The Financial Conduct Authority has used a 25 June speech on the future of consumer credit to signal a more coordinated regulatory approach to claims handling, redress and credit-market compliance, with clear implications for law firms, claims management companies and in-house legal teams advising lenders.
Alison Walters, the FCA’s director of consumer finance, told Credit Week: Powering the Future of Finance that a more trusted credit market will depend on collective action across regulators, firms, policymakers and consumer bodies, rather than rulemaking by the FCA alone.
The strongest legal hook is the FCA’s reference to joint work with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Advertising Standards Authority over poor practices in the handling of motor finance claims by some claims management companies and law firms.
That places legal services conduct, data handling, advertising standards and financial redress in the same supervisory frame. It also reflects the pressure created by mass consumer claims, where high-volume client acquisition, onboarding, consent evidence and complaint handling can quickly move from commercial process to regulatory risk.
Regulatory context now matters because the consumer credit framework is being reshaped at the same time as redress systems are under review. Walters pointed to the Government’s work on Consumer Credit Act reform, the Financial Services and Markets Bill, and continuing engagement between the FCA, HM Treasury and the Financial Ombudsman Service on modernising redress.
The speech also referred to the shift from the Office of Fair Trading regime to the FCA, underlining how consumer-credit compliance has become part of a wider conduct, governance and accountability framework.
Credit products, complaint pathways and claims exposure now need to be reviewed together, particularly by in-house teams advising lenders, BNPL providers and motor finance businesses. The FCA said Deferred Payment Credit, commonly known as Buy Now Pay Later, will come into regulation in July 2026, bringing stronger consumer protections and affordability expectations.
Alison Walters also linked the Consumer Duty, the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, AI governance, open finance, credit information reform and new regulatory data returns to the way the FCA intends to supervise the market. That combination matters because firms will be expected to evidence outcomes, not merely point to policies.
Law firm management should also read the speech as a warning about how regulators may treat poor claims practices where legal services, advertising, data permissions and financial complaints overlap.
The FCA’s direction points toward earlier and more joined-up intervention where consumer harm emerges, particularly in motor finance, BNPL, high-cost credit and redress-heavy markets.
The FCA, SRA, ICO and ASA are now aligned closely enough that solicitors and in-house counsel advising credit firms should test marketing, onboarding, data and complaints processes before regulatory scrutiny arrives.