Speech by Jon Relleen, director of infrastructure and exchanges, at the Reform of the UK Public and Private Capital Markets Summit 2026. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has discussed the contribution of UK markets to economic growth.I want to build on that by talking about the FCA’s role in reforming capital market rules.The headline is that we’ve been very busy over the past few years.We’ve now completed major aspects of a multi-year programme of work, to ensure capital markets work well for our economy and support growth.This has already delivered positive changes. But there’s plenty more to come.We are working on further reforms, while also adapting to rapid changes in markets and use of technology.In fact, areas such as tokenisation, AI and markets for trading private company shares have become central to our capital markets policy programme.And that tells us something important. As markets change, our approach has had to change too.The question has not been whether regulation changes. It has been how we adjust in a way that preserves trust while also supporting innovation and growth.Let me start by talking about our approach to the work.We have been working with the Treasury, the Bank of England and in close dialogue with the private sector, on a raft of wholesale market reforms.These draw on formal reports, like the Wholesale Markets Review, our process of reviewing inherited EU regulation, and issues raised by market contacts.Some have suggested the work programme is a list not a strategy. But I think that underestimates it. There are some key principles running through it.
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What is FCA? We protect people by helping them understand some of the most common risks they might come across when using financial services.
We publish warnings about firms that are doing business without our authorisation, and we encourage consumers to report scams, potential harm or bad conduct to us.
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We want to help consumers protect themselves, so we work with consumer organisations to raise awareness of what we do. These organisations also help inform our approach to regulation.