Insurance

Recent Articles

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  04.05.2023

  FCA pub­lishes con­sulta­tion pa­per on pro­posed re­forms to the UK list­ing re­gime

  On 3 May 2023 the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published its consultation paper on the proposed UK equity listing rule reforms (and feedback to its discussion paper published in May 2022). The consultation paper follows extensive engagement on the UK listing regime and the recommendations from the UK Listing Review. It represents a substantial and welcome overhaul of the current listing regime, with the aim of making UK equity capital markets more competitive with other markets and attractive to companies considering an IPO. Key ProposalsThe consultation paper sets out a...

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  14.04.2023

  Re­view of the Seni­or Man­agers and Cer­ti­fic­a­tion Re­gime (SM&CR)

  On 30 March 2023, the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) and Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) (the PRA and FCA together being the “Regulators”) published a joint Discussion Paper (DP1/23) seeking input on potential ways to improve the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (“SM&CR” or the “Regime”). HMT has also separately launched a Call for Evidence to review legislative aspects of the regime. In December 2022, the government announced, as part of the Edinburgh Reforms, that HMT and the Regulators...

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  11.04.2023

  FCA pub­lishes No­tice of Un­der­tak­ing and voices com­mit­ment to Con­sumer Duty

  On 31 March 2023, the FCA published a Notice of Undertaking (the “Undertaking”) given by Policy Excess Insure Ltd (trading as Nova Direct) (“Policy Excess Insure”) under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (“the Act”).BackgroundAmong other things, the Act sets out the UK rules on unfair terms in consumer contracts. A term of a consumer contract is “unfair” for the purposes of the Act where, contrary to the requirement of good faith, the term causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of...

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  07.02.2023

  In­surer Res­ol­u­tion Re­gime will be time- and re­source-in­tens­ive for firms in scope

  HM Treasury is proposing to introduce an Insurer Resolution Regime (IRR). The regime will provide the Bank of England (BoE) with tools to manage the failure of insurance companies. The aim of the proposed regime, which will draw on aspects of the well-established bank regime, is to allow UK authorities to act quickly to stabilise a failing insurer and to minimise risks to policyholders, financial stability, the wider financial sector and the taxpayer.The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) already has rules which are aimed at preventing insurer failure, and plans to develop these further. This...

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  21.12.2022

  FCA out­lines plans for the in­tro­duc­tion of a reg­u­lat­ory gate­way for firms which ap­prove fin­an­cial pro­mo­tions

  Background Under section 21 of FSMA, currently any firm that is authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), may approve a financial promotion by another unauthorised person. However, the government is concerned that the current framework is no longer sufficient and gives rise to risks. The FCA is particularly concerned with the promotion of high-risk investments and ‘Buy-Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) products. The FCA has seen examples of promotions that do not warn consumers of the risks, such as the taking on of debt, missed payments and other consequences. The FCA...

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  15.12.2022

  FCA - Un­der­stand­ing ap­proaches to D&I in fin­an­cial ser­vices

  The FCA conducted its review via 12 regulated firms – 8 with large gender pay gaps and 4 with relatively small pay gaps. The average pay gap for the financial services market is 26.6%, which is far higher than the average for the wider UK market which is 12.1%. In conducting its review, the FCA asked each firm for some basic information including about their D&I policy and strategy, target setting initiatives and D&I data used. The FCA also requested a 90-minute structured interview with a senior individual and any relevant specialists at each firm. It is clear from the review that...

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