The UK financial watchdog has confirmed that it aims to tweak its rules to focus on supporting economic growth from now on, as part of its new five-year strategy.
In a statement announcing the new plan for 2025 to 2030, following a briefing that chair Ashley Alder gave to the FT the day before, the Financial Conduct Authority said its four priorities will be to be a "smarter regulator, support growth, help consumers and fight crime".
In slightly more detail it said smarter meant being more "predictable, purposeful and proportionate" by improving its processes and using technology to become more efficient and effective, including using artificial intelligence (AI).
Supporting economic growth has been mandated by the Labour government. In its statement, the FCA said this means "enabling investment, innovation and ensuring the continued competitiveness of the UK’s world-leading financial services".
The strategy document said this will include "changes to disclosure requirements, including the prospectus regime, and widening retail access to investment opportunities will make it easier for businesses to seek capital, increase liquidity and provide investors with the prospect of higher returns".
Chair Ashley Alder said the FCA wants 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".
He told the FT that rule changes being considered would, amongst other things, encourage savers to invest in shares, helped by clearer information from financial firms to enable them to compare products, with the "rebalancing of risk" being a key part of the strategy.
Alder described this as helping consumers with "the risk of not deciding to, for example, participate in or access financial products or services that can lead to greater long-term returns".
The FCA said its strategy will change how it supervises to be more efficient, including taking a "less intensive approach for those firms seeking to do the right thing" and reviewing how much data firms have to send it.
The last three-year strategy from the regulator included changes to the listing regime to make it easier for companies to raise money and introduce the Consumer Duty.
Giving his view on the changes, Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell, noted that the new strategy reflects the "increasing pressure from the government to get the balance right between protecting consumers and encouraging economic growth".
"The post-financial crisis undoubtedly, and understandably, saw a shift towards risk aversion from the regulator and this has been reflected in the regulatory approach," Selby said.
"With delivering growth and reinvigorating capital markets now front-and-centre of Rachel Reeves’ economic strategy, the chancellor will be hoping deregulation can help free up businesses to innovate for the benefit of customers without undermining that core consumer protection remit."
Jonathan Herbst, head of financial services at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, feels the message "is a steady as she goes reiteration of a proportionate and predictable approach", with the messaging around the new strategy being that changes "will be measured and not knee jerk".
Herbst added: "This is surely welcome and is an antidote to the narrative that there is some magic wand solution towards deregulation. Steady as she goes may not sound exciting but it may be the right message for the regulators to send in a period of instability."