FCA 2025–2030 Strategy: Accelerating UK Financial Services Growth & Market Entry
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled a new five-year strategy that promises a more welcoming, tech-focused regulatory environment for financial services.
In a departure from previous cycles, the 2025–2030 plan spotlights international competitiveness and growth alongside consumer protection. For financial services firms, this framework may open up fresh prospects for rapid authorisation, product innovation, and supportive oversight.
It also spells a busy period for consultancies, RegTech vendors, and legal advisers, who will be instrumental in guiding market entrants through stricter but more efficient regulation.
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A Streamlined Road to Authorisation
A cornerstone of the FCA’s strategy is the drive to digitise and simplify oversight.
The regulator processes around 100,000 cases annually, and it now aims to cut administrative friction via “My FCA,” a single-entry digital portal for firm interactions.[2][3] Speeding up approvals could prove decisive for new entrants eager to establish a UK presence in record time. Notably:
Proportionate Supervision: Firms “doing the right thing” can expect less frequent and less intensive intervention, freeing resources for innovation.[3]
Faster Enforcement: The FCA pledges to maintain the same volume of enforcement outcomes while resolving cases more quickly—an approach aided by tech-driven case management.[3]
Pre-Application Support Service (PASS): Introduced to guide overseas wholesale market firms through the authorisation pipeline, PASS underscores the FCA’s broader international outlook.[6]
By digitising processes, the FCA believes it can deliver speed without diluting standards, a stance that will resonate particularly with fintechs and foreign institutions looking to stake their claim in Britain’s financial ecosystem.
Consultancies and Tech Providers in the Spotlight
The shift to a “tech-positive” framework and rationalised data collection is expected to create opportunities for a range of specialist service providers.
Compliance and Advisory Services: With the FCA progressively embedding its Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Objective (SICGO), consultancies will be tapped to help firms interpret evolving requirements, implement Consumer Duty obligations, and align with the regulator’s new standards.
RegTech Solutions: Tools capable of automating anti-money laundering (AML) checks, financial crime detection, and real-time reporting stand to flourish under more tech-friendly supervision. Cryptoasset businesses and money service operators, in particular, will look to bolster their defences as the FCA tightens its scrutiny.
Legal and Professional Services: The revised Appointed Representatives (AR) regime, requiring annual reviews and heightened accountability for principal firms, is poised to spur demand for counsel on governance, risk management, and regulatory submissions.
For these service sectors, the FCA’s embrace of digital transformation may translate into sustained business growth, paralleling the increase in new market entrants.
Managing Consumer Outcomes
Although spurring growth is high on the FCA’s agenda, the regulator has underscored the importance of robust consumer protection. Central to this objective is the Consumer Duty, which imposes:
Fair Product Governance: Firms must ensure their offerings are transparent and consistently aligned with client interests.
Tackling ‘Sludge Practices’: Retaining customers against their best interests could lead to enforcement actions, especially in digital channels where friction is easier to mask.
Proactive Consumer Support: Firms will be expected to provide timely, understandable, and meaningful assistance throughout the product lifecycle.
For consultancies and platform providers, designing solutions that meet these heightened consumer standards will be key. Those that excel in embedding fair treatment and clear communications into firm operations could find themselves at a competitive advantage.
Financial Crime: A Red Line
A heightened commitment to financial crime prevention cuts across the new strategy, with an emphasis on:
Cross-Agency Collaboration: Enforcement efforts, particularly involving sanctions evasion and online fraud, will be stepped up in tandem with other authorities.[9]
Targeted AML Focus: High-risk sectors such as money service businesses and cryptoassets come under closer scrutiny, potentially raising the bar for compliance programmes.[9]
Synthetic Data and Tech: Experimental tools, such as synthetic datasets for training detection systems, signal a more agile regulatory approach aimed at identifying emerging threats quickly.[9]
Here, technology vendors specialising in risk analytics and transaction monitoring can capitalise on a market that is increasingly aware of reputational and regulatory risks. For service providers, it presents a chance to align compliance measures with the FCA’s renewed vigilance.
Global Benchmarks and Outlook
The FCA’s strategic pivot is rooted in earlier reforms, including its 2017 Mission to serve the public interest transparently.
Since then, the regulator has fully embraced SICGO, reporting returns of £14 in economic benefits for every £1 spent on its operations over the past three years.[6] Alongside its permanent presence in the US and Asia, the FCA’s international stance underscores its commitment to positioning the UK as a financial centre that rivals Singapore, Switzerland, and other global heavyweights.
This ambition is backed by notable metrics: the UK currently attracts more foreign direct investment in financial services than any other European market, and it holds the top spot in net financial services exports.[6]
Conclusion
The FCA’s 2025–2030 strategy seeks to strike a delicate balance: driving growth and innovation through a more supportive, tech-savvy regulatory regime, while upholding consumer welfare and market integrity. The resulting landscape presents real opportunities for banks, fintechs, and cross-border financial institutions to establish or expand in the UK with fewer bureaucratic hurdles. In parallel, consultancies, RegTech vendors, and professional services firms are likely to play a pivotal role—helping entrants adapt to the evolving rulebook and navigate newly digitised oversight.
Success, however, hinges on effective implementation. As FCA Chair Ashley Alder puts it: “We want to deepen trust in financial services and shift our collective attitude across financial services to risk. Too often the focus has been on the risks of a decision taken rather than the lost opportunity of taking none. We want to change that so we can spur growth and improve lives.”[4]
If that balance is achieved, the FCA’s strategic blueprint may bolster the UK’s position as a magnet for financial services innovation, delivering benefits that resonate far beyond London’s Square Mile.
Growing your financial services firm in the UK
At Lagom, we understand that entering a new market or adapting to evolving regulations can be a daunting prospect.
That’s why we’ve assembled a dedicated team of strategic advisers, legal experts, and technological innovators ready to shepherd you through the FCA’s shifting landscape. Whether you’re a fintech eager to launch in record time or an established international player in need of ongoing compliance support, Lagom delivers clear, actionable solutions that keep you on track for growth.
Get in touch with us today to discover how we can help you capitalise on the UK’s renewed emphasis on innovation, competitiveness, and customer-centricity.
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