The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed removing unnecessary data requests for thousands of firms, as it responds to the UK Prime Minister’s growth-focused letter.
The financial watchdog has proposed removing the three identified data collections from its handbook, aiming to simplify reporting requirements and reduce the burden on up to 16,000 firms.
Additionally, to further support this streamlined reporting effort, the FCA has launched ‘My FCA’, a new platform offering a single sign-in and central access to all regulatory tasks.
A consultation on the proposals is open until 14 May. During this period, firms currently required to submit these data returns may choose not to and the FCA has confirmed firms will not face late submission penalties.
Jessica Rusu, Chief Data, Intelligence and Information Officer at the FCA, said: “In our strategy, we committed to being a smarter regulator and supporting growth. So while we need data to do our job, we should challenge ourselves on whether what we’re asking for is needed.”
Reacting to the growth letter
In December, Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote to several UK regulators, including the FCA, urging them to identify and remove barriers to economic growth. He asked each regulator to submit a set of pro-growth proposals to Downing Street by mid-January.
The FCA responded on 16 January, stating that “growth will be a cornerstone of our strategy, through to 2030”. Its letter included dozens of proposals aimed at accelerating growth and easing regulatory pressure, several of which have already been implemented.
Among these are the launch of a process to remove the £100 contactless payment limit, assigning dedicated case officers to every firm in the regulatory sandbox and issuing more ‘minded to approve’ notices to help early-stage firms secure investment.
The latest proposal to cut unnecessary data requests was also included under the section titled ‘Reducing the regulatory burden’. Rusu stated that cutting data requests will save time and money for thousands of firms, adding that “we will review more in the future”.
