"You may be surprised in the coming weeks at the pace we will move on the 50 or so growth proposals we made to the Prime Minister. "
- Nikhil Rathi
The FCA is moving forward with its 'growth proposals', including changes to mortgage affordability, but has noted concerns around the pace of regulatory change.
Last month, the government and FCA confirmed that they are considering relaxing mortgage affordability rules to boost first-time buyer lending, including reforms to loan-to-income caps and financial stress-testing rules that limit how much first-time buyers can borrow.
Today, the FCA's chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, says the regulator is "willing to be bold", adding that "you may be surprised in the coming weeks at the pace we will move on the 50 or so growth proposals we made to the Prime Minister", including mortgage affordability, opening up to more innovative firms and cutting barriers between regulators.
However, Rathi acknowledged concerns around the pace of regulatory change, stating that the FCA is "aiming for fewer large-scale changes in our next five-year strategy", with more information expected to be released next month.
During his speech at the Association of British Insurers roundtable, he commented: "That said, I think the diversity of responses to the CfI – some think we are going too fast, some not fast enough – shows there is a debate to be had around the speed of change. And perhaps also where there is not agreement on the pace of change, whether we should still move quickly but with long transition periods. We are certainly willing to be creative and open to ideas on how we could be flexible."
Rathi also confirmed regulatory changes that the FCA has already introduced following its proposals to government last month.
From this morning, firms will be able to choose whether to have a Consumer Duty board champion.
The FCA also noted concerns about the volume and complexity of firm-facing publications and is launching a new single sign in portal ‘My FCA’ next month, as well as improving the accessibility and efficiency of its Handbook with a machine-readable version. Rathi added that the FCA is looking to more quickly identify redundant data returns, consulting next month on the first batch that can be ‘turned off’.
During the speech, Rathi said that although the regulator "cannot rule out other major redress events in the event that systemic breaches of the law emerge... we are not currently anticipating any further such mass redress events".
There had been concerns around another major redress issue related to ongoing advice, but Rathi said the "findings set out this week did not identify a systemic redress situation".
Concluding, Rathi said: "We are focused on maintaining strong consumer protections, on cutting unnecessary regulatory burdens, on supporting the growth mission. And we are moving at increasing pace."
