The Financial Conduct Authority has set out multiple near-term regulatory changes affecting UK financial services. From 1 January 2027 firms subject to the Dispute Resolution (DISP) rules will move to a single consolidated complaints return replacing five separate returns, with fixed six-month reporting cycles of 1 January-30 June and 1 July-31 December. The revised process introduces a new taxonomy, clearer guidance, and a focus on complaints involving customers in vulnerable circumstances; data for firms with 500+ complaints will be published. Firms wishing to respond to the consultation on extending vulnerability data collection have until 2 February 2026 to do so.
The regulator will also lift the pause on motor finance complaints handling on 31 May 2026, enabling the compensation scheme to proceed after legal clarity. Complaints paused since January 2024 will resume, with firms required to issue final responses in line with the scheme and to handle non-scheme complaints within up to eight weeks after 31 May 2026. Leasing complaints remain outside the scheme and firms must start issuing final responses from 5 December 2025. Record retention requirements are extended to 11 April 2031 to support investigations and redress.
The FCA has launched a first-of-its-kind Artificial Intelligence live testing programme to help firms deploy Artificial Intelligence safely across retail use cases such as debt resolution, financial advice, complaints handling and customer engagement. The programme complements the Supercharged Sandbox and aims to improve evaluation frameworks, live monitoring, governance and risk management; applications for the second cohort open in January 2026, with testing starting in April. On crypto, the FCA is progressing consultations on stablecoin issuance, custody and prudential rules, has opened a stablecoin-specific cohort in the Regulatory Sandbox (applications open until 18 January) and plans policy sprints in March. Separately, proposals to make ESG ratings more transparent and comparable are designed to deliver £500 million in net benefits over the next decade, reference a projected USD 2.2 billion in global ESG data spending in 2025, and close for consultation on 31 March 2026, with final rules expected in Q4 2026 and implementation from June 2028; 95% of respondents supported bringing ESG ratings under FCA oversight.
