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Writing in NLJ this week, Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers says the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2026 will replace a ‘detailed, black-letter approach’ with a more flexible regulatory model. Contract, notice and post-contractual requirements would largely move into CONC, shifting consequences from automatic statutory sanctions towards damages, fines and regulatory action.
Yet the courts retain key territory, including time orders, connected-lender liability and unfair-relationship claims. That matters sharply for motor finance commission litigation, where claims may continue despite questions over what consumers have actually lost.
The reform promises a cleaner, modernised framework, but Philpott warns that moving disputes from county courts towards regulator-led enforcement raises an important question: is flexibility an improvement, or simply a different route to uncertainty?
