Follow TopicFollow Contributor Share Feedback

The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA”) new Consumer Duty, set to come into force on 31 July 2023, has been described by the FCA as a “paradigm shift,”1 a “watershed moment,”2 and as “raising the bar”3 for regulated firms. Yet, as the impending July deadline looms, many firms remain remarkably sanguine. According to research from Aviva released at the end of March, 84% of financial advisers consider the Consumer Duty to be just a “re-branded TCF” (with reference to the FCA’s treating customers fairly initiative),4 59% have yet to start preparing, and a particularly brave 17% have no concerns about the Duty at all.

Firms ignore the issue at their own peril. Therese Chambers, the FCA’s Director of Consumer Investments, has explicitly cautioned firms against treating the Duty as simply a “re-expression of treating customers fairly”5 and, given her new role as Executive Director of Enforcement, that is a statement the industry should take particularly seriously. This article will make the case that, far from being a rebrand, the Consumer Duty marks a fundamental transformation in the FCA’s standards, expectations and regulatory approach as a whole.

This content is available to paid Members of Starling Insights.

If you are a Member of Starling Insights, you can sign in below to access this item. 

 

If you are not a member, please consider joining Starling Insights to support our work and get access to our entire platform.  Enjoy hundreds of articles and related content from past editions of the Compendium, special video and print reports, as well as Starling's observations and comments on current issues in culture & conduct risk management.

Join The Discussion

See something that doesn't look quite right?

We strive to provide high quality and accurate content at all times. With that said, we realize that sometimes links break, new information becomes available, or there is something that you feel we may have missed.

If you see something that you think we should be aware of, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to drop us a note below and leave your name and contact info if you'd like to hear back from us.

Thank you for being a key part of the Starling Insights community!