Competition | UK Regulatory Outlook June 2025

UK government announces review of National Security and Investment Act regime 

The government has, as part of its Industrial Strategy, announced a 12-week consultation review of the mandatory National Security and Investment Act (NSIA) regime in an attempt to make the UK's investment rules more "predictable and proportionate".  

The review could see substantial changes to the 17 current sensitive sectors covered by the NSIA regime as the government attempts to prioritise growth without diluting protections to UK intellectual property. As a first step, a number of exemptions will be announced to the current regime allowing companies to engage in M&A activity without further government scrutiny. 

In the year March 2023 to 2024 the government received 847 NSIA notifications. It called in 37 of these notifications for review and issued five final orders from ministers that imposed conditions on acquisitions to mitigate national security concerns. 

FCA to disclose investigations into unregulated firms 

The Financial Conduct Authority has announced new policies to increase transparency by disclosing investigations into unregulated firms and suspected unauthorised activities. This is part of three key revisions to the information it provides the public on its investigatory work.  

Given 60% of FCA investigations are into unregulated firms, this policy shift will lead to significantly more information being published about its investigatory work as the regulator aims to become more transparent in its operations. 

The full enforcement guide can be found here. 

EU papers suggest policy changes ahead of the next EU Summit in late June 

In the lead up to the EU Summit at the end of June, several policy papers and declarations have been published outlining the areas of policy focus for the EU. 

Defence 

In response to "an acute and growing threat", EU companies will receive antitrust guidance aimed at promoting cooperation on defence projects. A paper published May 2025 outlines how the current regulatory environment, adopted in peacetime, is not adapted for military readiness and therefore some competition rules may need to be relaxed to promote innovation and collaboration in the defence sector. 

Simplification 

In a declaration of intent published prior to the next EU summit on June 26 & 27, the EU Council has reiterated its desire to boost European competitiveness. The note highlights the key role of an ambitious and horizontal simplification and better regulation agenda for Europe’s competitiveness, and urges the legislators to swiftly agree new simplification packages and avoid over-regulation. 

Competitiveness 

EU heads of state and governments will address the issue of competitiveness at the European Council meeting on 26 and 27 June. According to the outline for the final statement, leaders will call for "further strengthening EU competitiveness, including through innovation, and deepening the Single Market". This topic will be revisited at the next summit in October. 

The draft guidelines can be found here. 

CMA launches new market study into civil engineering sector 

The CMA has launched a market study into the design, planning and delivery of railway and public road infrastructure by the civil engineering sector in the UK. 

The review will focus on persistent issues around costs and delivery of infrastructure projects, examining opportunities to improve how the public sector and industry work together, and where market operations can be improved to enhance market productivity. It is the first market study to be announced since the "strategic steer" was published and the expectation is that the study will result in specific recommendations to the government on how to improve a sector that added £23bn to the UK economy in 2023.