The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing to simplify how platforms, advisers and wealth managers communicate the costs of investing while reminding firms to communicate with consumers about investing in plain English.

The proposals will allow firms to innovate, test and compete to inform and engage retail investors, communicate clearly in plain English, not jargon and give information in engaging ways. This will also help consumers compare products more easily and invest with greater confidence, supporting a stronger investment culture.

Consumers struggle to understand investment costs and their impact on returns, for example, 30% of non-advised platform users said they did not know how much they are charged for investing.

To help give consumers a clear and balanced understanding of costs and charges, the FCA is now consulting on simplified rules for how firms communicate all the costs involved in investing, including products, distribution and advice.

Under the proposals, distributors would present their own costs alongside product costs consistent with the Consumer Composite Investments (CCI) format when selling products, and account regularly for the total cost of investing.

The proposals also cover firms’ disclosures to consumers when they charge fees or pay interest on client cash.

From June 2027, firms will need to follow the FCA’s CCI rules, which were finalised last year. This means they must change how they explain investments to consumers before they buy.

To support firms making this change, the FCA has also today published the results from its review of current pre-sale investment disclosures documents, which will need to be updated as firms embed the CCI rules. The review found that of 132 examined for readability, only 6% were written in plain English.

It also looked at these and a further 40 documents, from firms that both manufacture and distribute products, to see how easy they were to understand. All the documents were more complex than GCSE level.

The consultation is open until 21 August 2026. These proposals align with the FCA’s expectations under the Consumer Duty and Dear CEO Letter of 2023 relating to disclosure of interest on cash and double dipping.