FCA Inducts New Members to RDC

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced the latest addition to their Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC).

Karen Johnston and Nick Lord will be joining the RDC according to a regulatory filing. The RDC is one of the committees in charge of making decisions in connection with the enforcement and supervision of actions in the financial industry. Furthermore, the RDC is responsible for authorizing firms and approving individual applications if necessary. According to the FCA website, the RDC makes decisions for the following:

• cancelling permissions and registrations

• prohibitions

• financial penalties

• suspensions/restrictions

• withdrawal of approvals

• public censures

In short, it is an administrative body that is essentially the final phase before the FCA enacts a decision.

Upon making a decision, FCA’s RDC gives statutory notices which, according to FCA’s official website, can be any of the following:

• Warning notices when it proposes to take action, for example disciplinary action against a regulated firm or individual.

• Decision notices either after it has considered representations on a warning notice and decided that action should be taken, or where no representations have been made and the RDC is entitled to assume that the facts and matters are undisputed.

• Supervisory notices when it is taking, or proposing to take, action on its own initiative against a firm to change the activities it is allowed to do or for asset requirements.

RDC members are individuals with a wide array of background. Their skills and history come from experience in sectors including consumer, industry, and business. The FCA board chooses from a list of candidates and appoints both the RDC Chair and its members.

The current RDC chair is Tim Parkes. He welcomed the new members in a statement saying, “I am delighted to welcome our newest members to the committee. Karen and Nick bring a wealth of consumer-focused knowledge and experience in the consumer credit and other sectors, which will complement existing committee members.”

Karen Johnston and Nick Lord follows the footsteps of last year’s newbies, Malcolm Nicholson, Philip Marsden, Stuart McIntosh, and Robin Mason. Tim Parke praised last year’s appointees saying, “Stuart, Philip, Robin and Malcolm joined the RDC during 2016. All four are members of other FCA and PSR decision-making committees and contribute a wide range of legal and academic expertise, as well as experience of collective decision-making, which will enhance overall the capability and effectiveness of the RDC.”

Check out FCA’s RDC in their official website at

https://www.fca.org.uk/about/committees/regulatory-decisions-committee-rdc