The FCA has revealed it plans to improve its authorised firms’ register.

In a letter to Work and Pensions Select Committee chairman Frank Field, FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey said the revamp had already begun.

Confirming the new-look system will be more consumer-friendly, Mr Bailey wrote: “Work is underway to consider how we can improve the register to make it easier to use and understand.”

He added: Changes will be made this summer to make clearer when requirements, including suspensions, apply to an entry.

“We will also make improvements to the search facility and make available a simpler presentation of some commonly searched information.”

The regulator will also provide a free application programme interface from the register, “which will allow developers to provide services that can integrate register data with other data which consumers use.”

Mr Bailey added: “Also in 2019, as part of the senior manager and certification regime, we will introduce a new public register for certified individuals.

“This will link to the financial services register to provide a more intuitive resource for consumers to use.”

In its inquiry into the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), the Work and Pensions Select Committee called on the FCA to name companies and individuals suspended from providing pension advice.

Mr Bailey said the FCA was helping consumers to make “good choices” through its “continuing supervisory work”, which allowed it to “address specific areas of concern.”