FCA supports firms through consumer duty

With less than six months to go before the Consumer Duty comes into force, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is setting out, in letters, the expectations of the Duty and arranging a series of regional in-person events for specific groups of small and medium-sized firms
The FCA will also be issuing a survey to over 600 mostly small and medium-sized firms to understand the progress they are making in implementing the Duty. It will also carry out engagement with firms of all sizes, and continue to support firms through the transition, helping them embed the Duty effectively.

The FCA has published letters sent initially to the following sectors: 

• Asset Management, Custody & Fund Services and Alternatives
• Consumer investments
• Credit reference agencies and providers of credit information services
• General Insurance and pure protection firms
• Life insurance
• Mainstream consumer credit lenders
• Mortgage lenders and administrators
• Retail banks and building societies

The FCA has more recently published letters sent to the following additional sectors: 

• Credit Unions
• Debt advice firms
• Debt purchasers, debt collectors and debt administrators
• Mortgage Intermediaries
• Motor Finance providers
• Payments Services and E-Money
• Retail Finance providers
• Credit broker

The FCA also recently published a multi-firm review of firms' plans to implement the Consumer Duty. 
The new rules – the Duty - are intended to ensure a higher and more consistent standard of consumer protection for users of financial services and help to stop harm before it happens. The Duty – please see PS22/9: A new Consumer Duty - is made up of an overarching principle and new rules firms will have to follow. It will mean that consumers should receive communications they can understand, products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value, and they get the customer support they need, when they need it. The Duty includes a new Consumer Principle that ‘a firm must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers’. 

Our response

Our Senior Managers are taking this extremely seriously and have geared up with dedicated time and resources to ensure we are thoroughly prepared. We strive to deliver the highest standards of care and always seek to achieve positive outcomes for our clients. We do this by supporting and empowering our clients to make sound financial decisions. 
At TPO, we have undertaken an internal 'gap analysis' looking at our corporate culture and operating procedures - benchmarking the new rules against these and believe our ethos is already underpinned by the core principles of the Consumer Duty. However, we have an opportunity for some fine-tuning. 

The FCA acknowledges that the new regulation will necessitate significant changes in behaviour and culture for some businesses. Although there are areas of our services and proposition that we will be looking to improve over the coming months, we are pleased to say the foundations of what the FCA is proposing are already well established and embedded within our business. 

This information is correct as of 16/03/2023.