FCA Warns: Brace for Impact as T+1 Deadline Looms—No Mercy for Unprepared Firms
The Financial Conduct Authority just drew a line in the sand—adapt or face the consequences.
With the T+1 settlement cycle barreling toward implementation, regulators are done playing nice. Firms clinging to outdated systems? They’re about to learn the hard way.
No more hand-holding
The FCA’s message is crystal clear: compliance isn’t optional. Those lagging behind risk more than fines—they’ll hemorrhage credibility in a market that waits for no one.
Speed or suffer
T+1 isn’t just a technical shift—it’s a Darwinian filter for the finance world. The irony? Banks spent decades lobbying against faster settlements… until crypto exposed how archaic their systems really were.
One thing’s certain: when the dust settles, the winners won’t be the ones complaining about ‘unrealistic timelines’—they’ll be the firms that actually modernized. Funny how that works.
Jamie Bell, the FCA’s interim head of capital markets, took part in a fireside chat with Richard Monks of EY at the Accelerated Settlement Taskforce (AST) industry event, ‘The Journey to T+1 in the UK and Europe – will you be ready?’, hosted by EY on 16 July 2025.
The event marked almost 6 months since the AST published its T+1 UK Implementation plan. It focused on market participants’ preparations for the UK MOVE to T+1 on 11 October 2027.
A poll taken at the event indicated that approximately 87% of respondents had already identified the changes they need to make to prepare for T+1.
Jamie explained how initial engagement with market participants has been positive and we are largely satisfied with preparations with T+1 so far.
Other topics included:
- How automation is important for an efficient settlement process and market participants’ plans support this.
- While the FCA is playing a supportive role to the market, we will act if firms are not prepared for the October 2027 deadline.
In response to an audience question, Jamie described how the FCA cannot meet with all relevant authorised firms.
Our work should be seen as part of a broader market initiative to communicate about T+1, including by firms through their client engagement.
Find out how to prepare for T+1
Source: FCA
