UK’s FCA Aims to Support Competitiveness of Financial Services Sector

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched an economic research competition that will award four winners up to 30,000 pounds (about $37,726) to research how regulation can support the country’s economic growth.

The regulator is seeking research proposals focus on the growth and productivity of the U.K. financial services sector, the international competitiveness of that sector and “supporting the UK’s economy and considering regulatory impacts,” it said in a Monday (Nov. 25) press release.

The FCA will accept applications through Dec. 15 and its panel of judges will select the winning proposals by Dec. 22, according to the release. The winners will have until March 31, 2025, to complete their research.

“We recently reviewed what research had been done into the role regulation can play in supporting growth and competitiveness, and we found the pool was a mile wide and an inch deep,” FCA Chief Economist Kate Collyer said in the release. “We want to hear from you on how we can fill these gaps and how your research ideas can help us drive real world change.”

The launch of this competition follows the FCA’s publication of a literature review that focused on the current evidence base connecting financial services regulation to economic growth and identifying areas for future research.

“Our role is to ensure that financial markets work well for consumers, participants and society as a whole,” the FCA said when announcing its literature review. “This is central to a productive and growing economy.”

In another, separate development, it was reported Thursday (Nov. 21) that the U.K. will consider a comprehensive regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency sector in 2025, aiming to keep up with the United States and Europe in the crypto sector.

The Labour Party, which came to power in July, will draft rules that include stablecoins and staking services.

“Doing everything in a single phase is simpler, and it just makes more sense,” Economic Secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq said Thursday at a conference.

In another recent move, the U.K. government said Nov. 6 that it was launching a platform to help businesses assess and mitigate the risks associated with artificial intelligence when developing and using AI products and services.