FCA announces new senior role, Enforcement Guide update - mpamag.com

Since joining the FCA in 2021, Pritchard has been involved in capital markets reform, pension oversight and regulatory engagement with global standard-setters, including the G20 and Financial Stability Board. Her appointment is understood to be designed to support the FCA’s growing list of functions, including its oversight of buy now, pay later (BNPL) lenders and non-bank financial institutions.

Prior to her time at the FCA, Pritchard served as director of the National Economic Crime Centre, general counsel at the National Crime Agency and held senior compliance roles at HSBC. She also began her career in private legal practice.

FCA chair Ashley Alder said the regulator's board supported the appointment in light of rising external demands. Chief executive Nikhil Rathi noted that Pritchard had played a key role in major projects and the integration of the FCA’s operational divisions. He described the new strategy as a “collective endeavour.”

Enforcement Framework Overhauled

Separately, the FCA has implemented a comprehensive update of its Enforcement Guide—now referred to as the ENFG—applicable to all new investigations opened from 3 June 2025. The previous version, in place since 2007, has been substantially revised following a two-stage consultation process.

The updated guide removes more than 250 pages of content deemed duplicative or outdated. Among the most notable adjustments is a shift in the regulator’s stance on publicity: plans to publicly identify regulated firms under investigation, based on a discretionary ‘public interest’ test, have been abandoned. Instead, the FCA has retained the narrower 'exceptional circumstances' approach while allowing for new, specific cases in which publicity may be justified.