Firm satisfaction rises to 79 percent in annual regulatory survey
Regulated financial firms reported higher satisfaction and trust in the Financial Conduct Authority, according to the latest annual practitioner survey. Overall relationship satisfaction rose five percentage points to 79 percent alongside broader confidence gains.
Broad confidence gains across remits
The joint annual survey from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Practitioner Panel showed 79 percent of firms are satisfied with their relationship with the regulator, up from 74 percent in the previous period.
The share of respondents viewing the FCA as highly effective rose from 69 percent to 76 percent, while 75 percent reported high levels of trust.
Confidence reached 87 percent for consumer protection work and 85 percent for market integrity and market functionality.
Understanding of the Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Objective increased by 27 percentage points, while 88 percent of firms confirmed they understand expectations surrounding the Consumer Duty.
Data streamlining and growth goals
To address compliance friction, the FCA is removing outdated or duplicated data returns for 90 percent of firms, generating an estimated £16 million in annual savings.
Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi noted that the regulator must continue to simplify requests: “While we can't do our job without the data firms provide, we should continue to simplify requests and make them easier to manage.”
The watchdog delivered £5.6 billion in estimated economic benefits across the strategy's first year while progressing new frameworks for cryptoassets and private markets.
Approval up, compliance friction remains
Rising sentiment offers welcome validation for the regulator after major policy overhauls.
Yet saving £16 million in reporting costs remains modest against the aggregate compliance burden facing financial firms.
Long-term credibility will depend on whether competitiveness reforms genuinely deliver tangible commercial benefits.