The Consumer Duty and Financial Lives 2022
News article from the FCA’s Regulation Round-Up Email, 27/07/2023
News article from the FCA’s Regulation Round-Up Email, 27/07/2023
The Consumer Duty (the Duty) comes into force on 31 July 2023 for all new and existing products and services. From this point firms will need to make sure, and be able to show us, that they are acting to deliver good customer outcomes.
The FCA’s latest Financial Lives survey highlights the importance of the Duty, which sets a higher standard of consumer protection.
The survey found that 7.4 million people unsuccessfully attempted to contact one or more of their financial services providers in the 12 months before May 2022, with the most vulnerable in society most likely to struggle with this.
Less than half of UK adults, or 21.9 million people, had confidence in the UK financial services industry and just 36% agreed that most financial firms are honest and transparent in the way they treat them. Although a more positive picture emerged when people were asked to rate their own provider rather than the sector in general.
The Consumer Duty will bring about a step change in the way financial services firms treat their customers and the FCA welcomes the work firms have done to implement it.
Author: Alex Hackett, Business Development Manager
Alex is a member of the investment funds team. She is involved in the portfolio construction process and assists with regulatory reporting, trade surveillance and monitoring.