Following the Rules FCA deputy CEO Sarah Pritchard on the regulator's to-do list as it navigate new rules, new risks and "uncertain" times
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Feb 24, 2026 
Sarah Pritchard, an experienced regulator and FCA Deputy CEO with senior roles at HSBC and the National Crime Agency, outlines the regulator’s five-year priorities. She discusses new tailored supervision, nine sector reports, Consumer Duty scope, AI testing spaces, operational resilience and critical third parties, SMCR reform and the push for clearer political accountability.
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Get Ready For Targeted Support Authorisation
- Do prepare to apply for targeted support authorisation if you want to offer personalized but non-advice pension and investment suggestions.
- Pritchard says targeted support aims to close the advice gap and firms need FCA authorisation to nudge consumer groups from April onward.
Use FCA Innovation Services To Support Growth
- Do use FCA innovation and scale-up services to support market entry and cross-border planning.
- The FCA expanded pre-application support, set up a scale-up unit and placed staff in international hubs including Singapore and the US.
Risk Based Dialing Of Supervisory Intensity
- The FCA will dial supervisory intensity up or down based on firm size and risk using more data-led supervision.
- Pritchard notes only a small fraction of 42,000 firms have dedicated teams, so data will identify outliers for swift action.