The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s regulator for financial services firms and markets, has confirmed new rules intended to make transaction reporting requirements smarter, simpler and more proportionate for the industry.
The changes are expected to save firms more than £100m a year by removing reporting obligations that the regulator considers duplicative or of limited value, while ensuring the FCA continues to receive the accurate and high-quality data it needs to oversee markets effectively.
Among the key changes, the number of fields firms must complete for transaction reporting will drop from 65 to 52. Foreign exchange derivatives will no longer need to be reported, a move set to cut costs for more than 400 firms. Reporting requirements will also be lifted for seven million financial instruments, including equities, bonds and certain derivatives traded solely on EU venues, a change expected to save the industry roughly £32m each year. In addition, the window for correcting historical reporting errors will be shortened from five years to three, which the FCA expects will cut the number of transaction reports requiring resubmission by a third.
Transaction reports play a central role in the FCA’s ability to identify and probe market abuse, track how markets are functioning, and supervise firms under its remit.
The new requirements are due to come into force on 3 April 2028, giving firms time to prepare, test and roll out updated reporting systems. The FCA has said it will take a flexible supervisory approach, allowing firms that are able to adopt certain changes earlier to do so ahead of the formal deadline. The regulator also plans to keep working alongside the Bank of England and the Treasury to align transaction and post-trade reporting rules more closely.
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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