Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority's procedures for ensuring that all trading names associated with a single registration are properly authorised.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an operationally independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, the FCA is responsible for developing and implementing rules, including relating to trading names. Further information on the FCA’s approach is available on its website.

Through the Financial Services Act 2021, the government granted the FCA new powers to remove permissions from firms when they are not carrying out the regulated activities they are permitted to. The FCA has since undertaken a ‘use it or lose it’ exercise, removing firms’ permissions where they are not carrying out regulated activities.

This has seen the FCA carry out 1,090 assessments in 2021/22 and resulted in 264 firms applying to voluntarily cancel, and a further 47 to modify, their permission to carry out regulated activities.

Ministers regularly engage with the FCA on a range of issues while recognising that the independence of the FCA is critical to its functions.