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The interest rate set by the Bank of England affects mortgage, loan and savings rates for millions.

The States says the school uniform policy should be "a welcome relief" for families' budgets.

UK inflation dropped slightly in June 2026, but higher energy costs are expected to push it back up.

The consumer watchdog said they were trying to find out if the three companies were not showing full prices upfront to customers.

The consumer watchdog said they were trying to find out if the three companies were not showing full prices upfront to customers.

The FCA has banned Howard Roland Duckett from working in financial services due to a serious lack of honesty and integrity. Mr Duckett was a senior manager at Beauforce Corporation Limited, a debt management firm. The High Court has disqualified Mr Duckett from acting as a company director for 10 years. It found that he had failed to maintain adequate records while director of an unrelated company.The Court also found that Mr Duckett repeatedly lied and attempted to rely on fabricated evidence to distance himself from the company and deny that he was a director. This included falsely claiming that a fictitious individual was responsible for running the business.Mr Duckett failed to tell the FCA about his disqualification.Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said:'Mr Ducket constructed an elaborate fiction in his attempt to avoid disqualification and did not disclose his disqualification to the FCA. He deserves to be banned from the industry.'In November 2025, the FCA restricted Beauforce Corporation Limited from carrying out any regulated activities. This means it cannot provide regulated debt advice or debt management services to consumers. The FCA also ordered the firm to stop accepting money from consumers and return any money held in its bank accounts.Advice for affected consumers Consumers who currently have a debt management plan arranged with Beauforce Corporation Limited should stop payments and seek alternative support.You can find free debt advice and debt management services by visiting the MoneyHelper website.If you have been asked by Beauforce Corporation Limited to make any payments since 20 November 2025 or have other concerns about their debt management plans, please contact the FCA on 0800 111 6768 or use our contact form to get in touch. The FCA cannot investigate individual complaints, but information provided will support ongoing supervisory work.Notes to editorsFinal Notice: Howard Roland Duckett (PDF).Howard Roland Duckett was approved by the FCA to perform the SMF3 (Executive Director) and SMF16 (Compliance Oversight) senior management functions at Beauforce Corporation Limited.On 13 November 2020, the High Court disqualified Mr Duckett from acting as a company director for 10 years. The disqualification took effect on 4 December 2020.Mr Duckett referred the FCA's Decision Notice to the Upper Tribunal. The reference was subsequently struck out.

The FCA has announced Sabina Saini and Darine Obeid as the financial services attachés for India and the UAE. Sabina will be based at the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai and Darine will be based at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi.These appointments expand the FCA's global presence, joining a global network that includes the FCA's existing attachés in Washington DC, Brussels and Singapore, as well as the Asia-Pacific, supporting international co-operation, exports and investment into the UK.Ruairí O’Connell OBE, director, international, said: 'Our new financial services attachés in India and the UAE will advance the UK's interests on financial services policy and help drive investment into our open market.'The FCA's global network is vital to delivering across all parts of the FCA strategy. Just as the UK is a global financial services centre, the FCA is a globally connected regulator and international leader in financial regulation. Our new presence will help us and our counterparts in India and the Gulf do even more together.'Sabina started on 10 August 2026 and Darine is starting on 31 August 2026.Sabina Saini biographyPreviously a manager at the FCA, Sabina led work on the UK's critical third parties regime and broader operational risk and resilience policy.Sabina has just under 20 years' experience across financial regulation, audit and banking, focused on prudential supervision and risk.Before joining the FCA in 2024, she spent over 8 years at the Bank of England in roles spanning resolution policy, supervision and audit.Darine Obeid biographyDarine has spent more than a decade at the FCA, specialising in supervision across retail banking, wholesale banking and fintech.She led high-profile engagement in financial crime, operational resilience, AI and customer outcomes.Notes to editorsTo understand the role of the FCA as a global regulator, read the FCA strategy 2025 to 2030.Boosting exports and inward investment is a core FCA growth priority, outlined in the FCA's letter to the Prime Minister.On 11 February 2026, the FCA signed an Exchange of Letters with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).

Paul Taylor, former CEO of Blue Horizon Asset Management (BHAM) has been fined £489,000 and banned from working in financial services by the FCA. The former managing director of the firm, Esmeralda Toni, has also been fined £121,200 for serious misconduct and banned by the FCA.During his time at BHAM, Mr Taylor made misleading statements and falsified information during 2 separate attempted acquisitions.While attempting to acquire a UK bank, Mr Taylor falsified, or arranged to be falsified, documents claiming to be the owner of a bond portfolio worth approximately €200m. Ms Toni knowingly assisted Mr Taylor by making misleading statements to the bank and by helping falsify the documents. Mr Taylor knew, and Ms Toni understood that it was likely, that these statements and documents would be relied upon by the FCA and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) as part of their assessment for the proposed acquisition.Ms Toni was interviewed as part of BHAM’s internal investigation into the events. During the investigation, she denied providing misleading statements and the creation of false documents.On a separate occasion, Mr Taylor tried to acquire Reading Football Club. Mr Taylor made misleading statements, again falsely claiming to own the €200m bond portfolio to make the acquisition.The FCA found that Mr Taylor and Ms Toni acted dishonestly over an extended period. Their actions were intended to mislead BHAM colleagues, counterparties and regulators.Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said:'Trust in financial services relies on those working in it to be honest. Mr Taylor and Ms Toni fell woefully short of even this minimum expectation. They lied and lied again, first for commercial gain and then to cover their backs. They have no place in our industry.'Notes to editorsRead the final notice for Paul Taylor.Read the final notice for Esmeralda Toni.Between 14 February 2022 and 17 January 2025, Mr Taylor was a chief executive and executive director at Blue Horizon Asset Management Ltd.Between 14 February 2022 and 16 December 2025, Ms Toni was an executive director at Blue Horizon Asset Management Ltd. The FCA found that Mr Taylor and Ms Toni breached Individual Conduct Rule 1, which requires individuals to act with integrity.Mr Taylor agreed to resolve the matter and qualified for a 30% discount under the FCA’s settlement procedures. Without this discount, the financial penalty would have been £698,600.Ms Toni agreed to resolve the matter and qualified for a 30% discount under the FCA settlement procedures. Without the discount, the financial penalty would have been £173,100.The FCA has banned Mr Taylor and Ms Toni from performing any function in relation to regulated activities, having concluded that they are not fit and proper persons.The FCA has the power to impose financial penalties under section 66 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and to prohibit individuals under section 56 of that act.The notices refer to certain parties in addition to Mr Taylor and Ms Toni. Any reference to those parties is made solely to provide relevant factual context to the findings set out in the notices and should not be taken as criticism by the FCA of their conduct.Find out more about the FCA.

Why T+1 matters and what we’ve been doing so farThe UK’s move to a T+1 securities settlement cycle on 11 October 2027 is a fundamental shift in how securities transactions are settled.To prepare, market participants will have to rapidly speed up their post-trade processes, including automating their operations as appropriate.We’ve found that some are more ready than others – and some have a lot to do to meet deadlines, and our expectations.Participants should view T+1 as an opportunity. It will make the UK market more efficient and reduce risk – ultimately freeing up funds for investment.Our work on the T+1 transition is helping support growth in the UK financial market. We’re testing how ready market participants are for the transition, and where implementation challenges and bottlenecks remain.This forms part of our approach for T+1 we set out last year, alongside an active communications strategy and market monitoring.We’ve been speaking to participants across the market, including:buy-side and sell-side firmsfinancial market infrastructuresthird-party service providerstrade associationsThis blog sets out our reflections from that engagement.

Five fast-growing firms have joined the FCA’s Scale-up Unit, receiving tailored support to help them innovate, navigate regulation and grow sustainably. ClearScore, Modulr, Teya, Urban Jungle and Zilch, spanning payments, consumer finance, credit information and insurtech, are the first firms regulated solely by the FCA to take part. The Scale-up Unit gives firms tailored regulatory support as they develop new products, respond to policy changes and manage the challenges of rapid growth. Insights from a recent pilot with 15 high-growth firms, published on 10 August 2026, show that early investment in governance, risk management and controls helps firms manage the opportunities and challenges of growth, as well as scale sustainably.‘High-growth firms play a vital role in driving economic growth across the UK,’ said Jessica Rusu, chief data information and innovation officer, FCA. ‘We want the UK to remain one of the best places in the world to start, grow and scale a financial services business. That’s why we're supporting ambitious firms as they scale, helping them navigate regulation and innovate with confidence.’Six firms, jointly regulated by the FCA and PRA, were announced as the Scale-Up Unit’s first cohort in February. Applications for the next group will open soon.Since the FCA launched its innovation services, it has supported more than 1,000 innovative and growing firms.Notes to editorsThe FCA opened applications for solo-regulated firms to join the Scale-up Unit pilot in May. Applications closed on 22 June 2026.Read more about the Scale-up Unit.ClearScore, Modulr, and Zilch are part of the Unicorn Council for UK FinTech, a coalition established by Innovate Finance which brings together UK-based fintech unicorn founders and CEOs aiming to accelerate growth in the sector.The Scale-up Unit sits alongside the FCA’s existing programmes, including Innovation Pathways, Pre-Application Support Service (PASS) and Early and High Growth Oversight function, creating a clear pathway from start-up to scale-up.Early and High Growth Oversight identifies firms experiencing rapid growth at an earlier stage – including newly authorised firms, and those undergoing significant change – and provides proactive engagement to help them navigate key challenges as they scale.Between July 2025 and March 2026, the FCA engaged with 15 firms across asset management, wealth management and payments as part of an Early and High Growth Oversight pilot. This was to identify rapidly growing firms earlier and support them as they establish and evolve their business. The FCA assessed whether their governance, risk management and control frameworks were developing in line with their growth and has published insights from this pilot.