Regulations

Story: FCA Takes Its Annual Meeting to Edinburgh, Boosting Scottish Workforce Past 350

By Evie Vavasseur

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Hybrid Format, Nationwide Reach. The Annual Public Meeting will run as a hybrid event — in-person seats in Edinburgh, with online…

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Scottish Leaders Back the Move. Reaction from Scotland's financial and consumer sectors was warm.

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Why Edinburgh, Why Now. Edinburgh's financial sector is genuinely big. The city manages a significant share of UK assets…

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The FCA is leaving London. For the first time in the regulator's history, its Annual Public Meeting won't happen in the capital — it'll happen in Edinburgh, on October 6.

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FCA chair Ashley Alder visited the Scottish city on May 26 to open a new office there. The visit wasn't just ceremonial.

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The meeting venue is the Assembly Rooms.

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The Annual Public Meeting will run as a hybrid event — in-person seats in Edinburgh, with online access open to anyone across the UK who wants to watch or participate.

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Per the FCA, picking Edinburgh fits a broader strategy to be more outward-facing and more connected to the markets it actually regulates. That's the official framing, anyway.

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The hybrid format also means the FCA can't really hide behind a small room in Canary Wharf. Stakeholders from Aberdeen to Bristol can log on and put questions to leadership.

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Reaction from Scotland's financial and consumer sectors was warm. Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, praised Edinburgh's heritage as a financial…

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Read also: Bitcoin Surges Past $77K With Exchange Inflows Rising and $80K in Sight

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Derek Mitchell, CEO of Citizens Advice Scotland, also backed the decision. So did Sam Ghibaldan, head of Consumer Scotland.

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Consumer Scotland, for its part, is keen to keep working with the FCA on things like access to cash and financial inclusion.

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No specifics yet on what the APM agenda will cover. Unclear whether the FCA plans additional Scottish office expansions beyond what Alder announced on May 26.

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Edinburgh's financial sector is genuinely big. The city manages a significant share of UK assets under management, and its firms employ tens of thousands of people.

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