Coming in July 2023, the FCA’s new consumer duty represents a major shift in expectations for financial services firms.
Imposing a greater standard of consumer care at every stage of the customer journey, the rule affirms the duty of UK financial services firms to put consumers’ interests first.
More than simply regulating firms, the FCA have placed the onus on firms to prioritise and deliver good outcomes to retail consumers, provide evidence of this, and proactively act when expectations are not met.
The Consumer Duty regulation deadline is looming, but it’s not too late to get compliant. Get in touch with our team for best practice advice.
What does the Consumer Duty involve?
Consumer Duty consists of three key elements:
- The Consumer Principle – driving conduct and culture and defining standards of behaviour
- Cross-cutting rules – overarching expectations about how regulated firms and employees should conduct themselves during interactions with retail consumers
- The four outcomes – what the FCA expect firms to deliver on in terms of communications, products and services, customer service, and prices of products and services
