Read the Statement of Policy (PDF)[1]
As an organisation, we want to learn lessons and continuously improve. We have a range of tools for doing this, such as ‘lessons learned’ reviews, internal audits and scrutiny by the National Audit Office, to identify and address any areas where we can improve our regulatory approach.
For the most serious issues, the Financial Services Act 2012 (the Act) requires us to publish a statement of policy setting out the matters we will take into account to decide whether we carry out an investigation into possible regulatory failure, and give a report of the findings and recommendations to the Treasury for publication.
We have therefore reviewed our policy for investigating and reporting on regulatory failure to ensure it is fit for purpose given the time elapsed. The only substantive change from the policy published in 2013 is that we have revised the monetary thresholds for ‘significance’ of consumer detriment in line with inflation. We will continue to do this periodically.
We are required to carry out an investigation and produce a report when:
- There have been events involving a regulated person or others which indicate significant failure to ensure appropriate consumer protection, or had or could have had a significant adverse effect on our integrity or competition objectives, and
- The events might not have occurred or the adverse effect might have been reduced but for a serious failure in the system created by FSMA or the operation of that system.
A formal statutory investigation and report for the Treasury is expected to occur only in exceptional cases.