FCA highlights areas of focus for firms implementing the Consumer Duty
After the end of the October 2022 milestone for implementation plans, the FCA requested the Consumer Duty implementation plans from larger fixed firms with a dedicated FCA supervision team, who primarily operate in retail financial services markets as part of a multi-firm review. These were the firms with the greatest potential impact on consumers and markets.
With 6 months to go before the Consumer Duty comes into force on 31st July 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today published the details of this review of how firms are planning to implement the Duty.
The FCA reviewed a sample of implementation plans and found that many firms show they understand and embrace the shift to delivering good customer outcomes, which the Duty will bring, and have established extensive programmes of work to comply with it properly.
However, they also found that some firms are further behind in their planning, so there is a risk that they may struggle to apply the Duty effectively once the rules come into force.
Click here to read the full article.
Next steps
The FCA will continue their work to support firms’ embedding activities in the run-up to the July 2023 implementation deadline for new and existing products and services:
- They will continue to engage with the fixed firms where questions were asked about their plans or approach, and to monitor the progress they are making in embedding the Duty. They will also be working with and supporting board champions at some larger firms.
- They will soon be sending a survey to a sample of firms to help us understand the progress they are making in implementing the Duty and will carry out targeted engagement with smaller firms.
- They will shortly be issuing letters to firms, highlighting our key expectations on implementing the Duty and some of the key risks and consumer harms we are concerned about in their sectors.
- The programme of communications on the Duty will continue, for example, with further updates to dedicated webpages and a series of regional in-person events for specific groups of small and medium-sized firms.
Click here to read the FCA’s Consumer Duty implementation plans publication 25th January 2023
