FSCA’s 2025 Regulation Plan: Key Priorities and Strategic Interventions for 2025–2028

On July 3rd, 2025, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) released its 2025 Regulation Plan, outlining its strategic regulatory priorities and interventions for the period of 2025 to 2028. This comprehensive plan reflects the FSCA’s evolving approach to market conduct supervision in the context of a dynamic financial sector increasingly shaped by technology, sustainability imperatives, and global interconnectedness.

The Regulation Plan builds on the FSCA’s mandate under the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA) to promote the fair treatment of financial customers, maintain financial market integrity, and support the development of a stable, inclusive, and efficient financial sector in South Africa. In this latest roadmap, the FSCA sets out clear priorities that aim to reinforce its role as a forward-looking and proactive regulator.

The FSCA identifies three overarching strategic focus areas as follows:

1. Strengthening market conduct supervision: Ensuring financial institutions treat customers fairly and maintain sound business practices

• Enhancing financial market efficiency and integrity: Fostering trust and transparency in South Africa’s capital and financial markets

• Responding to cross-cutting trends and challenges, including:
• The regulation of crypto assets and digital financial services
• The advancement of open finance and digital innovation
• The integration of sustainable finance and climate-related disclosures
• Strengthening operational resilience, including cybersecurity and third-party risk

This Regulation Plan not only aligns with global regulatory developments but also places the FSCA at the centre of efforts to future-proof South Africa’s financial sector. For financial service providers, fintech firms, and regulated institutions, the plan provides both direction and accountability, signalling the need to adapt quickly to evolving compliance, risk, and reporting expectations.

This CPD article explores these priorities in detail and offers guidance on how professionals can prepare for the regulatory shifts ahead.

Introduction: Regulatory Environment in Transition

The global financial sector is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by technological innovation, shifting consumer expectations, and increased awareness of sustainability and systemic risks. South Africa is no exception. In response to these developments, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has adopted a more forward-looking and adaptive regulatory stance, aiming to safeguard financial stability while fostering innovation, inclusion, and trust.

The 2025–2028 Regulation Plan outlines the FSCA’s strategic intentions for navigating this complex and evolving landscape. This plan sets the tone for regulatory supervision and market conduct over the next three years, at a time when both domestic and global regulatory priorities are converging on key themes: digital transformation, climate risk, data governance, and financial resilience.

As South Africa’s primary market conduct regulator, the FSCA is tasked with overseeing how financial institutions interact with customers and conduct business in ways that are ethical, fair, and transparent. Beyond traditional oversight, the FSCA is increasingly called upon to address cross-cutting issues that challenge conventional regulatory frameworks such as crypto asset proliferation, artificial intelligence (AI) in financial decision-making, and climate-related financial risks.

The 2025 Regulation Plan identifies several strategic regulatory outcomes, which include:

• Ensuring financial customers are treated fairly
• Promoting integrity and efficiency in financial markets
• Supporting financial inclusion through digital innovation
• Enhancing supervisory responsiveness to emerging risks and systemic vulnerabilities

Crucially, the FSCA has recognised the need for more intrusive and pre-emptive supervision; a shift from reactive to proactive regulatory conduct. This involves closer scrutiny of business models, governance structures, and risk management frameworks across the sector.

The plan also reflects the FSCA’s intent to work more closely with other regulatory bodies such as the Prudential Authority (PA), South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and the Information Regulator, highlighting the importance of cross-agency cooperation in tackling systemic challenges.

This CPD article unpacks the FSCA’s regulatory priorities in detail, focusing on the strategic interventions planned for crypto assets, open finance, sustainable finance, and operational resilience. It also explores what these developments mean for financial service providers and other regulated entities as they navigate the increasingly complex compliance landscape.

Strategic Priority 1: Strengthening Market Conduct Supervision

At the heart of the FSCA’s 2025–2028 Regulation Plan is a clear commitment to strengthening market conduct supervision; a fundamental pillar of its legislative mandate under the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA). The goal is to ensure that financial institutions act in the best interests of customers, uphold fair treatment standards, and support the overall integrity of South Africa’s financial system.

Why Market Conduct Matters

Market conduct refers to the way financial institutions behave in their interactions with customers, particularly in areas including the following:

• Product design and disclosures
• Marketing and sales practices
• Complaints handling
• Claims management
• Post-sale customer service

Weaknesses in market conduct can lead to significant consumer harm, mis-selling of products, and erosion of public trust in the financial system. As such, the FSCA views fair treatment not just as a compliance requirement, but as a core component of responsible financial practice.

A Shift Towards Proactive and Intrusive Supervision

The FSCA has signalled a strategic move from reactive enforcement to more pre-emptive, intrusive supervision. This approach involves the following:

• Ongoing risk-based assessments of institutions’ conduct
• Thematic reviews across specific products, sectors, or customer groups
• Enhanced off-site surveillance and on-site inspections
• Real-time monitoring of high-risk practices

By adopting a risk-based supervision model, the FSCA aims to prioritise its resources where the potential for harm is greatest, such as in areas with complex products, vulnerable customers, or aggressive sales models.

Regulatory Tools and Interventions

The 2025 Regulation Plan outlines the FSCA’s intent to use a mix of supervisory tools, including the following:

• Conduct dashboards to track institution-level and sector-wide risks
• Early warning indicators based on complaints data, media reports, or whistle-blower alerts
• Supervisory letters and remedial action plans for identified weaknesses
• Public naming where appropriate, to promote accountability and transparency

Additionally, the FSCA plans to modernise its enforcement processes, making it easier to respond swiftly to non-compliance through administrative penalties, license conditions, or revocations.

Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion

Consumer protection remains central to the FSCA’s mission. The 2025–2028 plan includes specific initiatives aimed at:

• Improving access to redress mechanisms (such as ombuds services)
• Strengthening disclosure standards, especially in high-risk products (e.g., investment-linked policies)
• Enhancing financial literacy and consumer education
• Addressing conduct risks in retail credit, funeral insurance, and unregulated advice channels

Importantly, the FSCA acknowledges the need to balance consumer protection with financial inclusion, ensuring that regulation does not unintentionally exclude underserved communities or small providers.

Impact of the COFI Bill

The impending enactment of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill will further reinforce market conduct supervision. The COFI framework will:

• Consolidate conduct requirements across all financial institutions into a single, activity-based licensing regime
• Embed Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principles more formally in legislation
• Provide the FSCA with broader powers to issue conduct standards and enforce behavioural outcomes

Institutions will be expected to embed these principles into their governance, culture, product development, and distribution processes.

Implications for Regulated Entities

For financial institutions, these regulatory shifts mean the following:

• Increased scrutiny of internal conduct risk frameworks
• The need to align policies with evolving FSCA expectations
• Greater emphasis on fair outcomes, not just process compliance
• Proactive engagement with the FSCA through reporting and industry consultations

In short, boards and executive teams will be held increasingly accountable for conduct risk management and customer outcomes, with “fairness” becoming a measurable and reportable objective.

Enhancing Financial Market Integrity and Efficiency

A well-functioning financial system depends on trust, transparency, and efficiency. In its 2025–2028 Regulation Plan, the FSCA highlights the enhancement of financial market integrity and efficiency as a key strategic priority. This involves ensuring that market participants operate on a level playing field, that information flows freely and fairly, and that South Africa’s capital markets remain attractive, competitive, and resilient.

Understanding Market Integrity

Market integrity refers to the assurance that financial markets operate in a fair, orderly, and transparent manner. It is critical for the following factors:

• Protecting investors
• Preventing manipulation, insider trading, and other abusive practices
• Promoting confidence in the financial system
• Facilitating economic growth through efficient capital allocation

The FSCA’s regulatory efforts in this space aim to uphold the reputation of South Africa’s markets, particularly important in a global environment where emerging markets must continuously attract foreign investment.

Key Areas of Focus for 2025–2028

The FSCA outlines several interventions to enhance market integrity and efficiency over the next three years:

1. Strengthening Transparency in Trading Platforms

The FSCA will increase oversight of exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) trading platforms, ensuring that market participants:

• Disclose accurate and timely trade information
• Adhere to price discovery rules
• Are subject to surveillance that deters market manipulation

This includes closer supervision of authorised exchanges, central securities depositories, and market infrastructures, in coordination with the Prudential Authority (PA) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

2. Enhancing Regulatory Reporting Frameworks

Reliable data is the foundation of effective supervision. The FSCA plans to:

• Improve the quality, frequency, and granularity of regulatory reporting
• Expand the use of RegTech (regulatory technology) tools for automated data analytics
• Encourage firms to adopt machine-readable reporting formats for greater consistency

Enhanced reporting will help the FSCA detect systemic risks and conduct comparative analysis across financial sectors.

3. Strengthening Supervision of Market Infrastructures

The FSCA is sharpening its focus on key market infrastructure entities, including:

• Clearing houses
• Settlement systems
• Central counterparties (CCPs)

These entities are critical to the smooth operation of financial markets, and their resilience is increasingly important amid rising cybersecurity threats, cross-border flows, and volatility in global markets.

4. Cross-Border Cooperation and Alignment with Global Standards

South Africa’s financial system does not operate in isolation. The FSCA is aligning its market conduct oversight with international standards and bodies, including:

• IOSCO (International Organisation of Securities Commissions)
• FATF (Financial Action Task Force)
• FSB (Financial Stability Board)

Such alignment ensures the country remains compliant with global expectations and avoids reputational risks like grey listing or regulatory arbitrage.

Enforcement and Market Misconduct

The FSCA will also take a firmer stance on market abuse, particularly insider trading, price manipulation, and failure to disclose material information. Enhanced surveillance tools, whistleblower protections, and cooperation with law enforcement agencies will support this agenda.

The FSCA’s Market Abuse Directorate is expected to play a more prominent role in identifying and sanctioning misconduct, in line with the Financial Markets Act and the upcoming COFI framework.

Implications for Financial Market Participants

Market participants, including listed entities, traders, brokers, asset managers, and exchanges, will be required to action the following:

• Review and update internal control frameworks and compliance programmes
• Ensure accurate, complete, and timely trade disclosures
• Strengthen surveillance systems to detect suspicious activity
• Engage in transparent governance and market-facing communications

By doing so, firms can contribute to a healthier market environment and reduce the risk of regulatory enforcement actions.

Regulation of Crypto Assets

The regulation of crypto assets has become one of the most pressing challenges for financial sector regulators globally and South Africa is no exception. Recognising the growing use of crypto assets in both speculative investment and financial services, the FSCA has placed crypto regulation front and centre in its 2025–2028 Regulation Plan.

This inclusion reflects the FSCA’s commitment to balancing innovation and investor protection, while mitigating systemic and financial crime risks linked to digital assets.

Context: From Innovation to Regulation

Crypto assets, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as stablecoins and tokenised assets have moved beyond fringe adoption. Locally, more South Africans are participating in crypto markets through the following platforms, products, protocols and remittances:

• Crypto trading platforms (exchanges)
• Crypto-based investment products
• Decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols
• Blockchain-enabled cross-border remittances

However, the rapid growth of these activities has exposed consumers to significant risks as follows:

• Market volatility and liquidity concerns
• Scams, fraud, and Ponzi schemes
• Cyber breaches and wallet theft
• Lack of consumer redress
• Use of crypto for illicit financial flows

In response, the FSCA, in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG), has begun formally regulating crypto asset activities within the existing financial sector framework.

Licensing and Oversight of Crypto Asset Service Providers

In 2023, the FSCA declared crypto assets to be a financial product under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act, triggering the requirement for Crypto Asset FSP licensing.

Under the 2025–2028 Regulation Plan, the FSCA intends to:

• Finalise and enforce licensing conditions for crypto asset service providers (CASPs), including exchanges, brokers, and wallet providers
• Require ongoing compliance with FAIS Fit and Proper requirements
• Impose conduct standards tailored to crypto-specific risks
• Monitor advertising and disclosure practices to prevent misleading marketing

Institutions offering crypto-related financial products must now align their governance, risk management, and customer onboarding practices with traditional financial services standards.

Planned Integration Under the COFI Bill

While current oversight is through FAIS, the upcoming Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill will provide a more unified and robust regulatory framework. The FSCA plans to integrate crypto regulation into the COFI regime, with activity-based requirements that reflect the nature and complexity of digital asset services.

This will give the FSCA greater supervisory and enforcement powers, particularly around:

• Product suitability
• AML/CFT compliance (aligned with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC))
• Consumer protection and complaints handling
• Cross-border operations and platform accountability
• Global Alignment and Interagency Cooperation

South Africa’s approach is also shaped by global regulatory trends. The FSCA is aligning crypto regulation with standards set by:

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) , including the Travel Rule for crypto transfers
• The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), on digital asset market oversight
• The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation
• The G20 and FSB policy frameworks on crypto and stablecoins

Cooperation with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and FIC ensures that monetary policy, prudential risk, and financial crime considerations are adequately addressed.

Implications for Industry Participants

Entities involved in crypto asset activities must:

• Secure proper licensing and maintain ongoing compliance
• Establish robust cybersecurity and custody protocols
• Ensure accurate, fair, and risk-based consumer disclosures
• Monitor and report suspicious transactions
• Prepare for stricter conduct standards under COFI

Unlicensed entities operating in the crypto space are at increasing risk of enforcement action, and consumers are being urged to check whether their providers are registered with the FSCA.

Open Finance and Digital Innovation

The FSCA’s 2025–2028 Regulation Plan highlights open finance and digital innovation as pivotal drivers of change in South Africa’s financial services landscape. As digital transformation accelerates, the FSCA is positioning itself to support responsible innovation while addressing associated risks, such as data misuse, exclusion, and systemic vulnerabilities.

Open finance promises to reshape how financial services are accessed, delivered, and regulated, making this an essential area for both regulatory attention and industry adaptation.

What is Open Finance?

Open finance refers to the practice of enabling customers to securely share their financial data across service providers, including banks, insurers, lenders, investment firms, and fintechs, through standardised application programming interfaces (APIs).

This model builds on the principles of open banking but goes further by extending data-sharing beyond just bank accounts to cover the entire financial ecosystem.

Benefits of open finance include the following:

• Greater competition and innovation in financial products
• Enhanced customer control over their financial information

• Improved access to tailored financial solutions, especially for underserved markets
• Support for embedded finance and cross-sector digital ecosystems

However, it also introduces new risks, particularly around the following:

• Data privacy and consent
• Cybersecurity
• Financial exclusion (if access relies on digital literacy or device ownership)
• Market dominance by big tech or data aggregators

FSCA’s Role and Strategic Interventions

As open finance evolves, the FSCA is taking a central role in shaping the regulatory architecture. The 2025 Regulation Plan outlines several priorities in this space:

1. Developing Open Finance Frameworks

The FSCA is working with the National Treasury, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), and the Information Regulator to develop a national open finance policy. This will achieve the following:

• Establish governance principles for data sharing
• Define roles and responsibilities of data holders and third-party providers
• Ensure interoperability and technical standards across platforms

The goal is to balance innovation with safety, ensuring that data-sharing enhances, rather than undermines, financial inclusion and consumer trust.

2. Regulatory Guidance and Conduct Standards

The FSCA plans to issue guidance and eventually conduct standards for:

• Data sharing protocols
• Informed customer consent and withdrawal mechanisms
• Third-party access rights and accountability
• Use of alternative data in credit risk modelling

These standards will draw on international benchmarks such as the UK’s Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) and the G20’s High-Level Principles on Data Free Flow with Trust.

3. Supervision of Fintechs and Digital Platforms

As more fintechs and non-bank entities enter the financial services space, the FSCA is undertaking the following:

• Expanding licensing and supervision to cover API-based service providers
• Monitoring data aggregators, payment gateways, and embedded finance platforms
• Promoting RegTech and SupTech solutions to enhance its own supervisory capabilities

This is critical to ensure that innovation is not outpacing regulation, particularly in areas where consumer risks are high and accountability is unclear.

Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Decision-Making

Closely linked to open finance is the rising use of AI and machine learning in areas such as:

• Credit scoring
• Robo-advice
• Insurance underwriting
• Investment portfolio management

The FSCA is aware of potential risks such as algorithmic bias, lack of explainability, and automated mis-selling. As a result, it intends to:

• Enhance its technology risk supervision
• Require greater transparency and fairness in automated decision-making
• Develop AI-specific conduct standards in collaboration with international bodies

Implications for Industry Participants

Financial service providers, including banks, fintechs, and insurers, should prepare for:

• A regulated open finance ecosystem with new compliance requirements
• Customer-centric design in data sharing processes
• Greater scrutiny of how algorithms and data are used in decision-making
• Collaboration with regulators on standards, testing, and interoperability

Institutions that embrace open finance responsibly stand to benefit from enhanced customer trust, efficiency, and innovation potential, while those that lag may face both compliance risks and lost market relevance.

Sustainable Finance and Climate Risk

Sustainability and climate-related risks have emerged as key considerations for financial sector regulators worldwide. In its 2025–2028 Regulation Plan, the FSCA affirms its commitment to promoting a more sustainable, resilient, and transparent financial system; one that supports South Africa’s transition to a low-carbon economy while safeguarding investors and financial stability.

Sustainable finance is no longer a “nice to have”; it is now central to how financial institutions are expected to operate, allocate capital, and manage risk.

Why Sustainable Finance Matters

South Africa faces significant climate, biodiversity, and social development challenges, from energy transition to water scarcity to inequality. The financial sector has a critical role to play in the following key areas:

• Financing climate adaptation and mitigation
• Managing the financial impact of climate-related risks
• Allocating capital toward sustainable and inclusive development
• Improving environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency

For the FSCA, this means driving a regulatory agenda that encourages responsible investment, climate risk disclosure, and sustainability integration in governance and strategy.

Key FSCA Initiatives for 2025–2028

1. Implementation of Climate Disclosure Standards

The FSCA will require regulated entities to adopt climate-related and sustainability disclosure frameworks aligned with international standards, including the following:

• IFRS S1 and S2 (issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board – ISSB)
• Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
• Future standards developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or TNFD (for nature-related risks)

These disclosures will apply to listed companies, asset managers, pension funds, and insurers, with the aim of improving:

• Investor decision-making
• Capital allocation transparency
• Systemic climate risk assessment

2. Integration of ESG into Risk Management and Governance

The FSCA expects financial institutions to embed ESG risks, particularly climate risk, into the following:

• Enterprise risk management (ERM) frameworks
• Credit and investment decisions
• Product development
• Board-level oversight and reporting

Institutions must demonstrate that they understand their physical, transition, and liability exposures and have appropriate strategies in place to address them.

3. Sustainable Finance Taxonomy and Green Product Standards

In collaboration with the National Treasury and other regulatory bodies, the FSCA will promote the adoption of a national sustainable finance taxonomy, defining what qualifies as “green,” “social,” or “sustainable” finance.

This will achieve the following:

• Prevent greenwashing
• Improve the integrity of ESG-labelled products (e.g. green bonds, ESG funds)
• Help investors identify credible sustainability-linked opportunities

The FSCA is also exploring conduct standards for green financial products to ensure they are clearly marketed, properly disclosed, and appropriately risk-rated.

4. Supporting the National Sustainable Finance Initiative (NSFI)

The FSCA continues to participate in the NSFI, a multi-agency initiative aimed at coordinating South Africa’s sustainable finance policy development. Key goals include:

• Mobilising sustainable investment at scale
• Aligning public and private finance with national development goals
• Developing a just transition framework for affected sectors (e.g. coal, heavy industry)

Implications for Financial Institutions

The shift to sustainable finance carries both regulatory obligations and strategic opportunities. Institutions will need to:

• Invest in ESG data, systems, and reporting capabilities
• Update internal policies to reflect climate and sustainability risks
• Train leadership and risk teams on ESG issues
• Conduct climate scenario analyses and stress testing
• Ensure product offerings are aligned with genuine sustainability objectives

Failure to act exposes firms to reputational damage, legal liability, and regulatory scrutiny, particularly in light of increasing investor expectations and global alignment.

Looking Ahead

As sustainable finance becomes more embedded in regulatory frameworks, the FSCA’s evolving role is not only to enforce minimum standards but also to catalyse change. The regulator is signalling that sustainability is no longer optional, it must be integrated into strategy, risk, and conduct at all levels of the financial institution.

Operational Resilience

In an era marked by cyber threats, global supply chain disruptions, pandemics, and increased reliance on digital infrastructure, the operational resilience of financial institutions has become a regulatory imperative. The FSCA’s 2025–2028 Regulation Plan identifies operational resilience as a critical cross-cutting priority, aimed at ensuring the financial system can withstand, adapt to, and recover from disruptive events without causing significant consumer or market harm.

Defining Operational Resilience

Operational resilience is the ability of a financial institution to continue delivering critical operations during periods of disruption, whether caused by cyberattacks, IT system failures, natural disasters, or geopolitical events.

It goes beyond traditional business continuity planning by focusing on system-wide risk, third-party dependencies, and the interconnectedness of financial markets.

Key FSCA Priorities and Interventions

1. Strengthening Business Continuity and Incident Response

The FSCA expects financial institutions to engage in the following:

• Maintain tested and up-to-date business continuity and disaster recovery plans
• Identify and prioritise critical business services
• Develop incident response frameworks that ensure timely escalation, containment, and recovery
• Report significant operational incidents to the FSCA promptly

These requirements will be formalised through conduct standards that apply across all financial sectors.

2. Enhancing Cybersecurity and Technology Risk Management

Given the rise in cybercrime and data breaches, the FSCA will continue to focus on the following key areas:

• Robust cybersecurity governance
• Real-time threat monitoring and penetration testing
• Protection of customer data and systems integrity
• Vendor and third-party IT risk management

The FSCA will work closely with the Cybersecurity Centre of the SARB, as well as global initiatives on cyber resilience in financial markets, including guidance from the Basel Committee and FSB.

3. Supervision of Third-Party and Outsourcing Risks

Many institutions rely heavily on third-party technology providers, including cloud services, payment processors, and outsourced compliance platforms. The FSCA will:

• Strengthen expectations around outsourcing governance
• Require risk assessments and contingency plans for key third-party arrangements
• Monitor concentration risk in outsourced services
• Implications for Institutions

Institutions will be expected to take a holistic and proactive approach to operational resilience, including:

• Conducting resilience testing and scenario planning
• Embedding resilience into governance and risk culture
• Reporting resilience metrics and failures transparently
• Ensuring board-level accountability

Increased regulatory scrutiny will likely lead to new audit requirements, regulatory reviews, and potential sanctions where resilience capabilities are found lacking.

Conclusion and Outlook: Preparing for a Dynamic Regulatory Future

The FSCA’s 2025–2028 Regulation Plan represents a comprehensive and ambitious roadmap for the future of financial sector regulation in South Africa. Against the backdrop of global uncertainty, rapid technological innovation, and growing environmental and social challenges, the FSCA is reinforcing its position as a proactive, risk-based, and outcomes-driven regulator.

From strengthening market conduct supervision to addressing complex cross-cutting issues like crypto assets, open finance, sustainable finance, and operational resilience, the FSCA’s plan sets a clear direction: regulatory frameworks must evolve in step with financial innovation and systemic risks.

For regulated entities, these developments signal a shift in expectations. It is no longer sufficient to simply comply with static rules, institutions must be agile, forward-looking, and ethically aligned with broader societal goals. Key takeaways for financial professionals and firms include:

Conduct risk is business risk: Fair treatment, transparency, and consumer protection must be embedded at all levels.

Innovation must be responsible: As new technologies emerge, institutions are expected to manage associated risks and avoid harm.

Sustainability is a regulatory priority: Climate and ESG considerations are being woven into supervision, disclosure, and risk management expectations.

Operational resilience is non-negotiable: Institutions must demonstrate that they can withstand disruption and continue serving their customers effectively.

The Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill, once enacted, will further entrench this regulatory evolution by consolidating conduct requirements into a cohesive framework and granting the FSCA expanded powers. This will mark a new chapter in market conduct regulation; one that places customer outcomes, ethical governance, and systemic stability at the centre of compliance.

Looking ahead, financial professionals and organisations should consider the following key action points:

• Stay engaged with FSCA communications and industry guidance
• Reassess governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) frameworks in light of emerging standards
• Invest in skills development to navigate the increasingly digital, data-driven regulatory environment
• Embrace collaboration, both with regulators and within the broader financial ecosystem

Ultimately, the FSCA’s Regulation Plan is not just about tighter regulation; it is a call to transform the financial sector into one that is more inclusive, resilient, and future-ready.