Consumer Duty was the focus of much of last week’s activity from the FCA.

Enforcement

The FCA secured a successful ruling in the High Court against a company that took £57m ($72.5m) from 380 investors in an illegal care home investment scheme. The Court agreed that the scheme run by Robin Forster through three companies under the Qualia umbrella was an unauthorised Collective Investment Scheme and that Forster had made had made false and misleading statements to investors about the sustainability of the scheme.

The Court will now decide on the sums that must be paid back to investors.

Rules and Consultations

The new UK Consumer Duty came into force on 31 July, aiming to “set a higher standard of consumer protection in financial services”. The FCA set out its expectations and said it would be monitoring firms closely to ensure they are complying.

PS22/9: A new Consumer Duty

Publications

The FCA set out the basis for its joint review, with the UK Treasury, of the Advice Guidance Boundary. While that review is ongoing, the regulator has set out clarification for firms who want to do more to support customers without making a personal recommendation.

Speeches and media

A 14-point action plan “to ensure banks and building societies are passing on interest rate rises to savers appropriately, that they’re communicating with customers much more effectively and offering them better savings rate deals” was launched. Those firms offering the lowest savings rates have been been given a deadline of the end of this month to justify how those rates offer fair value.

Three new appointments were announced, with post holders starting on August 1. Clare Woodman is Chair of the FCA Markets Practitioner Panel, Matt Hammerstein, Chair of the FCA Practitioner Panel, and Mandy Gradden takes on the role of Chair of the Listing Authority Advisory Panel.

Authorisations director Laura Dawes blogged on how financial services can ensure the values of Pride can be lived year-round. The FCA’s Financial Lives Survey found LGBT+ people are more than twice as likely to say they do not have confidence in the UK financial services industry.