The FCA collects data from the firms it regulates on what products they are selling. Firms operating in the mortgages, retail investments or protection sectors submit product transaction data to the FCA quarterly.
Firms report details of their sales of regulated mortgage contracts, retail investment products and certain pure protection products to retail and private customers. Firms report transaction-level data on both direct sales by their own sales forces and sales made by intermediaries.
The FCA uses the product sales data (PSD) to assist it in regulation of firms and to spot trends in the products sold in the UK market. The FCA publishes the aggregated PSD each year so that consumers and market participants can see what firms are selling and understand the trends.