'Willing to take the [legal] risk': the FCA on taking action and consumer protection.

In their latest set of board minutes (dated 29 April 2021), the FCA have confirmed that 'willingness to take legal risk, especially in situations where the law is unclear or FCA action is intended to prevent imminent consumer harm, was entirely appropriate'.

As part of the minutes, the FCA Board 'was briefed on the context surrounding the reviews of the organisation’s legal risk appetite and the Regulatory Decisions Committee. The Board endorsed the proactive, decisive and timely use of the FCA’s powers to tackle harm and recognised the cultural change required across the organisation to ensure that this is consistently achieved.'

Rightly, 'it was noted that the FCA operated within the rule of law and should not engage in actions which are not legally defensible.' However, the Board 'did not consider that the existence of legal risk should prevent the FCA from taking such action'.

With that being said, the Board went on to 'support proposals to recalibrate the degree of legal risk the organisation is willing to take, how to implement this in practice and the inclusion of legal risk appetite/tolerance in the FCA’s Own Risk framework'.

The board meeting covered a number of other areas including:

• A report from the Chief Executive (Nikhil Rathi)
• FCA Employee Survey Results
• The Review of the Regulatory Decisions Committee (including 'concerns regarding the proportionality of the processes culminating in the RDC')
• 2021/22 Budget

What do you think about the FCA's risk appetite?

'Would you risk it for a chocolate biscuit' in their position?