Dear CEO letter

A Dear CEO letter is a letter from a UK financial regulator, usually the FCA or the PRA, addressed to the chief executives of a group of firms. It describes a risk or failing the regulator has seen, often after supervisory or thematic work, and what it expects firms to do about it. The FCA files these letters as their own category in its publications library, next to consultation papers and policy statements.

A Dear CEO letter does not create new rules. It shows how supervisors read the existing ones, which is often more useful: the letter names the behavior, the rules the regulator has in mind and, frequently, a follow-up. Supervisors can later ask what a firm did in response, so a letter addressed to your sector is a change event even when no rule has moved.

The FCA changed part of this format in 2026. It introduced nine annual Regulatory Priorities reports, published between 24 February and 25 March 2026, to replace portfolio letters, the sector-wide letters that set out its supervisory priorities. Dear CEO letters remain a separate category for specific issues. The PRA also writes to chief executives, including letters on its annual supervisory priorities for different types of firm. The closest US counterparts are supervisory letters and bulletins, such as the Federal Reserve's SR letters.

Treat each relevant letter the way you would treat a new rule:

• Log it with the regulator, the date and the population it addresses.
• Write down whether it applies to you, and why.
• Map each expectation to an owner and a control, and record the evidence you would show a supervisor.

The FCA horizon scanning guide lists Dear CEO letters among the sources a documented UK program should cover. See also supervisory statement and enforcement action.

This entry is general information, not legal advice.