We aim to support a healthy and successful financial system, where firms can thrive and consumers can place their trust in transparent and open markets.
When markets work well, it benefits firms, individuals and society as a whole.
One of our operational objectives is to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system, and to make sure that markets are effective, efficient and reliable.
High standards instil trust and confidence in UK financial services, which is essential for the UK’s international competitiveness and supports its sustainable growth.
Effective and reliable markets
To be effective and reliable, markets must be supported by resilient infrastructure, with appropriate access and transparency to meet the needs of consumers, corporates and other wholesale clients that use them.
We aim to make sure that:
- senior management are accountable for their capital markets activities, including principal and agency responsibilities
- there is a positive culture of identifying and managing conflicts of interest
- there is orderly resolution and return of client assets
- firms’ business models, activities, controls and other behaviour maintain market trust and don’t create or allow market abuse, systemic risk or financial crime
- market efficiency, cleanliness and resilience is delivered through transparency, surveillance and the supervision of infrastructures, as well as their main users
- firms put consumers’ best interests at the heart of their businesses
We step in early when we suspect potential harm in wholesale markets. This reduces the risk of that harm being passed on to consumers.
Promoting competition
As part of our objective to address market integrity, we must promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.
To do this, we normally aim to choose the most pro-competitive measure open to us, if it’s compatible with our wider duties. We consider how to apply this on a case-by-case basis.