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.



Pension Transfer Specialist – qualification deadline
Paul Caine Compliance 2020, 2021, Conduct, COVID-19, FCA, Pension, Pension Transfer, transfer
FCA Policy Statement PS18/20 introduced a new requirement that all Pension Transfer Specialists (PTS) must hold the Level 4 qualification for providing advice on investments as defined in the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), before they can advise on or check pension transfer advice. The rationale behind this was that, while a PTS may not always […]