Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Financial Conduct Authority is an independent UK financial regulatory body financed by fees from the financial services industry. It regulates the conduct of around 58,000 businesses, maintains the integrity of UK financial markets, and oversees industries employing 2.2 million people contributing roughly £65.6 billion in annual tax revenue.
The FCA was created by the Financial Services Act 2012 and came into force on the 1st of April 2013. The Act abolished the preceding Financial Services Authority and established the FCA alongside the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Nikhil Rathi has been chief executive since the 1st of October 2020. In April 2025 he was reappointed for a second five-year term, running until 2030.
The FCA can ban financial products for up to a year, order firms to retract misleading promotions, and freeze assets of individuals or organisations under investigation regardless of guilt. It has regulated the consumer credit industry since the 1st of April 2014, taking over from the Office of Fair Trading.
In April 2023, the FCA ordered wealth management firm WealthTek to cease operations after finding a potential shortfall of £81.4 million in client assets. In December 2024, the FCA charged WealthTek's principal partner John Dance with fraud, money laundering, and false representations, alleging he misappropriated approximately £64 million of client funds between January 2020 and April 2023.
A 2024 report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services, based on evidence from fraud victims, whistleblowers, and former FCA staff, labelled the FCA "incompetent at best, dishonest at worst" and described a "profoundly defective" culture. A follow-up 2025 report accused the FCA of dismissing the earlier criticisms as historic and making unsubstantiated claims about stakeholder satisfaction.