FCA enforcement in 2020 – an unhealthy sprinkling of normality

As financial services workers and theirregulators scrambled to adapt to working largely from home, how did theFinancial Conduct Authority’s enforcement performance fare last year? AdamSamuel reviews cases involving authorisation, sanctions againstindividuals, mis-selling, treatment of customers in arrears, client assets,AML, market abuse and short-selling.

Adam SamuelBALLM DipPFS MCISI FCIArb Certs CII (MP&ER) Barrister and Attorney may becontacted atadamsamuel@aol.com.For links to where you can buy thesecond edition of ‘Consumer Financial Services Complaints and Compensation’,see www.adamsamuel.com/book.

The year 2020 was abnormal in almost everyrespect except FCA enforcement practice. Bean counters may identify a drop infines and amounts extracted in this way. However, it would be strange anddisturbing if the FCA’s enforcement team and the Upper Tribunal had been asefficient as either would have been under normal circumstances. Average orenhanced activity would suggest a lack of fairness to those on the receivingend.