What I Miss (and Don't) About the FCA

Ten years inside the FCA's enforcement division taught me things about how regulators actually think that no amount of reading published guidance ever could. I miss the clarity of that — you knew exactly what you were trying to establish, and the institution's incentives were relatively simple to understand from inside.

What I don't miss is the distance from the businesses the decisions actually affected. On the regulator's side, a firm is a case file. From this side of the table, I get to sit across from the people whose jobs and companies are genuinely on the line, and advise them as people, not as a docket number.

I think I'm a better regulatory lawyer for having been on the other side. I try to remember, every time I advise a client, that the person across the table at the FCA is also just doing their job as they understand it — which changes how I negotiate, even when the stakes are serious.