What happened?
TCC hosted a webinar with Recordsure, featuring Ex-FCA supervisor Olivia Fahy alongside guest speakers, exploring why the Consumer Duty goes well beyond the existing Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) regime.
The panel summarised the FCA’s expectations into three key preparations: aligning compliance activity with deliverability, understanding the regulator’s more interventionist supervisory style, and building a workable data strategy.
The FCA confirmed it has already asked several firms to present their Implementation Plans for scrutiny, signalling that progress will be actively monitored in the run-up to the July 2023 deadline.
Why does it matter?
Firms often draw comparisons between the Consumer Duty and TCF, but the panel was clear these are fundamentally different regimes in both structure and enforcement.
The Consumer Duty combines a consumer principle, cross-cutting rules and four outcomes, and the FCA has said non-compliance will carry stringent penalties, from interventionist powers and fines to Section 166 investigations.
Rather than a single dedicated audit, compliance checks will be woven into the regulator’s existing supervision, meaning every touchpoint with the FCA now has the potential to inform Consumer Duty assessment.
Wider implications
The panel suggested the Consumer Duty is partly a response to criticism that the FCA has not always been proactive enough, repositioning the regulator as more interventionist.
That shift means firms should expect scrutiny to continue well beyond the initial deadline, with the regulator maintaining pressure through ordinary supervisory activity rather than a fixed audit cycle.
Recommendations
Treat 31 July 2023 as a starting point for cultural change rather than a compliance finish line, and keep working groups active on implementation detail beyond that date.
Prioritise the data capabilities needed to monitor vulnerability, conduct risk and customer outcomes, since this underpins how the FCA expects firms to evidence the Duty.
Frequently asked questions
How will the FCA supervise the Consumer Duty?
Compliance checks will be embedded into the regulator’s existing supervision rather than run as a separate Consumer Duty audit.
What happens if a firm breaches the Consumer Duty?
The FCA has said serious breaches will be met with interventionist powers, fines or remediation, with lesser issues addressed through supervisory enforcement or Section 166 investigations.
Why does the FCA need firms to have a data strategy?
Firms need a workable data strategy to evidence vulnerability monitoring, conduct risk and customer outcomes as part of their Consumer Duty plan.
Is 31 July 2023 the end of Consumer Duty work?
No, the webinar panel described it as a starting point for a customer-first culture rather than a deadline to simply meet and move past.
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Reviewed by TCC Group Editorial Team