FCA Deputy Chief Executive Says Trust in Financial Markets Depends on Openness

Sarah Pritchard told a Whitehall breakfast briefing on 8 July 2026 that the FCA is publishing more detail about its supervisory work, including a new Enforcement Watch, to build consumer and market confidence.

The Financial Conduct Authority published over 50 operating service metrics and determined 99.2 per cent of authorisation applications against existing statutory deadlines between January and March, according to a speech by Deputy Chief Executive Sarah Pritchard delivered at The Whitehall & Industry Group on 8 July 2026. The speech, titled “Showing our workings: solving for growth, risk and trust,” set out the FCA’s position that being open about what it is doing, why it is doing it, and how well it is working is central to building trust in financial markets.

Pritchard said the regulator is choosing to be more open about its supervisory work, including publishing Enforcement Watch — a document that explains how supervisory tools are being used to drive improvements under the Consumer Duty framework and provides an update on the enforcement pipeline. Consumer Duty requires firms to act in ways that deliver good outcomes for retail customers, and the figures show the FCA is using it as an active part of its supervisory approach rather than a background standard.

That 99.2 per cent figure is a sharp one. It suggests the authorisation process is largely meeting its own targets — though the FCA has not independently verified what proportion of those decisions were straightforward versus contested cases.

For Kent residents using FCA-regulated financial services — banks, mortgage lenders, investment platforms — the practical effect would be indirect. Firms operating in Kent that fall under FCA supervision are subject to Consumer Duty requirements, meaning increased scrutiny on whether they can demonstrate good outcomes for customers. Whether greater transparency at the regulatory level translates into measurable improvements for consumers remains, for now, an open question.