The FCA employs a principle based approach to regulation. Principle 7 states that “A firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients, and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading.”
This is a fundamental cornerstone required of all client communication.
While some degree of technical information is inevitable, your suitability reports should nevertheless be easily understood. One effective way to test the clarity of your suitability reports is to ask a friend or family member, who has no financial services experience, and who is more likely to provide frank observations, to read and to provide critical feedback.
The ongoing advice charge conundrum
Paul Jay Compliance 2018, Conduct, FCA, MiFID
A high proportion of advice firms operate a largely recurring income model and with this comes the obligation to conduct client reviews. This is a subject that raises its head frequently with firms, especially with Consumer Duty considerations. Reviews are nothing new but when MiFID II came into effect on 3rd January 2018 it introduced […]