Most people associate the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with prudential oversight and consumer protection. Fewer appreciate that the FCA also has the power to enforce competition law in the financial services sector, working alongside the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) under a framework known as "concurrency."[1] That power has been exercised only sparingly since the FCA acquired it in 2015, a fact lamented by the UK government in its various reviews of the competition law concurrency regime.[2]
However, a recent enforcement action taken by the FCA against 11 commodity futures traders suggests it may be increasingly willing to bare its competition law teeth.
The concurrency framework
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 reformed the UK's competition regime by strengthening the role of sector regulators in enforcing competition law.[3] The FCA acquired concurrent competition powers with the CMA in April 2015, giving it the ability to investigate and enforce against breaches of the Competition Act 1998 in the financial services sector.[4] Its concurrent powers were later extended in 2019 to cover claims management services.
In practical terms, concurrency means that the FCA can investigate anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominance under the Competition Act, conduct market studies, and make market investigation references to the CMA. The CMA and the FCA operate under a Memorandum of Understanding that governs how they coordinate case allocation, share information and pool resources. Only one authority may formally investigate a specific case at any one time, and the CMA retains the ultimate say on allocation.
A power rarely used
Despite holding these powers for over a decade, the FCA has been notably restrained in deploying them. According to the CMA's published register of Competition Act cases in regulated sectors, the FCA has opened approximately thirteen distinct financial services investigations under the Competition Act since April 2015. However, only a small number have resulted in infringement findings. As of early 2025, it had successfully concluded just two competition enforcement cases.[5]
That said, there are signs of a shift. The CMA's most recent Annual Concurrency Report, published in June 2026, records a notable uptick in the FCA's activity. Alongside the commodity traders’ case, the FCA now has several open investigations, including into low latency connectivity services at the London Stock Exchange and into suspected breaches relating to the funding and usage of PayPal's digital wallet.[6]
The commodity futures traders case
On 18 September 2026, the FCA published its decision to accept binding commitments from 11-day traders of commodity futures, primarily energy contracts such as gas oil, natural gas and crude oil. The FCA had launched its initial investigation in July 2023, focusing on a period from November 2019 to May 2020 during which the traders were suspected of exchanging competitively sensitive information and potentially coordinating their trading strategies.[7]
The traders operated as independent contractors within a trading arcade, each a member of a group called Futures Trading Facilities Ltd. The FCA's concern was that they had shared information about future trading intentions, current positions and recent orders, reducing the uncertainty that should characterise independent competitive decision-making on exchange-traded markets.[8]
Rather than pursuing a formal infringement decision, the FCA accepted commitments under section 31A of the Competition Act. The traders agreed to stop sharing specified categories of non-public trading information, to undertake annual competition law training, and to arrange an aggregate ex gratia payment of £1 million to the government's Crisis and Resilience Fund.[9] The commitments are binding for five years and enforceable by court order.[10]
Why commitments, not a fine?
The commitments route was a pragmatic choice. A critical factor was that each trader was treated as a separate "undertaking" for competition law purposes. Under the Competition Act, penalties for infringement are capped at 10 per cent of the turnover of the relevant undertaking. For self-employed individuals trading their own funds, that cap would likely have been modest, whereas for companies it is calculated by reference to worldwide turnover and can produce very substantial fines. The FCA itself acknowledged that the £1 million ex gratia payment probably exceeded the total penalty it could have imposed had it found an infringement.[11]
The commitments approach allowed the FCA to secure a meaningful financial outcome and forward-looking behavioural remedies that a formal infringement route would have struggled to deliver.
A wake-up call for financial services
The significance of this case extends well beyond the 11 traders involved. Financial services is home to a substantial population of self-employed individuals, from traders and brokers to consultants and advisers. The FCA's willingness to investigate and take action against individuals operating in this way sends a clear signal: competition law applies to you, and the FCA is prepared to enforce it.
For the firms alongside which these individuals work, there is a message too. The FCA has stated that it "takes suspected exchange of competitively sensitive information and coordination between competitors very seriously and will investigate where appropriate."[12] Businesses that engage self-employed contractors should ensure that appropriate competition law compliance training and information barriers are in place.
After a decade of relative quiet, the FCA's concurrent competition powers are starting to make themselves felt. Whether this case represents a turning point or an isolated exercise remains to be seen, but the regulated financial services sector would be wise to take notice.
[1] Our approach to competition | FCA
[2] See, for example, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-review-of-the-competition-concurrency-arrangements
[3]Concurrency rules under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 | Practical Law
[4]Competition and Markets Authority and Financial Conduct Authority (2019) Memorandum of understanding between the Competition and Markets Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority – concurrent competition powers. July 2019, para. 12
[5]Competition Act 1998 cases in the regulated sectors - GOV.UK
[6] CMA Annual Report on concurrency for 2026, 2 June 2026
[7]Financial Conduct Authority (2026) Decision to Accept Commitments offered by 11 traders in relation to conduct in commodity futures trading. Case Reference: CA98.2023.01
[8]Financial Conduct Authority (2026) Decision to Accept Commitments offered by 11 traders in relation to conduct in commodity futures trading. Case Reference: CA98.2023.01, para 4.10
[9] Ibid, para 5.6, 5.7
[10] Ibid, para 7.6
[11]Commodity traders offer £1m to crisis fund after FCA competition probe | FCA
[12] Financial Conduct Authority (2026) Decision to Accept Commitments offered by 11 traders in relation to conduct in commodity futures trading. Case Reference: CA98.2023.01, para 6.25
