According to the Financial Times, the UK’s financial regulator has closed 100 investigations in less than three years without taking any enforcement action, reducing the number of active investigations to its lowest level in nearly a decade. This unprecedented “clearance of backlogged cases” highlights a strategic shift at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Since Therese Chambers and Steve Smart took over as co-heads of enforcement in April and June 2023, respectively, the FCA has aimed to reduce the number of investigations while focusing on cases with greater impact. According to FCA data, between April and November of last year, the agency concluded 24 investigations, with 9 closed without any enforcement action and 15 resulting in enforcement action. Over the two-year period ending in March 2025, the FCA also discontinued 91 investigations that did not result in any enforcement action. Since Chambers and Smart took office, a total of 100 investigations have been closed without enforcement action—the largest “backlog clearance” since the FCA’s establishment in 2013.