The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is shaking up its enforcement strategy. After a string of bruising court battles forced the regulator to slash penalties against individual executives, it has launched a fresh consultation to make sure future fines actually bite.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Here is a breakdown of the key changes proposed on June 15, 2026:
1. Bigger Penalties for Market Abuse
The minimum penalty for serious market abuse by individuals is jumping 50%—from £100,000 to £150,000—marking the first major adjustment for inflation since 2010. Going forward, this baseline will automatically track inflation.
2. Means-Tested Fines for the Ultra-Wealthy
A standard fine doesn’t hurt a billionaire the same way it hurts an average executive. The FCA is clarifying rules to ensure fines can be scaled upward based on an individual’s total net worth and assets to ensure it feels like a genuine punishment.
3. Bulletproofing the Income Calculations
Following high-profile legal pushbacks—like the Upper Tribunal forcing the FCA to cut former Barclays CEO Jes Staley’s fine from £1.8 million to £1.1 million—the regulator is tightening its math. It will explicitly exclude deferred bonuses or unvested stock options that an executive never actually takes home, leaving far less room for defense lawyers to dismantle the math in court.
4. Expanding to Crypto
The penalty framework is being formally extended to cover market abuse within the digital asset space, locking step with the newly enacted Cryptoasset Regulations of 2026.
What’s Next?
The regulator is facing pressure on two fronts: critics accusing it of losing its edge, and the government pushing it to support economic competitiveness. This policy overhaul is the FCA’s attempt to strike back.
The consultation window is open for feedback from firms and legal experts until August 10, 2026.
frequently asked questions (FAQs)
1. Why is the FCA increasing fines for individuals now?
The FCA is updating its penalty framework primarily to ensure its fines remain a credible deterrent and to make its calculations legally bulletproof. Over the past few years, several high-profile individuals have successfully challenged the FCA’s fine calculations in court, forcing the regulator to slash its penalties. By updating its rules, the FCA is closing the legal loopholes that allowed those fines to be overturned, while also updating its minimum thresholds to account for years of inflation.
2. How will an individual’s wealth affect the size of a fine?
Under the new proposals, the FCA is making it clear that a standard fine might not be enough to deter very wealthy individuals. If the regulator believes a standard penalty won’t change a high-net-worth individual’s behavior, it can scale the fine upward based on that person’s total assets and overall wealth. Conversely, they are also raising the threshold for what qualifies as “serious financial hardship” to ensure lower-income individuals aren’t entirely wiped out by a penalty.
3. What changes are being made to how “relevant income” is calculated?
Previously, the FCA calculated fines based on an executive’s total compensation package, including deferred bonuses and stock options. However, after courts ruled that it was unfair to base fines on money that executives never actually took home (such as clawed-back or forfeited bonuses), the FCA is changing its strategy. It will now explicitly exclude deferred or unreceived bonuses from its penalty calculations, creating a more legally robust framework that can withstand future court challenges.
Editing by- katie willimas
