Two-Headed Monsters: Regulators With Competition Powers And Lessons For The FCA

On April 1, 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority gained concurrent power to enforce competition law in the financial sector, as opposed to merely in regulated activities. On 15 July 2015, following a consultation, it published the final Guidance on these powers, together with a policy statement reacting to the comments received during the consultation.

This was a novel development both for the financial sector and for competition enforcement, and one which does not have the most promising track record. No other developed economy has given a financial sector regulator competition powers. This is not to say that competition law infringements are not tackled by financial regulators. Indeed, the FCA Handbook's Principles for Businesses have a great deal of overlap with the competition rules, to the point where Libor rigging has been regarded by different regulators as a simultaneously a breach of financial sector regulations and competition law.