Record of the meeting between the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and the Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
1) On 21 July 2025, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury (EST), Emma Reynolds, met with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Nikhil Rathi, to discuss the FCA’s performance against its statutory objectives and in relation to the government’s economic policy, as articulated in its letter of recommendation to the FCA.
2) This was the first performance review held with the FCA following the government’s commitment to formalise performance reviews as part of the Regulation Action Plan.
3) The EST thanked the CEO for the FCA’s support to deliver the Leeds Reforms, and noted the alignment between these reforms and the FCA’s 2025-30 Strategy.
4) The CEO updated the EST on the FCA’s work to embed its secondary international competitiveness and growth objective and discussed how the FCA balances this against its other objectives.
5) The CEO noted that the FCA is making significant progress in embedding its secondary international competitiveness and growth objective, highlighting:
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One of the four pillars of the FCA’s 2025-30 Strategy is facilitating growth. Its other pillars (becoming a smarter regulator, helping consumers navigate their financial lives, and fighting financial crime) are also critical to supporting growth.
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The FCA’s Annual Report and Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Report set out the policy activities the FCA is undertaking to further the secondary objective. The EST thanked the FCA for its work on listings and prospectus reforms, and the development of the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) jointly with the Treasury.
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The FCA is also improving its operational processes by focusing on pace and digitalisation. The recent introduction of the “My FCA” portal has helped firms see all of their regulatory contact with the FCA in one place, and has received good feedback so far.
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The FCA is also looking at how it enables firms to take advantage of new technology, particularly through its Sandboxes.
6) The EST and CEO discussed how the FCA is focused on balancing growth with its primary objectives, and aims to be transparent on the balance of the risks and benefits of its work. For example, in order for the FCA to further its consumer protection objective, consumers need to be able to access the right mortgage or investment products for their requirements, which requires strong competition. The EST and CEO agreed that the regulators, government, and parliament must be open about risks and benefits of different activities, whilst maintaining high standards of consumer protection.
7) The CEO highlighted the FCA’s work on mortgage lending in particular, noting that following the FCA’s initial supervisory statement, lenders moved quickly to increase the amount they can lend by around 10%. The FCA is now looking for feedback on proposals to simplify the advice journey, update the stress test, and go further to consider the role of later life lending. It will carefully consider the feedback it receives and how decisions on mortgage lending support policies around pensions and social care. The FCA will report back shortly after the consultation closes in September.
8) The CEO set out the FCA’s next steps on developing and launching the Scale-Up Unit which was announced in the Leeds Reforms. He noted that the FCA also offer a range of complementary services to support early-stage FinTechs, but that these are not always well understood. This is why the FCA is working with the City of London Corporation, the British Business Bank, the Prudential Regulation Authority and trade bodies to understand the needs of scaling firms, signpost existing resources, and cover any gaps.
9) The EST and CEO discussed the FCA’s progress against the government’s target to reduce administrative costs for businesses by 25% by the end of the Parliament. The CEO noted that the FCA has already made significant progress to reduce regulatory burden through the removal of some data requirements for around 16,000 firms, removing outdated supervisory letters and reducing the size of the Handbook. The FCA will make further progress in conjunction with reforms led by the Treasury, including by reducing the burden on firms in relation to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, and reforms to the Consumer Credit Act. The CEO pointed out that the FCA will always need to make legitimate data requests, particularly where they are needed to maintain market integrity.
10) Finally, the EST and CEO discussed the FCA’s authorisation service and metrics, particularly in light of the government’s announcement that it would reduce the statutory deadlines for authorisation decisions and other key approvals, and the FCA’s commitment to new stretching targets. The CEO confirmed that the FCA is ready to deliver against these targets, and will also balance this against the need for flexibility in some cases where either the FCA needs more time to assess the application or the firm making the application needs more time to complete the application.
