FCA and BoE ramp-up data credentials to 'transform' UK regulation

Should reduce reporting cost burden

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England (BoE) have committed to transforming the way in which UK firms are regulated via an unprecedented drive to improve the regulators’ data and analytics capabilities.

Announcing their plans on Tuesday (7 January), the regulators said the changes would improve the standard of regulation, allowing them to "anticipate harms before they crystallise", and reduce the cost of reporting for regulated firms. It follows previous signals from the FCA that it would embrace machine learning techniques to become a "robo-regulator", with aspirations likened to "science fiction". The FCA's new data strategy is a five-year plan intended to transform the watchdog into a "highly data-driven regulator", it said, and will lead to an increased focus on the use of advanc...