly affected. In addition, charges were not communicated to or agreed with all clients in advance, raising concerns that the firm has not appropriately disclosed and explained its service terms. This risk was exacerbated as some of the firm’s client base have characteristics of vulnerability. We are also concerned London Stone Securities issued financial promotions which did not follow our rules that appear to have directly targeted potential clients who were elderly, disabled and vulnerable. We also found inconsistencies in information the firm provided to us. In its response to our sector-wide wealth management data survey, it told us that the maximum charge applied to any individual client was 5% of their portfolio value. However, we found fees far in excess of this. For example, some clients have paid fees exceeding 65% of the value of their portfolio which significantly reduces the value of their investment. The firm also transferred £1.3m from its bank account throughout the FCA’s ongoing enquiries. We believe the firm may not have communicated openly or honestly with us, their regulator. We issued restrictions on the firm in April to protect consumers. Having now considered representations from the firm, we consider that the restrictions should remain in force due to the seriousness of the potential consumer harm the firm has caused. The firm has the right to challenge this and refer the matter to the tribunal. You can access a copy of the Second Supervisory Notice which outlines further details about our concerns and the basis for imposing the restrictions.

Ten individuals have been cold-shouldered after a ruling from the Hearings Committee of the Takeover Panel.

We're proposing to extend the current pause to the time firms have to respond to consumers about motor finance complaints involving a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA). We now intend to set out next steps in our review into the past use of DCAs in May 2025. By then, we expect to have analysed the data we have collected from firms and assessed the outcome of the Barclays judicial review of the Financial Ombudsman’s decision to uphold a DCA complaint. Our next steps could involve consulting on a redress scheme. This is why we intend to take the precautionary step of pausing complaint handling until 4 December 2025, as it may take until then to confirm how firms would implement it. Or it could involve asking firms to start dealing with complaints again as usual, in which case we would consult on ending the pause earlier. If we can set out our proposed next steps sooner, we will. Our review On 11 January 2024,we announced a review into whether motor finance customers have been overcharged because of the past use of DCAs. When we confirmed this work, we paused the 8-week deadline for motor finance firms to provide a final response to relevant customer complaints. We introduced the pause to prevent disorderly, inconsistent and inefficient outcomes for consumers and knock-on effects on firms and the market while we assessed the issue and determined the best way forward. We’re working hard to understand how DCAs affected the cost of credit for people borrowing money to buy a vehicle. We’re assessing thousands of records spanning 14 years. Firms involved in our review have engaged with us constructively, but many have struggled to supply the data we need within the requested time. Reasons for this include firms not keeping older data, and data being stored on multiple systems, or being spread between lenders and brokers. While we now have the necessary data, the delays mean we will not be able to set out next steps by the end of September 2024 as expected. Furthermore, Barclays Partner Finance has also started judicial review proceedings of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s decision to uphold a complaint relating to its use of a DCA. A hearing is expected to take place in the autumn, where the court will consider whether to grant permission and hear the claim. The judicial review will consider legal issues highly relevant to our review. We are also expecting judgments soon in other cases heard by the Court of Appeal that may be relevant in determining our next steps. Complaints handling pause We are therefore proposing to extend the current pause to the 8-week deadline for firms to respond to motor finance complaints involving a DCA. Under our proposals, firms will not have to issue a final response to DCA complaints until after 4 December 2025 at the earliest. The pause allows us time, if necessary, to design, consult on and introduce an alternative way of dealing with DCA complaints, such as a consumer redress scheme. It is too early to say if we will intervene in this way, but based on our work so far, it is more likely than when we started our review. We consider allowing for this possibility preferable to the uncertainty and greater burden for firms created by a shorter pause that may be subsequently extended. If we decide not to introduce an alternative way of dealing with complaints, we’ll consult on ending the pause earlier. In this case, firms would start dealing with complaints again in the usual way. We intend to set out the findings of our review, and whether we plan to introduce an alternative way of dealing with DCA complaints by end of May 2025. We’ve explained the steps we must take to reach this point. Motor finance is an important market, serving over 2 million consumers a year. In deciding next steps, we’ll consider how to make sure consumers are appropriately compensated and the market continues to work well, with effective competition. As with most types of consumer credit, motor finance is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. If firms fail, consumers may not get back money they are owed. Making a complaint While firms have longer to deal with DCA complaints, consumers should be aware you can still complain to your provider and there are time limits for doing so. Check if our work applies to you and how to make a complaint. We’re also proposing to give consumers until the later of 29 July 2026 or 15 months from the date of their final response letter from the firm, to refer a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman (instead of the usual 6 months). This is so consumers will not have to decide whether to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman before we announce next steps.

The rules governing financial services could be streamlined to reduce burdens on businesses, following a review launched by the FCA. The move comes after the introduction of the Consumer Duty, which makes sure that businesses deliver good outcomes for consumers when they buy financial products and services. The regulator is calling on industry to identify rules which could be removed or simplified if they overlap with the Duty. Reducing complexity of the FCA’s rulebook could lower costs for firms, encourage innovation and help support the risk appetite needed to support growth, ultimately boosting international competitiveness and the economy over the long-term. Launching the review, Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA said: 'We are firmly committed to playing our part in supporting economic growth. The Consumer Duty marked a major shift for firms and consumers by setting higher and clearer standards of consumer protection and requiring firms to put their customers’ needs first. 'We now want to seize the opportunity of the Duty and the move to a clear outcomes-based approach to streamline our rulebook, lowering costs for businesses and supporting the competitiveness and growth of the economy.' Alongside the broad rule review announced today, the FCA is considering simplifying rules in the commercial insurance sector, a market worth over £15.5 billion in the UK. The FCA is inviting views on whether changing how customers are categorised could significantly reduce the time needed to take on new customers, or renew their contracts, and allow products to be custom made. This would reduce regulatory costs and may increase the competitiveness of the commercial insurance market. The launch of both reviews comes on the day the regulator publishes its first report dedicated to how it has taken forward its secondary objective to support UK competitiveness and economic growth over the medium to long-term. Recognising the vital role that the regulator plays in enabling new financial services firms to get off the ground, the FCA has improved its authorisation process with 98% of cases now assessed within statutory deadlines, up from 78.9% in Q1 of 2022/23. Overseas wholesale financial firms wishing to operate in the UK can benefit from pre-application support from the FCA. The regulator has also completed the biggest reform to the listing rules in a generation. The FCA continues to support innovation in financial markets, including the creation of a permanent Digital Sandbox, a testing environment that supports firms at the early stage of product development. Today, the FCA has also confirmed that from 1 August, it will consult a new independent panel of experts when preparing cost benefit analyses. This applies to proposed regulations which have an estimated net annual direct cost to industry of £10m per year and above. Notes to editors Call for Input for the Review of FCA retail conduct requirements following introduction of the Consumer Duty. The Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Objective (SICGO) report (PDF) Insurance competitiveness discussion paper Information about the independent Cost Benefit Analysis Panel and the FCA’s framework for analysing the costs and benefits of its policies. Find out more information about the FCA.

The FCA has set out a package of measures designed to help strengthen the UK’s capital markets and position as a global and vibrant financial centre. Proposals for new public offers and admissions to trading regime Key to the package are proposed rules to establish the new Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regime (POATRs), which will replace the existing UK Prospectus Regulation. Under the proposals, companies will still be required to publish a prospectus when first admitting securities to public markets. However, a prospectus would not be required when a company raises further capital except in limited circumstances. Together with other existing disclosure obligations, these proposals will make sure investors get the information they need while significantly reducing the costs associated with further capital raises for companies. The FCA is also consulting on proposals for a new activity of operating a public offer platform. These platforms will offer an alternative route for companies to raise capital outside public markets including from retail investors. The introduction of the platforms should promote scale-up capital raising for smaller companies while ensuring that investors get the right disclosures on the key terms and risks of an investment. Final rules on new payment option for investment research The FCA has also confirmed new rules that give asset managers greater freedom in how they pay for investment research, by allowing the ‘bundling’ of payments for research and trade execution. These new rules aim to improve competition in the market for the benefit of investors. The new payment option is also compatible with rules in other jurisdictions, making it easier for asset managers to buy research across borders. The FCA has engaged extensively as part of developing these rules. Following careful consideration of responses to the consultation, significant changes have been made to the conditions attached to using the new payment option. The FCA wants to make sure it is operationally efficient to use and adaptable to different types of firms, but also make sure it secures an appropriate degree of protection for consumers, and there is not a return to historic poor practice in this area. The final part of the package is a consultation outlining proposals for the derivatives trading obligations to help improve the regulation of secondary markets, reduce systemic risk and disruption to firms. Sarah Pritchard, executive director of markets and international at the FCA said: 'The package we have set out today, alongside our recent reforms to the listing rules, will help to strengthen the UK’s position in wholesale markets. We know we need to strike the right balance between protection for investors and allowing capital markets to thrive. 'With that in mind, we have engaged extensively and broadly in developing the final set of rules to support a thriving investment research market. We are also setting out key reforms to the prospectus regime, and welcome engagement from the sector so that we can get the balance right before deciding the final regime. 'Putting the right information in the hands of investors and removing unnecessary costs will help further bolster the market.' Notes to editors Read the consultation papers on public offer platforms, POATRs and derivatives Comments on the proposals for the POATRs and the public offer platforms should be sent to the FCA by 18 October 2024 Comments on the proposals for the derivatives trading obligations consultation should be sent to the FCA by 30 September 2024 Read PS24/9: Payment optionality for investment research The FCA is proposing to bring secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) overnight indexed swap (OIS) in scope of the derivatives trading obligation and to introduce exemptions for transactions arising from certain risk reduction services. The FCA is also consulting on how it intends to use its new power of direction to maintain trading options currently available to firms under the Temporary Transitional Power, to avoid disruption when that power expires at the end of 2024.