The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) 's 2021-22 Business Plan was published on 15 July 2021 and it sends an important message for firms and the market of the FCA going forward approach to enforcement actions.

It is clear that the FCA intends to be more aggressive and take an increasingly assertive approach in its enforcement activity in the coming year and innovate to tackle challenges yet to come in the future.

2020 and 2021 have been eventful years, dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and political and regulatory changes across the globe. In their Cost of Compliance 2021 survey Thomson Reuters researchers asked over 720 global financial services professionals their thoughts on the state of compliance in today’s world. The results highlight the challenges and changes that compliance practitioners in the financial services industry expect to face in the year ahead.

What happens when a software upgrade involves not just a few changes to your existing compliance solution but a move to an entirely new platform? If your compliance vendor is forcing a transition to a brand new system you can expect time and money lost in revamping internal processes and getting up to speed on the technology, along with the increased risk that implementing an untested platform will bring.

Don’t feel pressured to commit to the conversion without significant thought and assessment.  With large scale disruption already on the horizon, it’s an opportune time to take a look at other options in the market to see if there’s another solution that better meets your needs.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released its Annual Agenda for 2021. The Agenda provides a list of Rules in the Prerule, Proposed, and Final stages and offers a snapshot of the SEC’s long and short term regulatory priorities.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the conduct regulator for nearly 60,000 financial services firms and financial markets in the UK, and it's part of the FCA's work to implement, supervise and enforce international standards and regulations in the UK. The UK regulator has criminal, civil and regulatory enforcement powers.

In this article, we explain the FCA's 11 Principles for Business (PRIN), their purpose, how they are used to regulate the market in the UK, and the consequences of breaching the Principles.