Tough times call for a tough regulator. Is that how the financial services sector describes the Financial Conduct Authority, as the City is buffeted by the headwinds of Brexit and Covid? Rarely, most observers would readily admit.

But could change be in the air? Could the FCA finally unlock some of its potential to be a sterner warden of consumers’ interests, as the public continues to raise gripes about everything from rip-off charges to market-manipulating cabals? The answer is that, through a minor procedural change, the FCA might actually be getting somewhere on the path to become a more effective and feared policeman.