FCA Consumer Duty

Event information

The FCA has introduced higher standards of consumer protection in the retail financial services sector. The new rules, known as the Consumer Duty took effect from 31 July 2023 for open products and will capture closed products from 31 July this year. The higher regulatory standards and the new regulatory Principle 12, are intended to ensure that retail consumers should:

• Get the support they need when it's needed. 
• Receive communications they understand. 
• Have products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value.

Although it specifically applies to firms regulated by the FCA, its principles can also serve as a valuable benchmark for accountancy practices in several ways:

• Customer-centric approach: The Duty emphasizes acting in good faith toward customers, avoiding foreseeable harm, and supporting customers in achieving their financial goals. Accountancy firms can adopt these principles to build trust and enhance customer satisfaction.
• Fair value and transparency: The Duty includes rules on fair value, ensuring that products and services offer fair value to customers. Accountancy firms can use these guidelines to evaluate and improve their pricing and value propositions.
• Culture and governance: The Duty requires firms to have the right culture and governance to deliver positive customer outcomes. Accountancy firms can benchmark their internal practices against these standards to foster a customer-focused culture.
• Proactive monitoring: The Duty mandates proactive monitoring and addressing of issues that could harm customers. Accountancy firms can implement similar monitoring practices to identify and mitigate potential risks to their customers.

By aligning with these principles, non-regulated firms can strengthen their customer relationships, enhance their reputation, and potentially gain a competitive edge in their market.

Experts from Grant Thornton will provide an update on the FCA Consumer Duty, which the regulator described in terms of representing a ‘paradigm shift’ in the regulation of the retail financial advice and investments sector.

Key benefits

• Gain a thorough understanding of what the new Consumer Duty entails.
• Gain insights into how the Consumer Duty affects the retail financial advice sector and what the FCA expects from regulated firms.
• Identify the key challenges to delivering good consumer outcomes.
• Gain insights on how Consumer Duty could affect you and your clients.

About the speakers

	Jane Lawson, Senior Manager, Grant Thornton Jane is a Senior Manager in Grant Thornton’s Financial Services Group and has worked in the Regulatory Advisory practice for three years. She is a Chartered member of CISI and has worked in financial service for 25 years. Before working at Grant Thornton she held various roles within Wealth Management including working as a Wealth Planner, a Pension Transfer Specialist, and a Compliance Manager. Jane is also passionate about providing good outcomes for consumers and her recent experience includes several Skilled Person reviews within the Wealth Management sector, as well as involvement in creating and reviewing Consumer Duty frameworks for firms across the financial services industry.
	Peter Lovegrove, Director, Grant Thornton Peter is a Director in Grant Thornton’s Financial Services Group and has worked in the Regulatory Advisory practice for over eight years. He is an FCA and conduct specialist, tending to focus on life, pensions, investments, and insurance. His Grant Thornton experience includes numerous complex Skilled Person reviews, and designing and reviewing advice models and governance and risk management frameworks. He has supported numerous firms from across the financial services industry on all aspects of preparing for and adhering to the Consumer Duty rules.
	John Gaskell, Head of Personal Financial Planning, ICAEW John is Head of Personal Financial Planning at ICAEW, where he launched the Personal Financial Planning Community which is one of ICAEW’s largest communities with 35,000 members. He leads work around supporting chartered accountants to build more resilient personal finances for themselves and their clients, working across ICAEW and with external stakeholders. John represents ICAEW on the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) Personal Financial Planning Working Party and oversees ICAEW’s Personal Financial Planning Advisory Group. Before working at ICAEW, John was a private client investment manager in the City of London, followed by a career in personal financial planning and business development.

CPD hours

ICAEW's revised Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Regulations bring in new CPD requirements. This includes a minimum number of hours and an ethics requirement. Attending this webinar could contribute up to 1 hour of verifiable CPD, providing you can demonstrate that the content is relevant to your role.

A copy of the webinar booking confirmation email is accepted as evidence of verifiable CPD. You will need to save the email as a JPEG or PDF before uploading it to your record. Click here to use ICAEW’s self-assessment tool to help you work out how much CPD you will need to fulfil each year.

Costs

There is no charge to attend this event.

This event is organised by the Personal Financial Planning Community. Please click here to join online.