South African readers will be interested to hear that, according to a recent article in Insurance Day,severe delays at the UK Financial Conduct Authority in approving senior hires are causing strife and harming competitiveness.  System errors are allegedly also leading to threats of fines that are unwarranted and later withdrawn.

Part of the problem is a high rate of staff turnover at the FCA.  The regulator lost nearly 9% of its workforce between June and October 2021 which was 350 staff members (which means a total staff compliment of around 3 850 people).  The FCA recently hired 95 new staff members to its authorisation team and improved forms to make applications quicker and easier.

Insurance Day 26 September 2022