The Panel is an independent statutory body, set up to provide advice and challenge from the point of view of financial market participants.
The FCA has a statutory duty to establish and consult the Panel on the extent to which its policies and practices are consistent with its general duties.
Role of the FCA Markets Practitioner Panel
The Panel’s key remit is to represent the interests of financial market participants, and to provide input to the FCA in order to help it in meeting its strategic objectives and operational objectives in an effective manner.
Access to the FCA
The Panel Chair meets regularly with the Chair and Chief Executive of the FCA. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss issues of particular importance and to raise emerging concerns. The Panel also submits a report to the FCA Board, to highlight specific fundamental points raised in the course of its quarterly meetings.
The Panel’s Annual Report will normally be presented to the FCA Board and there are frequent informal and ad hoc contacts between Panel members and Directors and senior executives of the FCA.
Links with Trade Associations
The Panel takes care to ensure it does not duplicate the important work of the trade associations in representing the views of their members. The associations have the staff and resources to promote the interests of their respective members in response to the impact of FCA policies on the sector they represent.
At the same time, the Panel retains close links with the trade associations through regular meetings between Panel representatives and trade body officials. In addition, individual Panel members often have close links with the respective trade association representing their sector. This ensures that the Panel is properly sighted on trade association views and can include them in its deliberations.