In March 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched its five-year strategy for 2025–2030, setting out an ambitious vision to promote economic growth, encourage innovation, and simplify regulation across the UK’s financial services industry.

The strategy aligns with the FCA’s 2025/26 Annual Work Programme and centres around four strategic priorities:

• Becoming a smarter regulator through greater efficiency and effectiveness,
• supporting economic growth,
• helping consumers navigate their financial lives and,
• fighting financial crime ¹

By adopting a “predictable, purposeful, and proportionate” regulatory approach, the FCA aims to bolster competitiveness while preserving consumer trust and market integrity. For investment firms – including asset managers, hedge funds, and brokers – this renewed focus on innovation, RegTech, and streamlined frameworks signals major opportunities to enhance operations, improve client experiences, and achieve long-term growth. ²

FCA’s Vision for Innovation and RegTech

The FCA’s five-year strategy puts innovation and technology at the heart of regulatory evolution. Through smarter regulation, collaborative testing environments, and data-driven initiatives like Open Finance, the FCA aims to reduce burdens while boosting competitiveness. This section explores how key components of the strategy will shape the landscape for investment firms – and how forward-thinking solutions like Leo RegTech can help firms adapt and thrive.

Smarter Regulation through Technology: The FCA is embracing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and data analytics to modernise supervisory capabilities and cut compliance costs. Tools like Leo RegTech exemplify this shift, providing an AI-powered compliance platform that replaces spreadsheets with a centralised system for reporting, policies, approvals, and training. Leo bridges the gap between regulation and execution, enabling firms to stay agile as regulatory demands evolve.³

Additionally, the FCA’s AI Lab, shaped by insights from over 100 experts, underscores how AI can support smarter regulation. By automating tasks such as compliance checks and risk assessments, investment firms can reduce the complexity of their obligations while improving accuracy and accountability.⁴

Innovation Hubs and Sandboxes: The FCA is also expanding its innovation infrastructure, including the AI Lab, Regulatory Sandbox, and Digital Securities Sandbox. These platforms enable firms to safely test emerging technologies—from tokenised assets to AI-driven trading strategies – while staying within regulatory bounds.⁵

Firms can use Leo RegTech’s intelligent compliance assistant, Eva AI, to navigate these evolving spaces. Whether preparing for sandbox participation or analysing the implications of new rules, Leo’s AI tools provide actionable insights without jargon, helping firms move from compliance to competitive advantage.

Open Finance and API-Driven Services: Open Finance, building on the foundations of Open Banking, will empower firms to access richer transactional data via secure APIs. For brokers and asset managers, this presents an opportunity to streamline onboarding, personalise investment products, and drive deeper client engagement.⁶

Leo’s platform supports seamless integration with third-party systems, enabling firms to connect identity verification, background checks, and data feeds without adding friction. This level of connectivity is critical as Open Finance reshapes the investment landscape.

Simplified Disclosure Requirements: The FCA plans to overhaul retail investment disclosures, replacing complex documents with simplified, consumer-friendly formats. This move could drive greater participation in financial markets, particularly from retail investors.⁷

By automating policy creation and investor communication workflows, Leo RegTech helps firms meet these new standards swiftly and efficiently. Its upcoming Policy Writer feature can even draft UK compliance policies using AI, making regulatory alignment faster and more scalable.

How Firms Can Benefit

Opportunities for Growth and Efficiency

The FCA’s emphasis on innovation translates into real-world benefits:

• Reduced Compliance Costs: By adopting tools like Leo RegTech, firms can automate time-consuming processes such as AML, KYC, and disclosure preparation. RegTech and simplified rules, including a potential 70% reduction in regulatory red tape, can lower compliance.⁸
• Expanded Market Access: Simplified retail fund regimes and clearer investor disclosures can attract retail investors, expanding market opportunities.⁹
• Technology-Driven Advantage: Firms leveraging AI, tokenisation, and DLT in collaboration with the FCA’s sandboxes will be well-placed to lead the next wave of innovation.¹⁰

These opportunities support the FCA’s goal of fostering economic growth and positioning the UK as a global financial hub.

Addressing Challenges with Smart Solutions

Despite the promise, firms must also address key challenges:

• Valuation Standards: Consistency in private asset valuation will be critical. Leo RegTech’s automation capabilities can support standardised, transparent processes that meet FCA expectations¹¹.
• Balancing Innovation and Compliance: Firms must innovate while meeting consumer protection and financial crime prevention standards, requiring proactive risk management.
• Technology Investment: While upfront investment is required, platforms like Leo offer long-term returns by reducing manual work and improving compliance outcomes.¹²

Addressing these challenges will require strategic planning and engagement with FCA innovation services.

Strategic Next Steps

Engage with FCA Innovation Services
Firms should actively participate in the FCA’s AI Lab, Regulatory Sandbox, and Digital Securities Sandbox to test ideas, refine technologies, and align with regulatory best practice.

Invest in Technology
To stay competitive, firms must invest in AI, DLT, and Open Finance systems. Asset managers can adopt AI-driven portfolio optimisation, while brokers can leverage Open Finance APIs for client services. RegTech solutions, such as automated AML and valuation platforms, will enhance compliance efficiency. The FCA’s AI Lab insights underscore the importance of AI in transforming compliance and operational processes.¹³

Lead through Smart Risk Management and Innovation
The FCA’s call to “rebalance risk” encourages firms to explore digital assets and sustainable finance while maintaining robust risk management. By adopting a proactive approach, firms can capitalise on the FCA’s tech-positive stance without compromising consumer trust.¹⁴

In Conclusion…

The FCA’s 2025–2030 strategy presents a pivotal moment for investment firms. With a clear focus on innovation, smarter regulation, and operational efficiency, the path forward is full of promise—but only for those ready to act.

Firms that embrace RegTech solutions like Leo RegTech will not only keep pace with regulatory change—they’ll lead it. Leo’s unified and automated platform, intelligent assistant, and AI-powered tools enable compliance teams to transform how they work, reducing their workload while seizing new opportunities.

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Unlock your firm’s full potential with smart compliance solutions. Visit Leo RegTech today and discover how our technology helps you turn compliance into a strategic edge. Start building the future of your firm, now.

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1. FCA Annual Work Programme 2025/26: Annual Work Programme 2025–26 ↩︎
2. FCA Press Release: FCA launches 5-year strategy to support growth and improve lives / FCA Strategy Document: Our Strategy 2025–30 ↩︎
3. ICSR Insights: The FCA 2025–2026 Annual Work Programme: The final corner of a strategic triangle ↩︎
4. FCA Blog: AI through a different lens: What 115 experts taught us about AI innovation ↩︎
5. FCA Press Release: Support innovative products, new firms as part of new work programme / Same as 1 and 4 ↩︎
6. FCA Strategy Document: Our Strategy 2025–30 / PwC Analysis: FCA sets out growth-focused strategy ↩︎
7. FCA News: Information supplied to investors to be simplified under plans to boost investment ↩︎
8. Citywire: FCA plans to slash red tape for investment firms by 70% ↩︎
9. Same as 7 ↩︎
10. Same as 4 and 5 ↩︎
11. FCA Strategy Document: Our Strategy 2025–30 ↩︎
12. ICSR Insights: The FCA 2025–2026 Annual Work Programme: The final corner of a strategic triangle ↩︎
13. Same as 4 ↩︎
14. Same as 11 ↩︎