On 26 March 2026, the FCA published its annual work programme for 2026/27 — the second instalment under its five-year (2025-2030) strategy. The programme keeps the same four strategic priorities set out last year: becoming a smarter regulator, supporting growth, helping consumers navigate their financial lives, and fighting financial crime. What’s changed is the level of detail on delivery, and a noticeably sharper focus on reducing burden without loosening standards. 

A SMARTER REGULATOR 

The FCA has committed to removing three regular data returns entirely, reducing the frequency of another, and moving more regulatory tasks onto its My FCA portal so firms can manage authorisations, filings and reporting in one place. Faster authorisation timelines and simplified digital forms are also promised. The FCA will also use generative AI to review documents firms submit, supporting faster decisions across authorisations and supervision. 

SUPPORTING GROWTH 

For wholesale firms, the program has several important measures beyond the proposed removal of the 7-day research waiting period ahead of IPOs. Introduced in 2018, the waiting period requires a gap between publication of an approved prospectus or registration document and publication of research by the banks running the deal, so that independent analysts have time to produce their own views. In practice, the seven-day gap has been the default, adding time to the public phase of a UK listing. The FCA says it will propose removing it as part of its drive to speed up IPO applications, though it has not yet published the detailed proposals. Banks, issuers and advisers should expect a consultation and start thinking about how a shorter timetable would affect research, marketing and pricing arrangements. The FCA plans to establish a bonds consolidated tape and progress an equities consolidated tape, review the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, consider how the UK Listing Rules apply to specific investment entities, and clarify where Consumer Duty and retail protections do not apply so professional investors can participate more confidently in wholesale markets. It will also make rules for alternative investment fund managers more proportionate and reform capital requirements for solo-regulated investment firms to improve liquidity. The broader message is consistent: reduce unnecessary friction while maintaining market integrity and investor protection. 

HELPING CONSUMERS 

The targeted support regime — new rules allowing firms to offer more tailored guidance on pensions and investments without straying into full regulated advice — launched in April 2026 and sits at the centre of this priority. Firms in wealth management and investment advisory should already be assessing what targeted support looks like in practice, not treating it as a future problem. 

FIGHTING FINANCIAL CRIME 

Financial crime remains a standing priority rather than a one-off initiative, with continued focus on detecting and disrupting organised crime, online safety, and cross-agency coordination. Following the £44 million Nationwide fine in December — the largest FCA fine since Santander’s £107 million penalty in 2022 — and the FCA’s planned supervisory remit over professional services firms, this is not an area where scrutiny is going to ease off. 

A SHIFT TOWARD OUTCOMES AND EVIDENCE 

Perhaps the most consistent theme across the whole programme is a move away from box-ticking compliance toward demonstrable outcomes. Under Consumer Duty, wholesale market resilience, and financial crime controls alike, the FCA is asking firms to show — through management information and governance evidence — that their frameworks actually work, not just that they exist. In practice, firms should be ready to evidence how specific regulatory expectations have been addressed, rather than relying on a general assurance that “policies are in place.” 

PREPARING FOR AN EVIDENCE-LED REGULATOR 

If 2026/27 is the year the FCA formalises its expectation for demonstrable outcomes, firms need infrastructure that produces that evidence as a by-product of doing the work — not as a separate reporting exercise bolted on afterwards. The Axiol platform helps firms get ahead of this shift by: 

• Generating continuous, audit-ready evidence of control effectiveness and risk oversight, rather than static point-in-time reports 

• Mapping regulatory obligations directly onto the firm’s own risk and control framework, so gaps against FCA expectations are visible before a supervisor asks the question 

• Providing board-level reporting that demonstrates outcomes, not just activity 

• Keeping a full history of evaluations and remediation, ready to support RegData confirmations or supervisory requests at short notice 

As the FCA’s work programme makes clear, the era of “tell us what you did” is giving way to “show us it worked.” Get in touch to see how Axiol can help your firm get ahead of that shift.