FCA faces criticism for email retention policy critics say risks erasing evidence
The UK’s financial regulator has come under fire for its announcement that it is going to delete emails after a year in an effort to become a more “efficient” regulator, raising concerns that it might accidentally erase evidence in the process.
Up until now, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has retained all emails as a matter of policy, with staff being responsible for marking emails that should be saved as important records. But from April 1, 2025, only emails that are actively archived on a central repository will be kept, with inboxes being wiped after a year as part of a drive to improve records management.
In a blog post meant to “set the record straight” after leaked news reports criticised the FCA’s plan, Ian Phoenix, the regulator’s director for intelligence and digital, said the FCA is not deleting evidence; not hiding information; not reducing transparency; nor changing its policy of what constitutes a record and how long it should be saved for.
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