FCA Sharpens Focus On Consumer Duty Board Reports - Key Considerations For Financial Services M&A

On 16 April 2026, in a blog post, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set out its expectations for firms’ next Consumer Duty board reports (due Q3 2026), highlighting both areas of progress and those requiring improvement.

While firms are making better use of data and boards are more engaged, the FCA expects reporting to be more clearly focused on customer outcomes.

The FCA has identified four priority areas:

1. Linking data to outcomes: Boards should move beyond MI dashboards to generate meaningful insight, identify risks, and assess whether good customer outcomes are being delivered. This requires not just reviewing data, but explaining what it shows in practice and using it to support effective challenge and decision-making.