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.
Notifying breaches of the Conduct Rules
Huw Reynolds Compliance 2019, complaints, Conduct, FCA, Pension, PI, Senior Manager, training
Even with all the deferrals of deadlines around implementation of the SMCR as a result of COVID, firms should now be well into business as usual mode with all aspects of SMCR. In particular, all staff covered by SMCR should have received communications and training around the Conduct Rules. Ideally, conditions of employment should also […]