The FCA published its annual Business Plan setting out its main areas of focus for 2020/21. It outlines the FCA’s priorities and describes its response to the problems the FCA has identified.
Coronavirus has presented a huge challenge to the FCA. As a result, the FCA has delayed other activity it had planned, where it was judged as not urgent and may have distracted firms from the immediate priority. This has made planning for the year ahead much harder.
The FCA has set out in the Business Plan the priority areas on which it will work over the next 1 to 3 years, as well as other cross-cutting and sector work. Where the FCA can progress this work now, without undermining the focus on the coronavirus response, it will do so.
The FCA’s key priorities and planned activities are set out under its 5 overall priorities, its 6 cross-cutting priorities and the 4 sector-specific area the FCA will aim to focus on.
The 5 overall key priorities over the next 1-3 years are:
- Transforming how it works and regulates
- Enabling effective consumer investment decisions
- Ensuring consumer credit markets work well
- Making payments safe and accessible
- Delivering fair value in a digital age
The 6 cross-cutting priorities relate to work across sectors in areas that have a broad market impact:
- EU withdrawal and wider international work
- Climate change
- Innovation and technology
- Operational resilience
- Financial crime
- Culture in financial services
The 4 sector-specific areas which the FCA will focus on are:
- Wholesale financial markets
- Investment management
- Retail banking
- General insurance and protection
https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/business-plans/business-plan-2020-21.pdf#page=1
