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‘Shoot first, ask questions later’: Can the FCA’s new boss become a feared enforcer?

One year on from his appointment as the FCA's new boss, where will Nikhil Rathi take the watchdog?

Rathi is in the spotlight as pressure mounts on the regulator to clamp down on wrongdoers
Rathi is in the spotlight as pressure mounts on the regulator to clamp down on wrongdoers Photo: Getty Images/Chris J. Ratcliffe

When former Financial Conduct Authority boss Martin Wheatley uttered his now-infamous remark that the regulator would “shoot first and ask questions later”, the City’s collective eyebrows were rightly raised. 

Fast forward nine years, however, and the FCA finds itself lambasted from all directions for not acting quickly enough. Far from being gung ho, it is often criticised for shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted.

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