Key takeaways
FCA drops controversial naming proposal
Industry pushback halts reputational risk plans.
Selective transparency measures remain in place
Anonymous updates and reactive disclosures continue.
Final policy expected by summer 2025
Firms should prepare for updated enforcement guide.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) initially consulted in February 2024 on proposals to enable it to name firms under investigation more often (informally known as the ‘name and shame’ proposals). The proposals received significant resistance in the industry and the FCA issued a further consultation in November 2024 (which closed on 17 February 2025) which sought to address some of the concerns. Hill Dickinson responded to the consultation to express our concerns with the proposals, including the reputational damage publicising an investigation could cause a listed company or broker where no regulatory action is ultimately taken. A significant number of other stakeholders also raised concerns with the proposals.
After reviewing the feedback received to the consultation, the FCA acknowledged that the industry continued to remain largely opposed to certain aspects of the proposals, in particular with regards to publicising investigations into regulated firms carrying out authorised activities where a public interest test is met. The FCA confirmed in a letter dated 11 March 2025 to the Treasury Select Committee of the House of Commons that it would not proceed with this proposal given the lack of consensus and would continue its existing exceptional circumstances test to determine if it should publicise investigations into regulated firms.
The FCA does however plan to continue with the following aspects of its proposals as these received broad support and much less concern:
Reactively confirming investigations which are officially announced by other. For example, market announcements or other disclosures made by firms themselves or sometimes announcements made by a partner regulator.
Public notifications which focus on the potentially unlawful activities of unregulated firms and regulated firms operating outside the regulatory perimeter, where doing so protects consumers or furthers the investigation.
Publishing greater detail of issues under investigation on an anonymous basis. For example, via a regular bulletin such as Enforcement Watch. This may help highlight more quickly significant areas of concern where firms may consider making improvements.
The FCA aims to publish its final policy by the end of June 2025 alongside an updated copy of its Enforcement Guide and we intend to continue to engage with the FCA on further consultations in this regard
