In a year that has seen record levels of volatility, the global regulatory landscape has had to adapt to a more stringent and focused new normal. However, FCA activity has shown no signs of slowing down as the regulator recently published its Business Plan for 2023/24.

Building upon the FCA's three-year strategy, the 2023/24 Business Plan outlines the regulator's response to delivering on its objectives, including ensuring markets function well, securing appropriate consumer protection; protecting and enhancing the UK's financial system; and promoting effective competition.

In our next instalment of Wired-In, Ben Mason, Founder of My Compliance Centre and Lucy McClements, Independent Consultant and NED, will assess the current regulatory context of the Business Plan and provide actionable insight for compliance teams and firms alike.

Ben and Lucy will uncover the following: 

 

 

Ben is Founder of My Compliance Centre Ltd, and previously joint CEO of Compliancy Services Ltd, a compliance consultancy he built from 2004 until its sale to Ethos Partners in March 2021. My Compliance Centre is a RegTech platform, built to support regulated firms in executing more efficiently and effectively the day-to-day jobs that sit at the heart of a modern compliance function: compliance operations, employee compliance and SMCR/governance. 

As CEO of Compliancy Services, Ben was a Compliance Consultant specialising in providing compliance, governance and risk advice to the Boards of regulated firms and assisting new firms and banks to become authorised by the FCA and PRA for the first time. Ben has unusually broad experience across the full breadth of the financial services industry, including banking, capital markets, asset management, insurance, credit and payments/fintech.

For six years, Ben was on the Board of the industry association, the Association of Professional Compliance Consultants (APCC), driving the industry's strategic direction. Ben chaired the APCC's hugely successful Authorisations Working Group for five years. Through this time, Ben represented the consulting industry in regular bilateral discussions with the FCA, presenting to the regulator many times. Ben also founded the APCC's Crypto Working Group.