The Court of Appeal has upheld the FCA’s power to require redress from firms.
In December 2021 the FCA announced that it planned to fine BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP (BlueCrest) for conflicts of interest failings and impose a requirement on the firm to pay redress to clients. BlueCrest referred the case to the Upper Tribunal, which ruled that the FCA did not have the power to impose a redress requirement. The Tribunal also decided that it was unable to consider certain new allegations and issues the FCA had sought to introduce into the Tribunal proceedings in response to arguments BlueCrest had put forward as part of their defence.
The FCA’s appeal against the Tribunal’s decision has been successful. This has important wider implications both for the FCA’s ability to secure redress for consumers and its ability to conduct litigation before the Upper Tribunal effectively.
The Court of Appeal’s decision has been made at an early stage of the Tribunal proceedings, and subject to any further appeal, the matter will now proceed to a full hearing.