TECHNICAL TALK
RIDING THE STORM OF THE CONSUMER DUTY – HOW BIG IS YOUR BOAT ?
Karl Dines Head of Business Consultancy SimplyBiz
31 July is not far away , depending upon when you are reading this article – as I ’ m writing it , we ’ ve just less than three months . The Consumer Duty becomes ‘ rules ’ on that date , then there is a ninemonth implementation period , so by April 2023 it should be fully embedded in our profession .
It is a big thing ; the regulator estimates it will affect 51,000 firms , so that ’ s the big guys who manufacture and the notso-big guys who distribute . It also comes under SM & CR , so if the FCA decide to waggle fingers , or worse , they know who to waggle them at – senior management within an organisation . According to the FCA , work needs to be done , and there will be a cost to it , so we ’ re going to need a bigger boat . What should you be looking at in the run-up ? The easiest way to do this would be to look at the structure of the Consumer Duty itself and address each of the areas . This approach should provide you with a logical and practical methodology , something like ‘ Six Key Strategies : This is how we are practically addressing the Consumer Duty ’. It is great to understand it , but we also need to apply it .
Six key strategies :
• Education and culture : Principle 12 and cross-cutting rules
• Distribution : Governance of products and services outcome
• Value assessment : Price and value outcome
• Communication : Communications outcome
• Customer services : Consumer services outcome
• Monitoring and governance : Monitoring , reviewing and responsibility
Check out our new Consumer Duty hub via the Member and Client websites !
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