The FCA has published draft guidance on a new power that allows it to move faster to remove regulatory permissions that are no longer being used by financial services firms.
Responses to the consultation (CP21/28) close on 29 October 2021.
The driver behind the proposed power is the regulator’s belief that incorrect or outdated permissions on the Financial Services (FS) Register can mislead consumers about the level of protection offered by a firm or give credibility to a firm’s unregulated activities.
The new power, granted to the FCA via the Financial Services Act 2021, will streamline and shorten the process of removing firm permissions. The FCA will be able to start the cancellation process as soon as it considers permissions are not being used, by serving 14 days’ notice on a firm. The FCA will then be able to vary or cancel permissions after 1 month.
This consultation supplements the recent paper on new decision making powers that the FCA is seeking. Read our recent article here.
Consumer Duty – FCA information and help
Shirley McKenzie Compliance FCA, PI, Update
The FCA has added to its published information relating to Consumer Duty to help firms with implementation. The most recent addition to the Consumer Duty webpages is an information for firms page to help firms implement the Duty. This explains more on the areas of the Duty that firms have been raising queries […]