Yesterday, April 1, 2013 was the introduction of one of the most significant and far reaching changes to UK Financial Services regulation for many years. The change referred to is of course the splitting of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) into two new regulatory bodies, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
Who is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)?
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates the financial services industry in the UK. Its aim is to protect consumers, ensure the industry remains stable and promote healthy competition between financial services providers. It will supervise the conduct of approximately 26,000 firms across all financial industry sectors and the prudential standards of approximately 23,000 firms not regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has one overriding purpose; to make financial markets work well which is underpinned by three main objectives:
Delivering consumer protection: securing an appropriate degree of protection for consumers.
Enhancing market integrity: protecting and enhancing the integrity of the UK financial system.
Building competitive markets: promoting effective competition in the interest of consumers.
Click here for more about the FCA
Who is the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)?
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is part of the Bank of England and responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms.
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has two statutory objectives:
To promote the safety and soundness of all the firms it regulates. This involves firms having resilience against failure and — in the event they do fail, or simply in the course of business —
It makes an important contribution to the Bank’s core purpose of protecting and enhancing the stability of the UK financial system.
