The Financial Conduct Authority cancelled the authorisation of 1,261 firms in 2023-24, around double the 627 cancelled in 2022-23.
In its annual report, the regulator also revealed income from fees stood at £725.1mn for the year ended March 2024, up from £679.8mn the previous year with its total income for the year sitting at £758.3mn.
The regulator said it continued to “protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system” by ensuring only firms which met its high standards could operate with its permission.
The FCA revealed it used its powers to directly intervene against 34 firms where it had ‘serious concerns’, up 68 per cent on the previous year.
As part of the FCA’s objective of reducing and preventing serious harm, it was able to review more than 3,000 audits of how financial services firms were holding and safeguarding client money and assets.
The regulator was also able to identify early the potential of a firm failing with 52.8 per cent identified in the preceding 12 months as of Q4 2023.
In addition, it confirmed it had implemented a regulatory return which enabled the FCA to collect financial resilience data from 23,000 firms.
The FCA said it was seeing progress on firms delivering on the requirements of the Consumer Duty, including on offering fair value.
With 37 per cent of advice firms having reportedly changed their fee structure to ensure they were offering fair value.
Ashley Alder, chair of the FCA, said: “The duty links to our proposals to address the fact that regulated, personalised financial advice is only available to a minority of wealthier investors.
“The resulting advice or ‘help’ gap disadvantages millions of unsupported retail savers facing complex pension decumulation and other choices crucial to their financial security. This work is of particular relevance to challenges posed by an ageing society.
Alder added the final policy choices to close the advice gap would involve questions of commercial viability, affordability, risk acceptance and “other trade-offs”.
Over time, the FCA said it aimed to see a continued reduction in upheld Fos complaints about unsuitable advice or mis-sold products and services.
It said: “This is because we expect our work to raise firm standards and ensure that firms deliver suitable advice and products for customers which will result, over time, in a reduction in overall complaints as well as fewer complaints being upheld.”
Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA insisted that the FCA was increasingly “clear and confident” of what it could and could not do.
“Like any ecosystem, there are multiple actors in the financial services sector. Some, like ourselves, have a bigger role to play than others. But each must do its bit for the
sector to succeed,” he added.
Staffing costs totalled £477.3mn while administrative and general costs amounted to £288.2mn
According to the accounts, the total comprehensive deficit for the year for the FCA was £44.8mn.
