FCA Chief Executive Sets Out Digital-Age Market Integrity Focus

FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi used a 22 October speech at the Corporation of the City of London’s annual City Dinner to set out how the regulator is approaching market integrity as financial markets and their technology change. The speech describes the FCA’s work across market surveillance, resilience and the adaptation of regulation to new forms of finance.

This is a policy speech, not a new FCA rule or an announcement of a change to trading requirements. Its relevance is the regulator’s emphasis on maintaining fair and orderly markets while firms adopt newer technologies and market structures evolve. The FCA’s market-integrity work affects the environment in which brokers, venues and investment firms monitor trading and manage operational risk.

For individual traders, the announcement does not alter account terms, execution rules or conduct obligations. It does, however, provide a current regulatory signal: firms operating in UK markets should expect continued attention to the systems used to identify misconduct, maintain resilient services and support confidence in market pricing.

Why it matters

Market integrity supports the conditions traders rely on: reliable market access, confidence that prices are not distorted by abuse and effective handling of disruptions. A speech does not itself create a compliance duty, but it can indicate areas of future supervisory focus for platforms and intermediaries.

What to watch next

Watch for FCA consultations, policy statements or enforcement updates that turn these priorities into specific requirements. Traders should also monitor broker communications on service resilience, surveillance and material changes to trading arrangements.