January 2018 Quick Links
 2018
joint FCA and Practitioner Panel survey
Welcome to the January edition of Regulation
round-up.
A random sample of 12,000 firms are being invited to
take part in the 2018 joint FCA and Practitioner Panel survey. Look out for an
email from Kantar Public inviting you to take part.
Kantar Public is an independent social research
organisation, carrying out the survey on our behalf. If you’re invited to
complete the survey, please take the time to fill it in. Your views will be
valuable in helping to shape the FCA’s approach. The results are presented to
the Practitioner Panel and the FCA Board and will be published in the third
quarter of 2018.
We carry out the survey among businesses across the
sectors of the financial services industry. The results give the FCA Board and
Executive valuable feedback on how the organisation is performing and how it
can improve.
Last year’s survey highlighted several key areas for
improvement. These included:
·
more transparency and predictability of
regulation
·
better communications on EU withdrawal
·
improving the perception of the quality of
policy and technical staff
As a result of last year’s
survey, we have committed to addressing all these areas. Further details can be
found in the Mission
and Business
Plan.
The findings of this year’s survey will be an important input to future work.
You can find out more about the survey and last year’s
results on the FCA
website and more about the Practitioner Panel on the Panel website.
Revised Payments Services
Directive - PSD2 Goes Live!
The Revised Payments
Services Directive (PSD2) came into effect in the UK this Saturday, 13 January.
PSD2 is an EU Directive
which aims to increase competition, bring into scope new types of payment
services and enhance customer protection.
There will be
wide-reaching implications for a range of firms including banks, other Payment
Service Providers, Financial Technology companies and customers.
For more information about PSD2 and how your
firm may be affected see the FCA
website.
Consumer Mis-direction
We need your help, to
reduce a high number of calls from consumers responding to letters, emails or
sales literature they have received from regulated firms.
Consumers call us believing we are the firm, as our number is on the firm’s
website and marketing materials. This causes a poor consumer experience, as they
have to re-dial to speak to the firm.
Answering these calls delays us in helping other consumers,
some of whom are vulnerable. We have spoken to the firms who were generating
the most calls to us and found that removing our phone number dramatically
reduces the calls.
Please review your use of the FCA’s details on your
website, emails and sales literature and remove our phone number. There is no
regulatory requirement for you to give the FCA’s phone number. Removing it may
improve your customers’ experience. For full details of what your status disclosure
should be, please refer to Chapter 4 of our General Provisions Sourcebook.
The Contact Centre
operates as the FCA’s public face, providing information and guidance to
regulated firms, to people setting up businesses and to consumers, through a
variety of communication channels.
Operating as part of
the Contact Centre, the Consumer Helpline offers guidance to consumers on a
broad range of queries about financial services and products, from register
checks to complex investment cases.
FCA publishes information
relevant to customers using Account Information Services (AIS) and Payment
Information Services (PIS)
Following the introduction of the EU Payment Services
Directive (PSD2) on 13 January 2018, online services that customers allow to
access their account data or make payments on their behalf will be regulated by
the FCA.
PSD2 will bring about a number of important changes for
your members and the customers that use their services. To support these
changes we have produced a web page setting out information we think customers
should be aware of when using newly regulated services.
This information will be
helpful to promote consistency of messaging to consumers across different parts
of the industry.
MiFID
II now live: impact for retail advisers
The requirements under MiFID II came into force on 3
January 2018. The key impact areas for retail advisory firms (including those
exempt under Article 3 of MiFID) are costs disclosure and product governance.
There are several other areas where MiFID II has brought changes. These include
advising, suitability, taping and inducements. Advisers should be aware of the impacts
of these changes.
Please see our summary of
some of the key
changes that impact retail investment advice firms and our MiFID II webpages
for further information on a range of topics. Note that the European Securities
and Markets Authority (ESMA) also provide Q&A on various
MiFID II investor protection topics.
FCA Live & Local
regional programme events in 2018
We are continuing our well-received series of
interactive workshops on how firms can identify and prevent harm, and
bi-monthly interactive Q&A roundtables with an FCA and industry panel.
Dates, locations, and registration details for the first set of 2018 events
from January to May are on the Live & Local webpage.
More events will be added in the coming months. To be
notified of future Live & Local regional events, sign up to email alerts
using our Live
& Local updates web form.
Insurance Distribution
Directive (IDD)
Policy statements
Last month we published our second Policy Statement on
the implementation of the IDD which sets out our near final rules based on the
feedback we received to CP17/23.
We will publish our third and final policy statement soon.
Proposed delay to application date
We issued a statement
after The European Commission announced a proposal to push back the
application date of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) to 1 October
2018.
EBA recommends new
prudential regime for MiFID investment firms
At
the end of September 2017, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published their
final
report and recommendations for an appropriate
prudential regime for all MiFID investment firms. This is in response to a call
for advice from the Commission who will now consider the recommendations and
are expected to publish a legislative proposal before the end of 2017.
EBA recommends new prudential
regime for MiFID investment firms
At
the end of September 2017, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published their
final
report and recommendations for an appropriate
prudential regime for all MiFID investment firms. This is in response to a call
for advice from the Commission who will now consider the recommendations and
are expected to publish a legislative proposal before the end of 2017.
Feedback statement on
distributed ledger technology
We have published a feedback
statement on distributed ledger technology (DLT) summarising the
responses received to our April 2017 discussion paper.
We will continue to monitor
DLT-related market developments and keep our rules and guidance under review in
light of those developments. Following our consumer
warning on
initial coin offerings, we will conduct a deeper examination of the market to
determine whether there is a need for further regulatory action.
Sandbox application window
The regulatory sandbox allows
businesses to test innovative products, services, business models and delivery
mechanisms in the real market, with real consumers.
To be part of cohort 4, apply by 31
January 2018. More information on how to apply is available on our website.
Dear CEO: Contracts for
Difference
We have sent a Dear CEO letter to firms that provide or distribute contracts for
difference (CFD) products to retail customers on an advisory or discretionary
basis to ensure they understand their obligations. This letter follows the
conclusion of a project that assessed whether CFD providers and distributors
deliver the CFD product to the intended target market, pay due regard to the
interests of customers and treat them fairly.
We expect CFD firms to
consider the issues raised and take action to ensure compliance if any areas of
concern are identified.
ScamSmart
We are running a new ScamSmart advertising campaign from the end of
January. The advertising will include radio, online
video and banners, and will be supported with PR, social media and partner
activity.
The ScamSmart campaign aims to help protect consumers from investment
fraud. Find out more about ScamSmart from our website
and support the campaign by visiting our resources page.
Are your
contact details up to date?
Under the
FCA handbook Core
Sup 15.5 all firms have a regulatory requirement to keep their contact
information up to date.
To avoid
missing important information that could affect your firm make sure your email
address, phone number and address are all correct and up to date on the FCA
system.
You can change or update your contact
information by using our online system for notifications and
applications, Connect.
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