By Steve Conley
Founder, Academy of Life Planning
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released its Annual Work Programme for 2025/26, promising smarter regulation, support for innovation, and measures to help consumers navigate the financial system. But behind the strategic headlines, a deep concern remains: Is the FCA still serving consumers — or is it now serving the system?
Trust at Breaking Point
Across the UK, public confidence in the financial system is waning. Whether it’s hidden commissions in car finance, poor access to financial advice, or the erosion of regulatory protections, many feel increasingly exposed.
This lack of protection is compounded by the perception that regulators are no longer on the side of the public. When the FCA intervened in the Supreme Court on the side of motor finance firms, rather than consumers seeking redress, it confirmed what many already feared: the regulator is prioritising the industry over individuals.
Listening to the Lobbyists
Since the last general election, the Treasury has leaned heavily into City interests, and regulators are following suit. The FCA’s agenda reflects a coordinated push for economic growth via financial innovation, with little regard for the consequences to ordinary people.
This is most clearly seen in the Advice-Guidance Boundary Review. Under the guise of offering “targeted support” to close the advice gap, the FCA is quietly enabling product providers and distributors to flood the underserved mass market with sales masquerading as guidance. These consumers, often financially vulnerable, will be nudged into buying complex products without suitability checks, regulated advice, or access to redress.
Far from protecting people, the regulator is dismantling key consumer safeguards — all in the name of accessibility and innovation.
The Silencing of Redress
The situation is further worsened by recent changes to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). By introducing a £250 fee for complaints involving legal assistance, the system is now actively discouraging legitimate consumer claims — especially from those most in need.
Let’s be clear: this was not about improving efficiency. It was a calculated move to prevent future mass-redress events, shielding the industry at the expense of the public.
Follow the Money
The FCA’s budget tells a revealing story. While the regulator has allocated £7.8 million to crypto regulation and £3 million to ESG ratings oversight, there is no meaningful investment in consumer-facing reforms — whether that’s addressing the advice gap with genuine, impartial solutions, or providing restitution for past mis-selling.
These priorities confirm what many suspect: the consumer protection objective has been deprioritised in favour of the government’s pro-growth agenda.
Is There Hope for Change?
Despite the rhetoric, there is little in the 2025/26 plan to suggest a meaningful pivot back toward the public interest. The FCA says it wants to help consumers “navigate their financial lives,” yet its actions make that journey more perilous, not less.
If this trend continues, the UK risks entrenching a two-tier financial system — one where the informed and affluent thrive, while the rest are left to fend for themselves in a marketplace rigged for extraction, not empowerment.
Our Call to Action
At the Academy of Life Planning, we advocate for a different approach — one rooted in transparency, self-agency, and empowerment. We believe financial planning should begin with people’s lives, not products. We urge the FCA to stop viewing consumer protection as a constraint on growth, and instead recognise it as the very foundation of a fair and sustainable market.
Until that shift occurs, we must ask:
Is the regulator truly working for us — or have consumers been written out of the script altogether?
Your Money or Your Life
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By Steve Conley. Available on Amazon. Visit www.steve.conley.co.uk to find out more.
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