The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation seeking views from the asset management industry on regulatory change that could help the market innovate, following the publication of its discussion paper: Updating and improving the UK regime for asset management.

With over £11trn (€12.4trn) of assets, the UK is a leading centre for asset management, the FCA said, as it stated that it is looking to improve asset management regulation with a more modern and tailored regime, better meeting the needs of UK markets and consumers.

The Authority’s paper covers a wide range of ideas, including how it can support firms’ use of technology to improve efficiency among other things.

“The sector is highly regulated. UK regulation of the sector includes both long-standing requirements and more recent additions. Many regulations derive from the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU). The UK authorities have developed other measures to deal with specific aspects of UK markets,” the paper noted.

The discussion paper follows the publication of FCA’s report in December – Future Regulatory Framework (FRF) Review – which provides an opportunity for the regulator to make sure any changes are consistent with international standards and enable technological development and innovation.

Under the FRF, the UK government has proposed making the FCA responsible for those retained EU laws that set requirements for firms. “This means we will need to decide whether our rules should in future copy those requirements,” the paper added.

The regulator has not cemented any new proposals at this stage but it aims to promote further discussion and listen to stakeholders’ views about what it should prioritise, calling on asset managers, investment consultants an dother asset management organisations to take part in the discussion until 22 May 2023.

Chris Cummings, chief executive officer of the Investment Association, said: ”As the FCA acknowledges, this is already a highly regulated sector, and our members are working hard to manage and implement a busy regulatory agenda. The need for any further regulation must therefore be balanced against ensuring the UK remains a global competitive jurisdiction and an attractive place to do business.

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Venilia is editor of IPE.com. She joined the IPE editorial team in November 2019 after freelancing for FT Adviser and LAPF Investments, while also being a publisher for market intelligence company Clear Path Analysis. She started her career at Euromoney Institutional Investor where for 16 years was reporter and editor covering the asset management industry globally.View full Profile

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