Details
Are you prepared for the Consumer Duty?
In May 2021, the FCA announced plans for a new Consumer Duty to raise the bar for consumer protection in UK retail financial services markets. The aim is to ensure that consumers should receive: products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value; communications they can understand; and the customer support they need, when they need it. The proposals quickly became a headline topic for the financial services sector, generating significant, and sometimes controversial, coverage and discussion.
The final rules on the new Duty were published at the end of July 2022, heralding a major shift in the delivery of UK financial services. The implementation deadline has been extended by three months from the initial proposals, but still firms must comply with the new Duty in relation to new and open products and services by 31 July 2023. So firms now have less than a year before they need to comply with the requirements, some of which have changed from the draft rules consulted on.
This webinar will provide a reminder of the new requirements and will explore how firms and individuals can prepare for implementation.
In particular, we will focus on the following topics:
- Overview of the new regime, scope and application
- Implementation: what do firms need to consider and focus on? What should implementation plans look like?
- What the Consumer Duty means for individuals: governance and SMCR
Speakers
Emma Radmore
Legal Director (Practice Development Lawyer)
Financial Services Regulation, London
Emma has 30 years' experience of advising clients on all aspects of UK financial services and financial crime prevention regulation, from the cradle to the grave of regulation and everything in between. Emma is co-editor of FIN, WBD's financial institutions and insurance regulatory news site. She also writes for several journals and is on the Editorial Board of Compliance Monitor and Financial Regulation International and is a member of the Thomson Reuters Practical Law Financial Services Consultation Board. Emma also speaks regularly at industry conferences, including hosting regular briefings for the Compliance Register and MLROs.com. She has won many awards at the Compliance Register Platinum Awards, including for Best Regulatory Lawyer and Best Compliance Trainer, on several occasions, as well as leading the "best editorial team" newsletter.
Lucy Hadrill
Solicitor
Financial Services Regulation, London
Lucy is a solicitor in WBD's financial services regulation team where she advises a variety of financial institutions on legal and regulatory compliance. In particular, she advises banks and insurers on their financial promotions and other customer facing documentation and she is currently advising clients on the new Consumer Duty requirements and how they can prepare for implementation of this new regime. Lucy has spent time on secondment with two UK banks and is co-editor of FIN, WBD's financial institutions and insurance regulatory news site.
Dan Fawcett
Legal Director
Employment, Southampton
Dan advises clients on a wide range of both contentious and non-contentious employment matters. From a pure employment perspective, Dan's main areas of focus are defending complex and high value tribunal claims; the drafting and enforcement of restrictive covenants; and supporting the firm's commercial department on the employment aspects of commercial transactions. He has also advised clients on the changes required to employment contracts as part of SMCR implementation. Dan conducts regular client training and has recently spoken at employment seminars directed towards the Retail and Transport sectors. He has also presented to the In-house Employment Lawyers Network.
"A master of employment law and employment law practice. He is an excellent team-worker with great judgement and balance." Legal 500, 2021