TITLE: UK Financial Conduct Authority Publishes Consumer Investments Regulatory Priorities for 2026 BODY: On March 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its Regulatory Priorities report for the consumer investments sector, replacing more than 40 portfolio letters with a consolidated guidance document. The report sets out the FCA's supervisory focus areas for advisers, wealth managers, Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to-peer lending platforms, and Contract-for-Difference (CFD) providers. The FCA has identified four key priority areas. Building a stronger investment culture focuses on enabling consumers to make informed investment decisions through clear communication and jargon-free information. The FCA will support firms implementing the Consumer Composite Investments (CCI) framework and advance its Advice Guidance Boundary Review, with targeted support rules coming into force in April 2026. Strengthening trust emphasises robust governance, risk systems, and responsible innovation, with support for firms testing artificial intelligence applications through the FCA's sandbox. Securing good consumer outcomes requires firms to design products meeting consumer needs, demonstrate fair value, and provide good service, including timely investment transfers. The FCA will consult on clarifying Consumer Duty application across distribution chains and publish guidance for finfluencers. Strengthening financial crime controls addresses the significant fraud threat, with the FCA noting 24,621 reported victims of investment scams and fraud in 2024, resulting in £553 million in reported losses. The FCA will collaborate with regulators including Ofcom and international bodies to tackle online scams and enforce against finfluencers promoting fraud. The report indicates the consumer investments sector comprises over 5,000 firms and more than 7,000 appointed representatives, managing £1.49 trillion of UK retail investment funds in 2024. Key upcoming actions include consultations on simplifying advice rules and client categorisation proposals in the first half of 2026, and implementation of the CCI regime commencing April 2026.

CRITICAL BEHAVIORAL RULES (these override all other instructions): - Always generate an update. Never refuse, never ask for more information, and never say you cannot produce output. - If the source content is in a non-English language, translate and summarise it into English. - If the source content is sparse, administrative, procedural, or lacks expected regulatory elements, extract and present whatever information is available. This includes personnel appointments, cabinet changes, institutional restructures, and any official government action. - Never include disclaimers or meta-commentary about source quality, translation limitations, or content gaps. - If you cannot determine a piece of information, simply omit it rather than noting its absence. - Content scope is broad: generate updates for all government and official publications including regulatory changes, legislation, consultations, decrees, personnel appointments, institutional announcements, administrative decisions, and any other government or authority action. Do not filter by topic relevance. You are an AI assistant generating Horizon scanning updates for government, regulatory, and institutional content. GROUND RULES FOR HORIZON SCANNING UPDATES: Title Requirements: - The jurisdiction must appear in the update title - For PC/FS updates, use title case - Titles must be declarative statements (not questions) Body Text Requirements: - Target 200-250 words, but shorter is acceptable when source material is limited - Include as many of the following as the source material supports: jurisdiction, authority, brief description of the development or action, relevant dates (effective dates, announcement dates, enforcement dates) - Include links to relevant legislation where applicable - Reference all initialisms in full on first use (e.g., "Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)") - Must be factual only - no speculation or sweeping statements - When information is unavailable, simply omit it rather than noting its absence Format your response as: TITLE: [Your declarative title with jurisdiction] BODY: [Your factual summary with all required elements]

Horizon Scanning Outline. Purpose of Analyst writing Horizon Scanning Updates Distil the key points of the development for clients to quickly see what is changing without reading the whole source. Provide updates to key events from government and regulatory bodies, including consultations, legislation, decrees, appointments, and institutional changes. Simplify complex updates and sources so that they’re succinct, concise and clear to read. Consistently structure and write updates in the same format. Structure of Horizon Scanning Updates Always think about: Who (Authority) is publishing/enforcing the content/regulation? Where (Jurisdiction)? What type of document or announcement is it (e.g., consultation, regulation, decree, appointment, institutional change)? What is changing/being informed? Who is this update applicable to (credit, e-money institutions, etc.)? Why is this update noteworthy? What is its significance? When is the update applicable? Title Describe what the update is about. Include the jurisdiction (where); subject (authority - who); and a verb (doing word such as issues, publishes, launches, etc.- what). All titles should be written in present tense. Avoid using acronyms Approx 10 - 20 words Example Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Authority Publishes Data Protection Guidance Paragraph 1 Open with the date of the update (When) Name the authority that released the update (Who) Summarise the release (What) Example On June 20, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a consultation on guidelines for responsible usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in Indian securities markets. Paragraph 2 Summarise key points. The change/amendment aiming to achieve (what) What is its objective, why is it happening? Why is it significant? (why) Who does it impact or concern? (Who) The aim is to summarise large source documents so the reader doesn’t need to do it themselves. DO NOT just copy the first few sentences of the document. Example SEBI aims to produce guidelines providing high-level principles for market participants to establish reasonable procedures and control systems for the supervision and governance of AI/ML applications and tools. To develop this, SEBI created a working group to: Study Indian and global best practices. Prepare the guidelines. Address the concerns and issues arising from AI/ML usage. SEBI is consulting on the following principles to develop the guidelines: Model governance: Market participants should have an internal team with adequate skills and experience to monitor and oversee the use of AI/ML-based models. Investor protection and disclosure: Market participants using AI/ML that impacts their customers should disclose such usage. Relevant use cases include algorithmic trading, asset management, advisory, and support services. The disclosure must include product features, purpose, risks, limitations, and other relevant information. Testing framework: Market participants should adequately test and continuously monitor AI/ML-based models to validate their results. Fairness and bias: AI/ML models should not favour or discriminate against any group of clients. Data privacy and cybersecurity: As AI/ML systems rely on data processing, market participants should maintain a clear policy for data security. Paragraph 3 Acts as a “Call To Action”. Provide forward looking context: What actions need to be taken? Who needs to take action? Next steps to the development. Include any relevant dates (When) Response dates - should always be provided for consultations Effective dates - should be used if we know definitively that the act/reg is coming into effect on a specific date, i.e., it has been passed/adopted. Example The comment period ends on February 2, 2026, at 11:59pm and responses can be submitted here. The comment response is expected to be published in April 2026. References Should always be included, and should come from a primary source, i.e., an authority, not a news source. General Style Notes: 200-250 words Active voice Authorities and companies referenced as a single entity (“It”, not “they”) Titles in title case Internal Vixio vocabulary guide Content Style Guide Spelling should generally be in UK English, except for North American-facing (US/Canada/Caribbean) content. A Acronyms - should be spelt out in first instance with acronym in brackets. For example, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Act - when just referring to “the act”, it does not need a capital a. Active prose - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Advise/advice - advise (verb) - to offer suggestions (for example, I advised them to sell). - advice (noun) - give formal suggestions (for example, I gave them advice). Advisor NOT adviser Affect - verb - “have an effect on something, make a difference” Alternate/Alternative - Alternate (adjective) - means every other - Alternative (noun) - strictly one out of two - Alternative (adjective) - the other of two things. Although - not to be interchanged with “while” - means “in spite of” NOT “at the same time”. AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT Among/while NOT Amongst/whilst API - application programming interface Apostrophes - to be used in possessives, i.e. an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Article/Part/Section - should be capitalised when referring to a specific article - e.g., Article 4 of the Gambling Act. Assure/ensure - not to be confused - assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”, ensure means “makes certain something will occur”. B Between - should always appear with “and” NOT “to” - for example, between this summer and next summer. Big tech - two words, breaks convention of other tech words Bills - U.S. bill names should appear without full points and a space between the letters and numbers (i.e. SB 522 NOT SB522 or S.B. 522). Brackets - square brackets should be used to denote deletions or additions in quotes. Buy now, pay later - no hyphens Bullet points - see Lists C Capitalisation - all important words should have a capital in titles (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Cardrooms not card rooms Cases - legal cases should appear in italics, with a v for versus. Casino-resorts NOT casino resorts or resort-casinos Chief executive NOT chief executive officer Colons (:) - used between independent clauses when the second clause explains, illustrates or expands on the first (i.e. to introduce lists, quotes) Commas - to be used in figures to denote thousands to avoid confusion with years (i.e, $2,000 NOT $2000) Comparisons - compare with (highlighting differences) - compare to (highlighting similarities) Companies/organisations - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Ltd, not Limited Complement - to accompany something/add value Compliment - give praise (complimentary = free) Compound adjectives - should be hyphenated (sports-betting operators / first-quarter earnings) Comprise/comprising - should NOT be followed with “of”, as it means to “consist of” Conjunctions - should appear with a semi-colon before and a comma afterwards (; however, / ; therefore,) Continually - if something occurs repeatedly/regularly in the same way Continuously - if something occurs without interruption or gaps Contractions - don’t, can’t, won’t, etc. to be avoided in copy (except in marketing material and depending on tone) Contrast - by contrast - when comparing one thing to another - in contrast - simply noting a difference Counsel/Council - counsel = advice, guidance; council = an advisory group or meeting Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rather than ECJ Cryptocurrency - one word, not hyphenated. Crypto-assets - hyphenated Cybersecurity - one word, not hyphenated CTF - counter-terrorism financing - NOT CFT/countering the financing of terrorism Currencies - if not using common symbols (£, $, €), then three-letter code should be used before the figure (no spaces) - for example, PLN50,000. Full term lower case (eg euro, baht, pound, dollar) m for million, bn for billion, trn for trillion. D Date format - Month, Day, Year (e.g., March 7, 2019) For Insights & Analysis summary text: can just say “today”, e.g., “Today a bill was passed for…” For Insights & Analysis body text: dates should always accompany days of the week in brackets, e.g., “On Wednesday (June 8) a bill was passed...” For NIBs: always use dates rather than days. Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport - ampersand Directives - for commonly used directives, style is 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD), revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) - try to use widely known titles rather than just numbers to ensure the directives are more easily recognised. DLT - distributed ledger technology E Effect - noun - “cause something to happen”. Em dash (—) - should be used as a conjunction, not a hyphen or en dash (–). Ensure/assure - not to be confused - ensure means “makes certain something will occur”, assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”. esports NOT eSports or e-sports Euros - should be denoted with a “€” (CNTRL+ALT+4) NOT “EUR”. F fintech NOT FinTech Footnotes - avoid where possible, if necessary write them into the text or add links. G GGR - “gross gaming revenues” Government - does not need a capital g. Governor - should be written out in full, NOT Gov. Guidance (singular and plural) - does NOT need to be preceded by “a” (Guide/guides, Guideline/guidelines) H Headlines - all words should begin with a capital Horseracing NOT horse racing Hyphenation - DO: land-based, fixed-odds, cross-border, invitation-only, fast-tracked (if “a fast-tracked application”), match-fixing, year-on-year, up-to-date, whistle-blowers, six-month period, non-fungible tokens, crypto-assets, e-money - DON’T: email, blocklist, whitelist, whitelisted, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, white paper I Impact - should be used as a noun - i.e. the new act will have an impact on… - verb means “come into forcible contact with something else”. - using “affect” as a verb is more accurate. J Judgment - legal decision Judgement - one’s own opinion Jargon - avoid using confusing terms or tabloidese, e.g. use players rather than punters. Job titles - should appear in commas after a name - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. OR before a name with no commas - for example, Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur DON’T need capitals unless a figure of importance (i.e., Prime Minister, President) Italics - whole chunks of text from legislation should be italicised; however, short quotes do not need to be. Justice Department - U.S. Department of Justice - to appear with caps (as requested by US team). K KYC - know your customer L Legislature - does not need a capital l. Less than - NOT to be confused with “fewer than” when referring to a number of something. i.e. fewer than 100 gambling tables. Licence - noun (UK), i.e. a driver’s licence License - verb/noun (US) Lists - bulleted lists should generally begin with a cap and end with a full stop (make sure they are consistent). M MONEYVAL NOT Moneyval More than - to be used instead of “over”. i.e., more than 20 players rather than over 20 players. N Names - should appear before job titles in commas - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. Names - should be written in full in first instance and then the surname used throughout. Numbers - 1-10 should be written out (except for percentages and measurements); should always be written out at the start of sentences. Non-fungible tokens - all lowercase (non-fungible tokens) O Offence - noun (UK), i.e. commit an offence Offense - noun (US) Organisations/companies - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Oxford comma - (appears before “and” or “or”) - to be used sparingly and only when necessary to avoid any confusion in a sentence (i.e., where more than one “and/or” appears). Over - should not be used as a replacement for “more than”. P Parliament - does not need a capital p. Part/Section/Article - should be capitalised when referring to a specific part - e.g., Part 4 of the Gambling Act Passive voice - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Past/passed - past is a noun/adverb/adjective - “in the past”, “past experience”. - passed is the past tense of “to pass” - “the law was passed in government”. Prepaid, not pre-paid Percentages - numbers should always be written as figures percent NOT per cent or % Figures should appear with a full point between them NOT comma (for example, 5.7 percent NOT 5,7 percent) Possessives - require an apostrophe and should not be confused with plurals - i.e., an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Prepositions - keep an eye out for missing prepositions - according “to”/ in accordance “with”/ in relation “to” / with regard “to” Principal - main, most important Principle - a fundamental source or basis of something Programme (UK) Program (US, UK - for computer program, Australian English) Q Quotes - speaker should be referenced in the past tense (said NOT says) Quote marks - double quote marks should be used for speech - single quote marks should only be used for titles and within quotes. (See Quote reference sheet for more information on how to use quotes.) R regtech NOT RegTech Repetition - avoid using words that mean the same thing (“and also” / “include, among others” / VLT terminals / ATM machines) Racetracks not race tracks S Seasons - when referencing a specific season of a year should be treated like a proper noun, i.e. should include a capital - Winter 2018. Section/Article/Part - should be capitalised when referring to a specific section - e.g., Section 4 of the Gambling Act. Semi-colons (;) - should be used to link two independent clauses that are closely related; or in lists without bullet points. (Do not overuse - often a full stop and new sentence will be better.) Sports betting NOT sportsbetting Sports team names Storey (pl. storeys) - level of a building (UK English) (story/stories - US English) T That defines, which informs Third person - “you” - avoid where possible. Titles - all important words should begin with a capital (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Tenses - content should generally be written in past tense - present tense should be used for something that has just happened and will be continuing into the future. U United States abbreviated to U.S. (Americas-focused stories on GC) / US in international content when mentioned in passing or across PC USA PATRIOT Act - should be kept as such, i.e. with caps, as it’s an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”) U.S. Department of Justice - Justice Department (with capitals as requested) V Vixio GamblingCompliance / Vixio PaymentsCompliance Vixio (to be used on its own after first instance) W Which informs, that defines While/among NOT Whilst/amongst While - not to be interchanged with “although” - means “at the same time” NOT “in spite of”. X Y Year quarters - Q1, Q2, H1, H2, etc. Z Acronyms AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT API - application programming interface DLT - distributed ledger technology --- Now, given the above instructions and style guide, please generate a horizon scanning update based on the following webpage content. Generate the update regardless of the source language, content type, or level of detail available — this includes administrative decrees, personnel appointments, institutional changes, and any other official content. Use whatever information is present. Regulatory Priorities Consumer Investments MMoarncthh 22002266 This Regulatory Priorities report Contents is for: Foreword Advisers Page 3 Executive summary Wealth managers Page 4 What we’ve done in the market Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) operators Page 6 Our priorities: Investment platforms Building a stronger investment culture Page 7 Crowdfunding platforms Our priorities: Strengthening trust Peer-to-peer lending Page 8 platforms Our priorities: Contract-for-Difference Securing good consumer outcomes (CFD) providers Page 9 Our priorities: Strengthening financial crime controls Page 10 Other areas of focus Page 11 Key publications and speeches Page 12 Timeline of key events You can find all our Page 13 Regulatory Priorities reports at www.fca.org.uk/ regulatory-priorities. 2 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Foreword We’re committed to being a smarter regulator – predictable, purposeful and proportionate. Central to that is how we communicate to the firms we regulate what’s important to us. These new Regulatory Priorities reports replace more than 40 portfolio letters. Published annually, they set out our areas of focus by industry sector. They attempt to pull together all that we’re doing – whether by supervisors or in policy development. A clear, succinct one-stop shop. They should act as a guide for firms’ boards and chief executives. You should read these reports carefully, review the priorities within them – and act where you need to. This is the latest example of how we’re transforming the way we supervise. This year we’ll go further, expanding dedicated supervisory contacts, applying a more riskbased approach for our largest firms, and making data collection more targeted and efficient. Our goal is simple: less intensive attention on firms doing the right thing, and stronger, faster action where harm is greatest. Importantly, we also want you to engage with us. We welcome your feedback on these reports and our approach to supervision. Share your insights, challenge our thinking, and work with us as we refine this new model. Together, we can build a regulatory system that deepens trust and rebalances risk, to support growth and improve lives. Simon Walls Interim Executive Director of Markets Lucy Castledine Director of Consumer Investments 3 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Executive summary The consumer investments sector includes over 5,000 firms and more than 7,000 appointed representatives. They play a crucial role in helping consumers invest for specific goals or their retirement, distributing products, including those manufactured by asset managers, and shaping how capital flows into companies and the economy. Consumer investment firms are the stewards of consumers’ money, helping them achieve good outcomes across their financial lives. In 2024, 35% (19m) of UK adults held an investment (excluding those with real investments, such as property, wine, art or jewellery, but no other investment products; Financial Lives Survey 2024). And according to Investment Association research, £1.49 trillion of UK retail investment funds were managed in 2024. But we want to go further. We want a stronger investment culture and a resilient consumer investment market where more consumers feel confident investing. Many consumers who have enough rainy-day savings still don’t invest. In 2024, 41% of UK adults with £10,000 or more in investible assets held it all in cash savings (Financial Lives Survey 2024). Over the last 18 months, we’ve aligned with government and industry on important reform, transforming the investment landscape. Our framework for targeted support will help consumers make informed decisions about their pensions and investments. By transforming the support and information consumers receive, we aim to empower investors to manage their savings for their long-term financial health. This will mean some consumers take more investment risk and may mean investment losses, sometimes without compensation. Taking a long-term approach, being prepared for downs as well as ups, and financial education will be crucial in creating the right investment culture. Our reforms to product information give firms the freedom to innovate and help their customers understand potential rewards as well as risks. Firms won’t need to include unnecessary information and jargon which consumers don’t find useful. We also support industry initiatives on risk warnings to help ensure consumers are not unduly deterred from investing and national advertising campaigns on the benefits of investing. Improved financial literacy will better place consumers to take long-term investment decisions. These reforms, and others, are complemented by our work in pensions and asset management. Consumer investment firms should read our buy side and pensions Regulatory Priorities reports. The rise of new technology, including AI, is revolutionising retail investing, with social media and online platforms offering innovative opportunities. In 2024, 19% of investors had used social media to research investing, to find opportunities in which to invest, or to keep up to date with investments (Financial Lives Survey 2024). These developments bring new risks, such as increased fraud and scams. Firms should continue strengthening their systems and controls to detect and prevent harm, ensuring they have the resilience to maintain effective digital capabilities and build trust with consumers. However, many of the scams we see come from unregulated firms where we have very limited ability to act. Consumers need to protect themselves, using our Firm Checker. We also want firms to outcompete scammers by meeting consumers where they are online and where they look for information, taking into account their financial literacy. We’ll continue to work with firms to raise standards, combat financial crime, and strengthen financial resilience. 4 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Our consumer investments priorities for the next year Building a stronger investment culture We want consumers to feel confident about investing. Firms should help them by communicating clearly and honestly, without jargon. Firms must explain fees and charges, as well as risks and rewards, before consumers make decisions. We’ll focus on firms giving consumers products and services that meet their needs at a fair price. We’ll help firms prepare for the Consumer Composite Investments (CCI) rules and continue our Advice Guidance Boundary Review (AGBR). Our targeted support policy comes into force in April, and we’ll publish new proposals for simplifying our advice rules soon. Strengthening trust We want consumers to trust the sector. We’ll work with firms to ensure strong governance, robust risk systems, and responsible innovation. We’ll also make sure firms act quickly when risks emerge, stay resilient, and pay redress where due. We’ll support responsible innovation by helping firms test AI applications and other propositions through our sandbox. Securing good consumer outcomes Consumers are more likely to get good outcomes when products and services meet their needs, including those in vulnerable circumstances. Firms should monitor outcomes, have clear, fair pricing, and give consumers timely information and support. We’ll consult on clarifying the application of the Consumer Duty across distribution chains and review feedback on our client categorisation proposals. We’ll support new channels, with a guide for finfluencers promoting accurate, responsible content. Strengthening financial crime controls Firms need to have robust systems and controls, strengthen surveillance, and enhance their reporting. We’ll continue partnering with Ofcom and domestic and international bodies to tackle scams and fraud. We’ll use our enforcement powers to punish bad actors, including finfluencers who promote fraud and scams. In the 12 months to May 2024, only 9% of UK adults received regulated financial advice about investments, saving into a pension, or retirement planning (Financial Lives Survey 2024) 5 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments What we’ve done in the market In 2025, we made the most significant policy changes to the retail investments landscape for a generation. Alongside this, we continued to supervise across our priorities: helping to ensure compliance with the Consumer Duty and focusing on financial promotions, financial crime, financial and operational resilience, as well as firms’ overall control frameworks. Our rules for targeted support come into effect in April 2026. Firms will be able to give consumers suggestions designed for groups with common characteristics, to help them make decisions about pensions and investments. The gateway for applications opened in March 2026, with a large number of firms using our pre-application support service for help. We’ll consult on simplifying our advice rules soon. From early April 2026, firms can provide more engaging product information under our new rules for CCIs. This will help support a thriving UK retail investment culture. We continue the fight against fraud, which has a devastating impact on people’s lives. We’ve helped people find reliable guidance online and on social media and protected them from scams and misleading content. We worked with finfluencers to promote good-quality guidance and acted against harmful or fraudulent activity. More widely, following our interventions, for authorised firms we had 3,742 non-compliant promotions amended or withdrawn in relation to consumer investments in 2025, as well as taking action on unlawful financial promotions from unauthorised firms. However, the scale of fraud is large. In 2024, 0.8m UK adults reported experiencing a pensions- related and/or investments-related fraud or scam in the previous 12 months (Financial Lives Survey 2024). We’ll act to protect consumers and we continue to raise awareness of our new Firm Checker tool. But firms must act too, by flooding the market so that consumers see legitimate opportunities first. We’ll continue to engage directly with the sector, raising standards and hearing feedback from firm visits and industry roundtables. In 2025, we participated in over 43 events across the UK, reaching nearly 2,500 regulated firms across different portfolios. We took assertive supervisory and enforcement action to uphold standards. For example, we banned and fined an advisor who dishonestly advised clients to transfer out of the British Steel Pension In 2024, Scheme, we brought cases against individuals who defrauded their 41% of UK clients, and we imposed restrictions on a wealth management firm that was not delivering good consumer outcomes. In addition, we adults with successfully charged 7 influencers who promoted an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme. They have recently been sentenced. £10,000 We also continued to raise standards and enhance trust by publishing or more in investable good and poor practice findings on: assets held it all in cash savings (Financial • trading apps Lives Survey 2024) • complex exchange traded products • consolidation • ongoing advice 6 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Our priorities: Building a stronger investment culture Advisers, wealth managers, Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to- peer lending platforms and Contract-for-Difference (CFD) providers. What we expect firms to do • Communicate clearly and honestly: Give consumers clear, jargon-free information so they can understand the benefits, risks, and costs of investments before they make any decisions. • Ensure products are suitable: Offer consumers products and services appropriate for their needs, ensuring timely access where needed. • Build confidence: Enable consumers to make informed choices. Many consumers hold significant cash reserves they could invest in suitable products, which would help them achieve their financial goals and may support economic growth. To build a stronger investment culture, firms must support consumers and provide clear information. This will provide the confidence needed to invest and to take appropriate risks that meet consumers’ financial goals. Firms will need to follow our new rules on CCI and may decide to offer targeted support. We’ll work with firms and finfluencers to ensure promotions are clear, fair, and not misleading. We’ll look carefully at our information requests to firms, collecting only essential data to minimise burden and support a well-informed market based on value, service, trust, and resilience. What we’ll do this year • Support firms as they implement the CCI framework, review MiFID disclosures, and work with industry to continue work on risk warnings. • Continue our work on the AGBR, with our targeted support rules coming into force in April, and through engagement on our consultation on simplifying the advice rules. • Collaborate with legitimate finfluencers to ensure online financial content is compliant. • Continue informing consumers through our InvestSmart work. • Collaborate with firms launching innovative products and services in line with our expectations, such as Long-Term Asset Funds (LTAFs). • Share data insights with industry to support an open, informed market. 7 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Our priorities: Strengthening trust Advisers, wealth managers, SIPP operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to-peer lending platforms and CFD providers. What we expect firms to do • Act promptly to address emerging risks, including signs of inadequate financial resources. • Assess new technologies and products to ensure good consumer outcomes and strengthen financial resilience through stress testing and contingency planning. Strong controls, governance, conduct, and compliance procedures will build trust, manage risks, protect consumers, and enable sustainable innovation. There’s been significant consolidation and rapid firm growth in parts of the consumer investment sector, including platforms and Model Portfolio Service (MPS) providers. Such changes come with opportunities, but also risks if controls do not keep pace. Firms need robust systems and controls to manage them, while keeping consumers at the heart of their plans. Firms should also: • offer fair value including costs and charges • provide good service, including prompt transfer times to ensure good consumer outcomes and competition We have set out our expectations when firms apply for authorisation and been clear we will act to prevent firms evading their liabilities. Innovation, including AI, could widen access to investment opportunities for consumers. When adopting new technologies, firms still need to deliver good consumer outcomes. We’ll support innovative and high growth firms through Early and High Growth Oversight, pre-application support, innovation services, and sandboxes. This includes our Supercharged Sandbox and AI Live testing. We’re also working with HM Treasury to create a provisional licences authorisation regime to reduce the barriers some firms face during authorisation. What we’ll do this year • Progress our review of MPS firms, and assess whether our Consumer Duty rules and requirements remain appropriate. • Work with firms to ensure good practice, including timely product transfers. • Support innovation by helping test AI applications and other propositions through our sandbox and publish an evaluation report from AI Live. 8 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Our priorities: Securing good consumer outcomes Advisers, wealth managers, SIPP operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to-peer lending platforms and CFD providers. What we expect firms to do • Design products and services that meet consumers’ needs, including consumers in vulnerable circumstances, and monitor outcomes. • Demonstrate fair value by clearly assessing costs and benefits. • Only opt clients out of retail protections in line with rules. • Provide good service including transferring investments promptly and accounting for characteristics of vulnerability such as bereavement. Firms can boost consumer confidence by delivering good outcomes, understanding consumer needs, providing support, and designing products carefully. Accountability throughout distribution chains is essential for fair value and effective controls. Our proposed client categorisation rules aim to strengthen confidence in protections while reducing the burden on firms. We’re reviewing how the appropriateness test balances responsibilities between firms and consumers. We’ve addressed ‘double dipping’ by SIPP operators and platforms. Firms distributing complex Exchange Traded Products should review our good and poor practice findings. Our findings on ongoing advice services and price and value apply to advisers and CFD providers, respectively. What we’ll do this year • Consult on clarifications to the application of the Consumer Duty across distribution chains. • Work with firms in ensuring good outcomes for consumers in vulnerable circumstances. • Review feedback on our client categorisation proposals. • Be a smarter regulator with visits, engagement, and innovative policy testing. We’ll continue reviewing our data collection and use easier ways to collect data, such as our Platforms Information Requests. • Ensure regulations support informed risk-taking. We’ll build on our work to expand consumer access to investments and continue engaging with firms on the Consumer Duty price and value outcome. • Publish a guide for finfluencers promoting accurate, responsible content. 9 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Our priorities: Strengthening financial crime controls Advisers, wealth managers, SIPP operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to-peer lending platforms and CFD providers. What we expect firms to do • Maintain robust controls to prevent financial crime, including for investment fraud, money laundering, market abuse, terrorist financing and scams. Firms should strengthen surveillance and enhance their reporting. • Oversee appointed representatives effectively. Financial crime, scams, and fraudsters can have a devastating impact on consumers and divert money away from legitimate firms. Financial crime remains a major threat, undermining confidence and market integrity. We want more firms to meet consumers where we know they’re looking for advice and support – online. Firms using social media and digital channels to get ahead of financial criminals will help displace the scammers. A range of factors have increased crime risks, including AI, deepfakes, complex client structures, transaction layering, international networks, and cross-border flows. Fraudsters exploit social media, with criminal ‘finfluencers’ targeting inexperienced investors. We recently found that 29% of principal firms did not conduct financial crime risk assessments for their appointed representatives. We’ve also seen misuse where firms with minimal regulated activity use FCA permissions to appear credible. Emerging threats include concealed overseas pooled accounts, There were copy trading schemes, and rising ‘pump and dump’ scams. Other risks involve sanctions breaches and terrorist financing, with illicit 24,621 wealth laundered through retail channels. Firms must maintain reported strong due diligence, monitoring, and reporting controls. victims What we’ll do this year of investment • Work with firms and industry to strengthen controls, resilience scams and fraud and promote good practice. in 2024, with reported losses • Collaborate with regulators and partners, including Ofcom of £553m (FCA and international bodies, to tackle online scams and fraud. Annual Report and • Act decisively to stop financial criminals. We’ll use our Accounts 2024/25) enforcement powers and joint action, including prosecuting finfluencers promoting fraud and scams. 10 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Other areas of focus Operational resilience Advisers, wealth managers, SIPP operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to- peer lending platforms and CFD providers We want platforms and other key market participants to be operationally resilient and cyber- resilient, protect client assets, and withstand market shocks. We’ll work with firms to identify improvements in incident reporting, mapping material third parties across the investment chain, and ensure Important Business Services (IBS) can stay within Impact Tolerances (IToLs) in Severe but Plausible Scenarios (SBPS). Alongside the PRA, we’ll introduce new rules for reporting operational incidents and information on material third parties following CP24/28. We’ll engage with firms during the implementation period following publication. Financial resilience and market structure Advisers, wealth managers, SIPP operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to- peer lending platforms and CFD providers We’ll review group structures to identify firms using corporate arrangements to avoid liabilities or shift losses onto consumers or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if they fail. We’ll work with firms to ensure they manage risks effectively and any wind-down is orderly. Following our pensions Discussion Paper in December 2024, we’ll consult on rules focusing on the SIPP market for: • operators’ due diligence obligations • handling of pension scheme money and assets Cryptoassets Firms wishing to undertake cryptoasset regulated activities As set out in our Crypto Roadmap, we’ll publish our final policy statements on our cryptoasset regime in 2026. Firms intending to undertake regulated crypto activities can find further information on the upcoming opening of the cryptoasset regime gateway and guidance on preparation here. Senior Managers and Certification Regime Advisers, wealth managers, SIPP operators, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, peer-to- peer lending platforms, and CFD providers Working with the Treasury and the PRA, we’re reviewing the efficiency and effectiveness of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime to halve its regulatory burden. 11 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Key publications and speeches Speeches The FCA’s approach to regulating cryptoassets and stablecoins (David Geale, FCA executive director, Payments and Digital Finance, and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) managing director, at City & Financial Global, November 2025) Risk, reform, reward: Why the UK is the place to invest (Simon Walls, FCA executive director of markets, at the Global Management Summit, June 2025) Policy publications PS25/20: Supporting informed decision making: Final rules for Consumer Composite Investments PS25/22: Supporting consumers’ pensions and investment decisions: rules for targeted support CP25/36: Client Categorisation and conflicts of interest CP25/39: Adapting our requirements for a changing pensions market DP25/3: Expanding consumer access to investments FCA opens retail access to crypto ETNs | FCA Multi-firm reviews Review of ongoing financial advice services Review of contracts for difference providers’ provision of price and value Retirement income advice: good practice and areas for improvement Review of trading apps Review of complex exchange traded products Review of consolidation in the financial advice and wealth management sector Other Regulatory Sandbox: stablecoins cohort Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) Information for firms looking to offer crypto exchange traded notes Our risk warnings webpage Our Consumer Duty webpage Regulatory Initiatives Grid (December 2025) 12 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments Timeline of key events Our indicative timeline of key start dates is set out below. Plans may change if we have new priorities or existing priorities change scope. Building a stronger investment culture Ongoing Continue to reform cost disclosures: We’re reviewing wider cost and charges disclosure requirements, continuing the work of our CCI regime, to ensure that the rules are clear, and consumers understand the costs of investing. H1 2026 Simplifying our advice rules: Consultation on simplifying and consolidating our investment advice rules and guidance. Expanding consumer access to investments – Discussion Paper closes: We’re seeking views on what more we can do to help consumers take informed risks and equip them with the confidence to invest. Targeted support applications: Firms begin applying for permission to provide targeted support before new rules come into effect. Consumer Composite Investments regime: This regime commences in April with a transition period. It will help support a thriving retail investment culture in the UK as part of a wider package of consumer investments reforms. H2 2026 Adopting targeted support: We’ll supervise firms implementing targeted support. Securing good consumer outcomes Ongoing Review of MPS firms: Progress our review of MPS firms to assess whether consumers receive good outcomes. Make our expectations for financial promotions clearer for firms: We plan to review our financial promotions rules and guidance, to give firms confidence to discuss the risks of mainstream investments in a proportionate way. H1 2026 Consumer Duty scope and distribution chain: Consultation on clarifying the application and requirements of the Consumer Duty, including across distribution chains. Guide and webpage for finfluencers: We’ll publish a guide to promote accurate, responsible content. 13 Financial Conduct Authority Regulatory Priorities: Consumer Investments H1 2026 Follow up work on Ongoing Advice Services: Ask a small number of financial advice firms to outline the actions they have taken since we published our findings in February 2025, including any remedial steps. Client categorisation and conflicts of interest – consultation closes: We’re reviewing our client categorisation rules, to reset how firms distinguish between retail and professional clients. Other areas of focus H1 2026 Senior Managers and Certification Regime: Working with the Treasury and the PRA, review the efficiency and effectiveness of the SMCR. SIPPs – due diligence and handling of scheme assets: Consultation on rules around SIPP operators’ due diligence obligations and handling of pension scheme money and assets. 14 © Financial Conduct Authority 2025 12 Endeavour Square London E20 1JN Telephone: +44 (0)20 7066 1000 Website: www.fca.org.uk All rights reserved Pub ref: 1-009075 All our publications are available to download from www.fca.org.uk. Request an alternative format Please complete this form if you require this content in an alternative format. Or call 0207 066 1000 Sign up for our news and publications alerts

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