UK banks braced for regulatory onslaught

British banks and markets are bracing themselves for a fresh onslaught from their regulator after it assumed extra powers to police competition in financial markets yesterday.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), launched in 2013 to shake up supervision after the 2007-2009 financial crisis highlighted failures, already has competition as a core aim.

But the changes yesterday mean the watchdog can back this up by being able to punish firms that breach UK and European Union competition law, break up markets, or refer a market directly to Britain’s lead competition body, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).