FCA

Recent Articles

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  06/03/2024

  FCA sends Dear CEO letter to firms in warning over money laundering failings

  The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has sent a Dear CEO letter (the “Letter”) to Annex 1 Firms warning them about common failings found in their ability to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing (hereafter “Financial Crime”). This forms part of the FCA’s enhanced monitoring of Annex 1 Firms in relation to their Financial Crime controls and its increasingly proactive approach in enforcing its regulatory expectations.The FCA is asking Annex 1 Firms to carry out a gap analysis against the failings it has identified in...

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  12/10/2023

  FCA publishes consumer protection undertaking from e-money firm

  On 4 October 2023, the FCA published a Notice of Undertaking (the “Undertaking”) given under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the “Act”). The Undertaking relates to the providing firm’s e-money terms and conditions (the “Contract”), but the terms to which it relates are of broader application. This article sets out summary details of the Undertaking and some thoughts as to what it means for regulated firms in respect of their consumer-facing terms and conditions.Background A principal objective of the Act is to regulate unfair terms in consumer contracts....

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  06/07/2023

  FCA publishes final guidance on the UK trading venue perimeter: key issues for market participants

  On 5 July 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a Policy Statement (PS23/11) on the final version of its new guidance on the UK regulatory perimeter with respect to trading venues. The guidance is in the form of questions and answers (Q&As), which will form part of the Perimeter Guidance manual in the FCA Handbook and will come into force on 9 October 2023. The aim of the guidance is to clarify the FCA’s interpretation of the definition of a “multilateral system”, which is the “trigger” for the need to be authorised as a trading venue...

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  06/07/2023

  Retail investors and pension schemes can now access Long-Term Asset Funds (LTAFs)

  On 29 June 2023, the FCA published a policy statement (PS23/7) setting out its final rules on broadening access to the Long-Term Asset Fund (LTAF). The new rules which recategorise a unit in a LTAF from a Non-Mass Market Investment (NMMI) to a Restricted Mass Market Investment (RMMI) came in to force on 3 July 2023 and will mean that mass market retail investors and defined contribution (“DC”) pension schemes can now invest in an LTAF. Affording greater investment in LTAFs should help to ensure product viability, although retail investment in LTAFs may be hampered not only by platforms’...

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  21/06/2023

  Change is on the horizon for consumer credit and mortgage firms

  On 25 May 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority published a consultation paper on strengthening protections for borrowers in financial difficulty. The FCA intends to move some of the Tailored Support Guidance (TSG) which was introduced during the coronavirus pandemic into CONC and MCOB so that firms will continue to support customers facing financial difficulty. It will then withdraw the TSG. However, it is not quite as simple as that. The FCA has taken the opportunity to propose a number of additional changes for consumer credit and mortgage firms, some of which will be quite onerous for firms...

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  20/06/2023

  The Consumer Duty and outsourcing: remediation or not?

  The Consumer Duty (“Duty”) applies to all regulated firms that have a material influence over, or determine, retail customer outcomes. As firms approach the key 31 July 2023 milestone for their implementation work, focus turns to the potential impact on firms’ outsourced service arrangements for both day 1 and on operational controls on an ongoing basis.In-scope agreementsThe Duty will apply even where a firm does not have a direct contractual relationship with the retail customer. This may be where the firm has outsourced arrangements with:an unregulated service provider whose...

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