FCA Announces Commitment to Increased Data Analytics Spending

4 November 2019: The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s chief executive, Andrew Bailey, has announced a renewed commitment to spending in data analytics in an attempt to deliver “stronger and faster innovation”.

At the Lord Mayor’s City Banquet, Bailey noted that, for a long time, the FCA has made speeches about “the likelihood of innovation and what it might do for financial services” adding that “now it is really happening”. Bailey pointed out that the FCA has seen a number of big achievements over the last few years – from sandboxes to techsprints. However, he also acknowledged that it has received “justified” criticism with regard to efficiency. With that in mind, Bailey commented that FCA is now looking to “make a major investment in data analytics to give our staff more effective tools to do the job.”

Bailey added that the FCA’s work on the future of regulation moves beyond Brexit and that a part of its role is to “facilitate investment in the economy and to support jobs and the livelihoods of people”. Innovation and startups, he said, are an important part of that activity.