61 Results found.
As financial service firms await the findings from the FCA’s survey of 20 of the largest ongoing advice service providers, it’s an important time to consider assets under advice and their associated charges. The regulator is collating data about: The number of clients who were due a revie
The FCA has released the findings of its multi-firm review, which assessed motor insurance firms’ claims handling processes for valuing stolen or written off vehicles. The review outlines crucial steps the regulator now expects firms to take to ensure they’re delivering good outcomes for custome
The regulator has written to 20 major financial advice firms to request information on their ongoing advice charges, signalling its intention to place a spotlight on the ways firms are revising their approach in line with the Consumer Duty’s fair value and consumer understanding requirements. In M
The FCA has released its annual Business Plan for 2024/25, which sets out its primary objectives over the coming financial year and marks the concluding part of its three-year strategy (2022-2025) to drive positive transformation within the financial services market. The Business Plan restates the F
This month the FCA has published multiple communications which will ultimately impact how financial service firms treat customers in vulnerable circumstances. [two_third padding="10px 30px 0px 0px"] Here, TCC's Director of Advisory Practice, Gary Maude, outlines why it's a critical time for finance
On 15th March 2024, the FCA announced plans for a wide-ranging review into the actions firms are taking to identify and respond to the needs of vulnerable customers. The long-awaited review, which was first outlined in 2017, is expected to go further than the originally planned work on age-related i
The FCA has written a new Dear CEO letter to financial advice firms on 20th March 2024, asking senior leaders to review their current processes and policies surrounding retirement income advice and their control framework. The regulator’s latest correspondence follows the release of its thematic r
Ongoing advice services and any associated charges have been firmly on the FCA’s radar for over a year, after first being signposted as a cause for concern in the Portfolio Strategy Dear CEO letter to Financial Advisers and Intermediaries in December 2022. The regulator indicated it would b
During its recent multi-firm review, the FCA urged boards to place the Consumer Duty at the top of their regulatory agenda – re-iterating how, along with senior leadership, they will ultimately bear responsibility for the outcomes achieved for customers. Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the le
A recent Financial Ombudsman Service decision has highlighted the risks of DIY SIPP arrangements – particularly for customers displaying signs of vulnerability such as gambling addiction. In this FT Adviser feature, TCC’s Head of Advisory Practice, Gary Maude, gives his expertise regarding firms
The FCA rounded up 2023 by publishing its findings into the retail banking Consumer Duty multi-firm review. This comprehensive publication has a read-through across all sectors of the financial service industry and reminds firms that they should expect the FCA to ask for their annual Consumer
Earlier this month, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter to wealth management firms urging them to take immediate action to help prevent financial crime and meet their Consumer Duty requirements. In the letter, the regulator confirms CEOs are accountable for ensuring FCA requirements and expec
Only 41% of adults have confidence in the UK financial service industry according to the latest Financial Lives Survey conducted by the FCA. This alarming statistic comes a year on from when firms first built and scrutinised their Consumer Duty implementation plans. And now, regulated busines
For over three months, the Consumer Duty has been a regulatory reality and mandates that all FCA administered firms deliver a higher standard of customer care with consumer protection at its core. And as many firms continue to explore how this is implemented according to the Consumer Duty’s
As firms prepare to demonstrate that the Consumer Duty has been effectively implemented within their organisation, TCC is finding that a material number of firms are still facing obstacles: Delegating too much to project managers and ‘middle management’ Assessments finding evidence of intuitive
In the run-up to the Consumer Duty, the regulator called on firms to re-examine their charging structures to ensure compliance with the new legislation’s Price & Value outcome. However, our benchmarking study found that half of firms had no plans to change their fee model, reporting they were
After years of consultation and planning, the Consumer Duty came into force on 31st July 2023, demanding higher standards of customer care and calling upon FCA-regulated financial businesses to ‘act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers’. Central to this vision is the pledge that
The FCA has published the findings from its review into later life mortgages after working with the largest intermediaries of these products to improve their advice processes. As a result of this multi-firm initiative, the regulator found that almost 400 financial promotions required removal
With falling energy prices, economists are forecasting that the UK’s inflation rate will have fallen to 5% by the end of 2023. Whilst this should be a welcome relief to UK consumers, many will still be feeling the pinch from higher prices, particularly from the effect of food price inflatio
The FCA has reiterated the importance of firms being alert to indicators of potential vulnerability for clients seeking advice on defined benefit pensions. Its latest guidance provides businesses with a summary of possible circumstances Defined Benefit (DB) customers could find themselves in
Mortgage firms should act now to support ‘challenged’ borrowers who may struggle to repay at maturity, in planning for this risk of serious customer detriment. The number of borrowers on interest-only mortgages is lower than 1 million, consumer research from the FCA has revealed. This is
Business Systems, a leading provider of compliance and customer experience solutions, and TCC, a renowned consultancy firm specialising in financial services, and Recordsure, a unique AI RegTech provider, today announced they are joining forces to provide advisory services and ongoing support to add
Following on from its 2020 review work with firms involved with Lifetime Mortgages, the FCA mentioned again - in its Business Plan/strategy for 2022/23 - its concerns regarding the risk of poor (or unclear) advice in this sector. The FCA has been following up with firms where it has undertaken previ
In the FCA’s Business Plan for 2023/24, it prioritised reducing and preventing consumer harm, particularly in in financial promotions. The FCA has now published its Guidance Consultation on Financial Promotions on social media. Whilst firms may consider this to be aimed at ‘finfluencers’ and u
