The Financial Conduct Authority is the UK's financial services conduct regulator, setting standards, supervising and authorising firms and enforcing rules to protect consumers and market integrity.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the United Kingdom's conduct regulator for financial services. Established in 2013, it regulates the conduct of financial firms and markets, sets standards and holds firms to account, with a statutory focus on protecting consumers, maintaining market integrity and promoting competition. Its remit spans the financial services sector, including banking, insurance, investment services and consumer credit.
The FCA's work is centred on regulatory supervision and authorisation: it authorises firms, monitors their conduct against published rules and takes enforcement action where standards are not met. Alongside this supervisory function, the authority publishes rules, guidance and regulatory priorities, and issues warnings to help consumers understand their rights, how to complain and how to recognise scams.
Two public resources maintained by the FCA are the Financial Services Register, which allows consumers and others to check whether a financial firm is authorised, and the FCA Firm Checker, a tool for verifying the authorisation status of firms. The FCA operates nationally across the United Kingdom.
