Vulnerable Customers Awareness It is essential that FCA authorised firms know how to assess vulnerable customers. This means understanding what a ‘vulnerable customer’ is and learning how to identify people, situations and circumstances. Potential vulnerabilities can crop up in any customer-business relationship. For this reason, it is mandatory for vulnerable customer awareness to be a […]
Annual Board Report Overview Section PRIN 2A.8.3 of the FCA Handbook requires firms to prepare a governing body report. This annual board report must set out all results and management information obtained from the mandatory outcome monitoring and testing. The board (or equivalent governing body) must review the report, approve the outcomes and any remedial […]
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New to FCA authorisation? Just completing your FCA application? Whether you are trying to become authorised by the FCA or you are reviewing your existing FCA compliance framework, our exclusive FCA Application Policy Toolkit is for you. When you read through the FCA guidance notes that accompany the FCA authorisation application, you will see the […]
“Assessing the compliance of firms with Consumer Duty obligations.” Consumer Duty assessment and monitoring has been a key focus for the FCA since it came into force last year. The regulator has been completing monitoring waves across a range of sectors to assess compliance with the Consumer Duty rules. The second wave of monitoring sampled […]
What is an Important Business Service? An important business service is one that if disrupted, could cause potential harm to consumers and/or pose a risk to the stability and integrity of the financial market or system. Completing an Important Business Services Assessment is mandatory for many regulated firms. The identification and documentation of such services […]
Having adequate, effective and compliant policies, procedures and training workshops on what makes a customer vulnerable, how to identify them and how to communicate effectively is not only a mandatory FCA requirement, but also an essential business practice. It is even more important in times of national crisis, such as the current pandemic, to ensure […]
HSBC Fined £6,280,100 The importance of having effective policies and procedures in place for treating customers fairly and managing those in arrears cannot be overstated. HSBC UK Bank plc and Marks and Spencer Financial Services plc (“HSBC”) are the latest firm penalised for failing to treat customers in arrears or with financial difficulties fairly. Last […]
Why is Wind-down Planning Important? The FCA’s wind-down planning guidance was published back in 2016. This has recently gained additional scrutiny and attention with the publication of the FCA page ‘Preparing your firm’s wind-down plan’ in March 2024. While the 60-page guidance itself does not impose any obligation on a firm to create a wind-down […]
Introduction Anti money laundering (AML) compliance in the UK is overseen by appointed supervisory authorities. AML for Annex 1 registered firms has recently come under scrutiny by the FCA after their assessment into money laundering prevention processes. The regulator found cases of discrepancies between the registered and actual activities carried out by firms. In addition, […]