Commissioner flags 'inconsistent' FCA restrictions process

FCA must set out a clear VREQ policy

The Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner has urged the Financial Conduct Authority to set out a clear policy in relation to voluntary requirements (VREQs) after identifying inconsistencies in its process.

In a July decision, published on Thursday (15 August), FRCC commissioner Rachel Kent highlighted a "clearly unsatisfactory" lack of consistency, transparency and due process in the FCA's handling of VREQs shared on the financial services register. The current absence of consistent policies means that "some firms may be told: that a VREQ will be published unless they object to it; the circumstances in which it will be published; that they can request for it to be removed from the register once it is satisfied or complied with; and some may not be told some or any of these things," Kent no...