FCA and the 'new normal'

As the Financial Conduct Authority strives to support consumers and firms through a global pandemic, while economic fallout and Brexit loom in near view, perhaps the only certainty is uncertainty. Emma Radmore explores what the new regulatory normal might look like, and where the FCA might hope to be by the end of 2020.

Emma Radmore(legal director) is a member of Womble Bond Dickinson's financial services team in London. Contact her onemma.radmore@wbd-uk.com.

Covid-19 has now been interrupting almost every aspect of work and life for so long, it's hard to remember what 'normal' is. Or, maybe more accurately, what normal was. The Summer holidays have ended, the furlough scheme is beginning to wind down, every effort has been made to enable schools to open and stay open, and the Government is encouraging people to get back to work. But what does this actually mean for the financial services industry? Obviously, the regulators cannot simply lift all the measures that have been in place for the best part of six months, and say, "right, as you were then."