🎭 A Nation Held Hostage by the Growth Illusion

“We’re a nation losing out because of a risk not taken,” says the outgoing COO of the FCA. But whose risk—and whose reward—are we talking about?

In the corridors of profit and power, the revolving doors between politics, regulators, and financial institutions continue to spin—while the rest of the country is told to shoulder more risk in the name of growth.

This week, Emily Shepperd of the FCA declared that bold reforms must “rebalance risk,” accepting that “firms fail, investors lose money.” This is not a strategy—it’s a surrender. Not to consumer empowerment, but to a deregulated free-for-all dressed up as innovation.

Let’s be clear: the FCA’s job is not to inflate banker bonuses or appease government growth agendas. It is to protect consumers and prevent misconduct. Yet, what we are witnessing is a deliberate loosening of regulatory safeguards—watering down mortgage advice rules, stripping insurance protections, and outsourcing consumer safety to ‘duty of care’ rhetoric.

All while powerful actors move effortlessly between public office and private gain.

Take Bim Afolami—once City Minister urging regulators to “unleash animal spirits” and warning against turning the UK into “the safest graveyard.” Within months of leaving Westminster, he reappears in the boardroom of HSBC, one of the very institutions he was meant to regulate. No scandal. No scrutiny. Just business as usual.

And who defends the system? Firms like Freshfields, who helped Mastercard dodge a £14bn consumer class action—by making sure the case never saw trial. The same legal juggernaut advising governments on regulation now protects the companies accused of abusing it.

Is it any wonder trust in the system is collapsing?

🧠 When “risk” is rebranded as opportunity, it is consumers—pensioners, homeowners, everyday investors—who carry the burden when it all goes wrong. The same consumers who are told they can’t afford advice, only to be left at the mercy of an increasingly “agile” and “tech-savvy” finance industry.

The FCA claims to be fighting financial crime. But who defines the crime, when the rules are rewritten to legalise exploitation?

This isn’t reform. It’s capture.

The regulator has become a tool of the Treasury’s growth-at-any-cost ideology—chasing international competitiveness while leaving consumers exposed, redress systems broken, and fraud victims unheard.

🔍 If regulators are truly independent, then let them prove it. Hear the voices of claim funders, victims, and consumer advocates—not just those with seats at the ABI or dinner at the Mansion House.

How much longer must we stomach this charade?

If we are serious about becoming a nation that builds rather than bleeds, we must demand transparency, accountability, and integrity—starting with the regulators themselves.

The risk we can’t afford to take… is continuing to trust a system built on revolving doors and disappearing responsibilities.

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Steve Conley
Founder, Academy of Life Planning
Advocate for financial justice, transparency, and self-agency.

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Your Money or Your Life

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