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.



Identify, Assess & Manage
Steve Bailey Compliance FCA
Before you read on, what do you think the title refers to? The answer is Business Risks. The FCA has been highlighting this issue in workshops. They expect firms to ‘Identify, Assess & Manage’ risks and to be able to provide documentary proof that they are so doing. They expect firms to have at least […]