FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)
UK Financial Conduct Authority — regulator of financial services firms and financial promotions, including paid advertising of investments and cryptoassets.
What FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) means
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the UK's conduct regulator for financial services firms, established under the Financial Services Act 2012. The FCA approves and supervises authorized firms, regulates listed companies' market conduct, and enforces the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) financial promotions regime — including the requirement that financial promotions be issued or approved by an authorized person. Since October 2023, the FCA has supervised social media advertising of cryptoassets to UK consumers under an extended financial promotions regime, requiring risk warnings, cooling-off periods, and a ban on incentives to invest. The FCA can require platforms to remove unauthorized financial promotions, issue consumer alerts via its Warning List, and impose civil penalties or criminal referrals. AuditSocials monitors FCA Warning List entries, financial promotion enforcement actions, and updates to the FSMA financial promotions rules affecting social platforms.