Clifford Chance
The FCA – 6 months on and the inexorable rise of the Thematic Review
30 October 2013
The FCA celebrated its first six months as a regulator on 1st October 2013 – a suitable time to review some of the key emerging themes.
One clear change has been the use of thematic reviews – the FCA has made it very clear to firms that it considers the use of these reviews to be a fundamental part of its supervisory approach. As at the date of this article, eight detailed reports have been issued by the regulator and have looked into various issues, such as mobile phone insurance, automatic renewal in fixed-term bonds and PPI complaints handling. Despite the range of subject matter and industry focus, a number of key themes have become apparent and there is a pattern to how these reviews are conducted and how the thematic work is used.
