Financial Services Regulation Committee to hear evidence on protecting retail investors and combatting fraud

At 10.05am, the committee will hear from:

• Chris Cummings, Chief Executive Officer of The Investment Association
• Sir Douglas Flint CBE, Chair of Abrdn.

At 11.05am, the committee will hear from:

• Soups Ranjan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sardine
• Simon Taylor, Head of Strategy and Content at Sardine.

These sessions, which are open to the public, will be held in Committee Room 4 of the House of Lords and streamed live and on demand on Parliament TV.

Questions the committee is likely to ask in these sessions include:

• Are there approaches to regulation or supervision that international regulators take, which the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) could learn from to improve regulation in the UK?
• Does the Private Intermittent Securities and Exchanges System (PISCES) address concerns in regard to the full range of inhibitors for private companies accessing the finance they need to grow?
• On the issue of the Consumer Duty, do witnesses agree that the current guidance provided to firms by the FCA is insufficient and unclear?
• Which types of firms are hardest hit by Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud and what technology can be used to prevent it?
• Are there successful approaches to fraud prevention and enforcement that other jurisdictions adopt, which the FCA could adapt to the UK?
• As fraud is a global problem, could we measure the effectiveness with which the FCA or Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) are combatting fraud?

This is the ninth evidence session of the committee’s inquiry into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) secondary growth and competitiveness objective. This objective was introduced following the passage of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.

More about the new Financial Services Regulation Committee

The Financial Services Regulation Committee was created in early 2024 following the passing of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 which repealed retained EU law for financial services and established a new framework for the regulation of financial services in the United Kingdom.

The committee is chaired by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean. Its members are: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted; Baroness Donaghy; Lord Eatwell; Lord Grabiner; Lord Hill of Oareford; Lord Hollick; Lord Kestenbaum; Lord Lilley; Baroness Noakes; Lord Sharkey; Lord Smith of Kelvin; and Lord Vaux of Harrowden.

The committee’s work can be followed on its website.