The UK’s markets watchdog is ramping up its scrutiny of wealth managers. It warned companies it will prioritise stamping out retail investment scams and ensuring cost disclosures to investors are up to scratch.

In a “Dear CEO” letter to wealth managers and stockbrokers, the Financial Conduct Authority said it was working on four main areas: fraud and investment scams, mismanagement of conflicts of interest and market abuse, not using the best order-handling processes or best execution evaluations, and disclosure of costs and charges.