The FCA has published a speech delivered on 22nd January 2025 by Emily Shepperd, FCA Chief Operating Officer, at the 2025 Risk Leader Summit, hosted by the Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA).
The speech considers the balance between one of the FCA’s primary operational objectives (avoiding consumer harm) and its secondary objective in relation to growth. Sitting at the heart of this balance is risk management, with Shepperd adding that, without risk, there is no growth, no innovation, and no progress. Shepperd also added that the FCA does need to make a distinction between ‘good’ risk and ‘bad’ risk. Good risk is “thoughtful and calculated; the kind of risk that drives innovation and opens up new opportunities”. Bad risk is “reckless, short-sighted and ultimately harmful to us all”.
Risk managers have a major role in supporting ongoing improvement in implementation of the Consumer Duty. Financial resilience, underpinned by the Consumer Duty, sits as one of four focus areas of the upcoming FCA Strategy to help people make informed financial decisions. Consumer protection and growth are mutually reinforcing, and through this partnership can strengthen the market.
The speech considers the following themes:
- Consumer Duty: a catalyst for positive change.
- ‘Strategy 25’ (the FCA’s new five-year strategy covering 2025-2030): resilience and growth hand-in-hand.
- Risk: the key to unlocking growth and resilience.