Young campaigners from The Advocacy Academy are taking on Britain’s financial regulator over a simple question: what is the point of a fine if the person or institution receiving it is rich enough not to feel it?
The group staged a visual action outside the FCA’s Stratford headquarters at the weekend, carrying giant yellow “Fines by Fortune” penalty notices, speaking to members of the public and calling for financial penalties to have a meaningful impact on the wealthiest individuals and firms.
Their campaign lands at a particularly timely moment, with the FCA’s consultation on financial penalties closing today. The regulator is proposing to make clearer that fines against wealthy individuals can be increased where their income or assets mean an ordinary penalty would fail to deter them.
The Advocacy Academy’s young campaigners support that principle, but argue the FCA should go further and scrutinise whether its existing system for major financial firms is really producing meaningful deterrence – particularly when penalties can potentially be absorbed by institutions with billions at their disposal.
The intervention comes after analysis by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found the overall value of FCA fines fell by 78% between 2021 and 2025, from around £568m to £124m.
For the young people involved, the campaign is part of a wider frustration with growing inequality and what they see as very different consequences depending on how much money you have.
Xander Haile, 18, from Lambeth, said he joined because he had “had enough of seeing wealth disparities grow while government services get cut” and wanted “a better way forward for our generation”.
Khays, 19, another young campaigner from the area, said: “For the rich these penalties are like pennies. We want stricter penalties for the wealthy. This is an issue that impacts everyone and we need everyone to help.”
The campaigners are asking the FCA to widen its current reforms beyond wealthy individuals and examine whether the rules governing very large firms are delivering penalties that actually change behaviour.
