The FCA has confirmed a delay to the introduction of Consumer Duty rules.

The press release details are described in this note we have received from the FCA.

“We have now published our Consumer Duty press release, policy statement and final guidance on our website – please see the links below:

Press release: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-consumer-duty-major-shift-financial-services 

Policy statement and finalised guidance: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/policy-statements/ps22-9-new-consumer-duty

The Consumer Duty will set higher and clearer standards of consumer protection across financial services and require firms to put their customers’ needs first.   

The Duty is made up of an overarching principle ‘a firm must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers’ and new rules firms will have to follow. It will mean that consumers should receive communications they can understand, products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value, and get the customer support they need, when they need it.    

With clarity on our expectations and firms focusing on what their customers need, this should lead to more flexibility for firms to compete and innovate in the interests of consumers.  

The Duty forms part of the FCA’s transformation to becoming a more assertive and data-led regulator. With firms assessing how they’re meeting their customers’ needs, we will be able to quickly identify practices that don’t deliver the right outcomes for consumers and take action before practices become entrenched as market norms. 

Firms will have 12 months to implement the new rules for all new and existing products and services that are currently on sale. The rules will be extended to closed book products 12 months later, to give firms more time to bring these older products, that are no longer on sale, up to the new standards. 

We will work with firms during the implementation period, including hosting a series of industry events, to ensure that they are implementing the Duty effectively. If you’d like to hear more about future Consumer Duty events and related communications, please sign up for email updates.”