Money Covered: The Week That Was – 18 June 2026

Welcome to The Week That Was, a round-up of key events in the financial services sector over the last seven days.

The first of Season 5 of our podcast, Money Covered – The Month That Was, was released this week. David Allinson and Mel Redding discuss the FCA’s proposed section 404 consumer redress scheme for vehicle finance.

To listen to this and all previous episodes, please click here.

Headline development 

FCA consults on changes to Decision Procedure and Penalties

On 15 June 2026, the FCA published a consultation paper on the proposed targeted updates to its Decision Procedure and Penalties Manual (DEPP), covering aspects of penalty-setting and internal decision-making.

Key proposals include:

• Deterrence: increasing the minimum initial disciplinary penalty for serious market abuse by individuals from £100,000 to £150,000, and clarifying how the FCA may apply higher penalties to wealthier individuals to achieve effective deterrence.
• Penalty policy for individuals: updating how deferred income is treated where relevant to penalty calculations, and revising the income and capital thresholds used when assessing “serious financial hardship”.
• Decision-making: changing the rules on who may act as settlement decision makers where cases are referred from market oversight for investigation, alongside minor changes reflecting the introduction of the market abuse regime for cryptoassets.

The purpose of the proposed reforms is to focus enforcement work on delivering impactful deterrence. In increasing penalties and allowing mitigating and aggravating factors for individuals, the FCA is shown to be targeting those who financially benefit from market and regulatory abuse. 

The consultation closes on 10 August 2026.

To read more, please click here.

Auditors

FRC aims for faster and more targeted audit enforcement action 

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will implement reforms to its audit enforcement procedure in July 2026, aimed at making enforcement more proportionate, timely and targeted. The framework moves away from a binary model (formal investigations or private constructive engagement) to a graduated set of routes to resolution. A new public constructive engagement option would allow the FRC to publish how an audit firm will remediate issues and the outcomes, with public statements at the start and end; the audit firm would be named but not the audited entity. FRC's costs may be payable (capped by the audit fee for the relevant year). The reforms also introduce an accelerated procedure for cases involving clear admissions, and an early admissions process allowing firms to conduct a review under FRC oversight and admit breaches, with sanctions based on existing evidence.

To read more, please click here.

Regulatory developments for accountants 

The FRC invites applications to its UK GAAP Technical Advisory Group

On 12 June 2026, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced that it is seeking new members to join its GAAP Technical Advisory Group (TAG), with a view to helping develop the future of UK and Ireland Accounting Standards.

The TAG consists of 15 financial reporting experts, each of whom has broad experience operating under the UK and Ireland Reporting framework. Some of the key functions of TAG include:

• Supporting the development and maintenance of UK and Ireland accounting standards, including Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs).
• Supporting the FRC in considering key issues such as conflicting interpretations, emerging risks to financial reporting quality and the impact of developments in IFRS Accounting Standards.
• Having regard to the meeting users' information needs and wider public interest.

The FRC has encouraged applications from candidates who have experience in either the for-profit or not-for-profit sectors. The FRC is also interest in candidates with experience in a preparer role and candidates from the Republic of Ireland.

To read more, please click here.

Regulatory developments for FCA regulated entities 

FCA speech on Later Life Lending 

The FCA has said later life lending has the potential to become a fourth pillar of retirement funding, alongside the state pension, workplace pensions and personal pensions.

In a speech at the Later Life Lending Summit on 16 June 2026, Emad Aladhal said housing wealth is likely to become a more important part of retirement planning, but is still often seen as a last resort.

The FCA pointed to pressure on retirement incomes and Fairer Finance research suggesting that, by 2040, 51% of households aged 60 and over could benefit from accessing housing wealth through later life lending.

However, the FCA said the market is not yet positioned to deliver at scale. Of almost 330,000 mortgages advanced to over-55s in 2025, only 9% were lifetime mortgages or retirement interest-only products.

The speech focused on product design, advice and trust. The FCA said products need to work better for consumers, and that advice should consider later life lending alongside mortgages, pensions, investments and retirement planning.

The FCA is consulting on retirement interest-only affordability, holding workshops on more holistic advice, and carrying out a focused market study on the later life mortgage market.

To read more, please click here.

With thanks to this week's contributors: Heather Buttifant, Brendan Marrinan, Ben Simmonds, Alison Thomas and Kerone Thomas

If you have any queries please do get in contact with a member of the team, or your usual RPC contact.