By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s financial watchdog has stopped a quarter of all licence applications over the past year from companies wanting to offer investment services to consumers, it said on Thursday, as it seeks to tackle rising financial fraud. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), under pressure from lawmakers to be more assertive in tackling scams, said the proportion of licence applicants being rejected was up from one in five in its previous financial year. In an update on consumer investments data, the FCA also said that between April and September 2021 it received 16,4…