The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed that it imposed 34 financial penalties totalling £884.6m during the past year.

In its annual report, the FCA also revealed that it issued 105 final notices (75 against firms, 30 against individuals) and secured 151 outcomes using its enforcement powers. 

The £884.6m collected through financial penalties is a significant decrease from last year’s figures, which saw the FCA impose financial penalties totalling £1.4bn. 

The FCA also revealed that since taking over the regulation of consumer credit in April 2014, over 25,000 firms had been integrated over to its regulatory regime, where it now regulates over 56,000 firms and 125,000 approved persons.

Meanwhile, the FCA revealed that over 2,700 firms applied for the relevant authorisations during the Mortgage Credit Directive implementation. 

“Our overriding goal is for markets to work well, even when the external environment affecting financial services is challenging,” stated John Griffith-Jones, Chairman of the FCA. 

“It’s pleasing therefore that, despite this, on the whole, UK markets have worked well.”

John concluded: “As a regulator we focus on the areas which are not working so effectively, and where problems do occur our aim is to respond quickly. 

“A simple quantitative assessment of our achievements during the year is not possible, but there are some indicators of a positive direction of travel which are highlighted in this report.”