News

Motorists are facing higher fuel prices ahead of Easter break due to the conflict in the Middle East, the RAC says.

The conflict in the Middle East has increased pressure on the cost of petrol, household energy bills and even food.

A key survey indicates growing doubt among shoppers over prospects for the UK economy in the next year.

The UK's competition watchdog says it is looking at five firms in its investigation into misleading online reviews.

In a letter to the Treasury Select Committee, Lloyds apologised and said some compensation had been paid.

On 3 March 2026, we said we’d bring forward our planned review of the UK Listing Rules for Investment entities, including how they apply to board independence and related party provisions.Since then, there has been substantial debate over our role in relation to investment trusts, including calls for us to ‘get to grips’ with voting rules ‘that allow a minority shareholder to repeatedly attack an investment trust’.Much of this debate suggests there are misunderstandings about how investment trusts are governed and where responsibilities sit. We’re concerned this may confuse investors in these trusts. Other calls to action have lacked clear proposals or been based on future hypothetical scenarios for which protections often exist. We want our review to ensure that these rules remain fit for novel circumstances.This blog reminds participants of their powers and responsibilities, clarifies our role, and sets out what our review will cover.

The FCA has fined Dinosaur Merchant Bank Limited (DMBL) £338,000 for failing to put in place effective systems and controls to detect and report suspicious trading in its contracts for difference (CFD) business. CFDs are sophisticated financial products that are used to speculate on various assets going up or down in value. Given their high-risk nature, firms must have strong and reliable surveillance arrangements to prevent insider dealing and market manipulation.In June 2024, DMBL introduced a new order system that led to a sharp increase in CFD trading by its clients. Between June and October 2024, trades with a corresponding asset value of approximately $3.05 billion were executed via the platform. However, these orders and trades were not captured and reviewed by the automated surveillance system which meant that potential market abuse could have gone undetected.Although DMBL identified this issue in October 2024, the firm failed to properly address the deficiencies until May 2025. The delay limited the firm’s ability to identify and report potentially suspicious trading.Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said:‘DMBL’s failures had the potential to undermine the integrity of the market. Firms must ensure they have effective surveillance arrangements in place. We will continue to take action where this is not the case.’DMBL fully cooperated with the FCA investigation and qualified for a 30% discount. Without this discount, the fine would have been £482,900. The firm stopped selling CFDs in May 2025. This case, taking just 9 months from opening to achieving a public outcome, demonstrates the FCA’s continued work to improve the pace of its enforcement investigations.Notes to editorsFinal Notice: Dinosaur Merchant Bank Limited (PDF).DMBL breached Article 16(2) of the UK Market Abuse Regulations (UK MAR), SYSC 6.1.1R of the Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls chapter of the FCA’s Handbook and Principle 3 of the FCA’s Principles for Businesses.Market abuse surveillance systems serve to protect the integrity of financial markets, foster investor confidence and ensure fair trading by detecting, preventing and reporting illegal activities like insider dealing and market manipulation. They enable firms to comply with regulations (eg, UK MAR and the Market Abuse Directive on Criminal Sanctions) by analysing trade data for suspicious behaviour, such as spoofing or front-running, to identify misconduct at an early stage.For further information on market abuse surveillance, read the FCA’s newsletter on market abuse surveillance and market abuse peer review into firms that offer CFDs.Find out more about the FCA.

As part of ongoing improvements to My FCA, and following the successful removal of RegData sign in at the end of last year, we have now removed direct access to Connect and the Online Invoicing System. Firms do not need to take any action. All existing RegData, Connect and Online Invoicing links and bookmarked pages will now automatically redirect to My FCA, where you can access all systems from a single homepage without signing in again. This makes managing your regulatory tasks quicker and more efficient.One year of My FCAOne year on from launch, My FCA has proven to be a real success. It’s now used by all firms, providing a streamlined, effective way to manage regulatory tasks. Engagement continues to grow, feedback has been strong, and My FCA is now firmly embedded as a key part of firms’ regulatory journey.Jessica Rusu, the FCA's chief data, intelligence and information officer said: 'One year into My FCA and we’re delivering on our ambition to be a smarter, more efficient regulator. We’ve taken firms’ feedback and turned it into a simpler, clearer regulatory experience.'

We sympathise with former members of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) who lost money after they were given unsuitable advice from people they trusted. Complaints are a valuable source of feedback which help us improve and learn. There have also been 4 independent reports into the BSPS since 2018, which have helped us learn lessons. We have accepted several of their recommendations and implemented improvements, including those below.We now have much closer collaboration between the FCA, The Pensions Regulator, Pension Protection Fund, and the Money and Pensions Service. This has improved intelligence sharing, enabling us to identify defined benefit pension transfer risks more swiftly.We are also collecting more pension transfer data from advisory firms to proactively monitor trends. We created a tool so people can check if they may have had unsuitable defined benefit pension transfer advice and have banned contingent charging for defined benefit pension transfers to reduce conflicts of interest. Our latest evaluation shows these changes have helped reduce the scope for harm and shift the market away from advice models that put advisers’ interests ahead of consumers.The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) levy and compensation amounts stand at a 10-year low, which is also one indicator of significant improvements in the system.Redress for BSPS membersTogether with the Financial Ombudsman Service and FSCS, we have helped more than 6,500 former members complain following extensive engagement with former members.At least £106m in redress has been offered to 1,870 former BSPS members to put them back in the position they would have been at retirement. We have also taken enforcement action against more than 20 individuals and firms where there was evidence of serious misconduct.Read our full response.

On 25 March 2026, following a petition filed by the FCA, the High Court ordered that Equity for Growth (Securities) Limited (EFG) be wound up. EFG is a corporate finance firm. EFG was also a principal for a number of appointed representatives between 2015 and 2020, including Amyma Ltd and Osborne Baldwin Ltd, which traded as Hunter Jones.An appointed representative carries on regulated activity under the responsibility of an authorised firm, known as 'the principal'. Find more information on the relationship between principals and appointed representatives.