Theme 2: Policy and regulatory impact

This page provides data on our authorisations activities, including the number of new authorisations for each sector and the number of individuals in scope of the Senior Manager and Certification Regime.

Our outcomes

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Metrics

What the metric values tell us 

In the financial year 2023/24, we published 18 Policy Statements, 12 of which featured Cost Benefit Analyses (CBAs), with 9 containing quantifiable estimates. To calculate the Equivalent Annualised Net Direct Cost to Business (EANDCB), we first sum up the discounted value of the stream of net direct costs which accrue over the appraisal period to reach the present value of the net direct costs (Chapter 5 in how we analyse the costs and benefits of our policies 2024 details how we classify direct impacts). We then convert this into an equivalent annual figure by dividing by an annuity rate.

In our latest analysis, Positive Impact 2024, we estimate the average annual benefits resulting from a subset of rules we introduced between April 2020 and March 2023 was at least of £8.3 billion. The benefits from our latest analysis total an annual quantified positive impact of £14 for every pound spent on running the FCA in this period.

This metric is not directly comparable with the EANDCB as they cover different timeframes and policies. The aggregate benefits report the annual average of benefits from policy intervention for the period April 2020 to March 2023 while the EANDCB is calculated for the period April 2023 to March 2024. However, we expect each policy to generate net benefits as we set out in individual CBAs.

Metric RI-M05 shows the latest rankings for London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow on Z/Yen’s Global Financial Centres Index. London ranks second worldwide for the Human Capital, Infrastructure and Reputational & General areas, and third for Business Environment and Financial Sector Development. London also ranks second worldwide in the Banking, Investment Management, Government & Regulatory, Finance, and Fintech sectors. Glasgow’s change in rank compared to the previous report was one of the most significant increases seen in Western Europe.

Over 80% of fixed firms, and almost three-quarters of flexible firms, agree that our work enhances the reputation of the UK as a financial centre (RI-M06), which is key for international competitiveness.

There have been small improvements in the number of consumers saying they have confidence in the UK financial system (RI-M03).

Firms are less likely to agree that we act proportionately (RI-M06). Fixed firms are more confident that they understand what the FCA is trying to achieve through the objective than flexible firms are. But they are less confident that our oversight achieves the objective’s aims. The objective had been in place for less than 6 months at the time of the FCA and Practitioner Panel survey so we expect to build on wider understanding of the objective over the year. This includes through this year's first SICGO report, which details how we have embedded the objective into our processes and culture. These changes should lead to greater confidence in our ability to deliver on the objective in future.

The FCA owns the UK Official List (RI-M07), which is updated at regular intervals throughout each working day. For RI-M07, we report the total number of equity related listings on the main UK Official List as of the end of the 2023/24 financial year and for the previous two 6-monthly periods. We will update this metric every 6 months.