The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial services regulator, has confirmed a package of reforms to transaction reporting that it claims will deliver annual savings of more than £100m for firms.
The finalised rules aim to strip out duplicative and low-value submissions while preserving the flow of accurate, high-quality data the watchdog relies on. According to the regulator, trimming unnecessary obligations will ease the compliance load on firms and bolster the growth and competitiveness of UK markets.
Among the headline changes, the number of fields firms must complete in a transaction report will fall from 65 to 52. Foreign exchange derivatives will be taken out of scope entirely, cutting costs for more than 400 businesses.
The regulator is also scrapping reporting duties covering 7 million financial instruments, spanning equities, bonds and certain derivatives that trade only on EU venues, a move expected to save around £32m each year. In addition, the window for fixing historical reporting mistakes will shrink from five years to three, reducing the volume of resubmitted reports by a third.
Firms have been given a lengthy runway, with the rules taking effect on 3 April 2028 to allow time to prepare, test and roll out updated systems. The FCA said a flexible supervisory approach will let firms adopt certain changes ahead of that date if they are ready.
Transaction reports underpin the regulator’s efforts to uncover market abuse, track how markets are functioning and oversee firms. The FCA added that it will keep collaborating with the Bank of England and the Treasury to align transaction and post-trade reporting rules.
FCA joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight Therese Chambers said, “Transaction reports are the backbone of our market oversight work – they help us catch financial crime, monitor market stability and supervise firms effectively.
“By taking a smarter, streamlined approach to reporting, we’re giving firms meaningful cost relief while ensuring we continue to receive the accurate, high-quality data that keeps UK markets clean and competitive.”
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