Following concerns raised about firms’ disclosure of charges and services post RDR, the FCA has published an assessment template to assist firms to review their documentation.
The FCA plan to use this template to assess firms’ disclosure when carrying out the next cycle of their review, which starts in mid-July.
They expect to see significant improvements in this area and if they continue to identify firms that are failing to meet the disclosure requirements, they will consider what further regulatory actions are appropriate.
The use of this template is not compulsory, but all firms are encouraged to use it to assess standards and to make any necessary changes to their client facing documentation. A copy of the assessment template should be retained.
The Disclosure Assessment template, together with accompanying notes and explanatory video, can be accessed here.
Further useful supporting documentation can be found below:
FCS Transitional Arrangements
Steve Bailey Compliance Update
As you will be aware the Financial Services Authority ceased to be and the Financial Conduct Authority took over the regulation of financial advice firms on 01 April 2013.
The FSA issued PS13/05 last week which includes updated rules and transition arrangements. The policy statement itself is 88 pages but the ‘appendix (3)’ that accompanies it is a mere 1990 pages so you must excuse us for not as yet absorbing every word. The document can be seen here.