With effect from 1 April 2014, responsibility for regulating consumer credit in the UK passed to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FCA supervises the conduct of over 50,000 firms, and regulates the prudential standards of those firms which are not regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The PRA regulates around 1,700 of the largest financial firms including banks, building societies and major investment firms.
The FCA has an over-arching strategic objective to ensure that the financial markets it regulates function well.
To support this, the FCA has three statutory objectives:
- to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers;
- to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system; and
- to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.