Evidence recently submitted by the FCA to the House of Commons Treasury Committee has been published which highlights work undertaken by the FCA into its inquiries into consumers' access to financial services.
In the evidence, the FCA has set out a summary of its past and ongoing work on issues concerning financial access for consumers, focusing on vulnerable people.
This provides a useful insight into the upcoming publications to come out of the Regulator that will further clarify the standards and expectations of firms who undertake work in these areas.
Papers expected are;
- the outcome of multi-firm work on policies towards vulnerable consumers, to be published in March;
- the outcome of the FCA's thematic review of debt management, to be published in March;
- a consultation paper regarding guidance on vulnerability, to be published in April. This guidance is intended to clarify the FCA's expectations of firms and ensure good outcomes for vulnerable consumers; and
- planned thematic work on the treatment of vulnerable consumers within non-bank lenders, to begin in April.
Firms working in all sectors are likely find that these publications provide an invaluable viewpoint into the current thinking of the regulator and like Ascent, should apply any thematic or principal based outputs to their sectoral work to ensure achievement of the highest standard expectations in this area of continued and developing focus.
http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/treasury-committee/consumers-access-to-financial-services/written/94816.pdf
This submission outlines the FCA’s work and approach to issues of financial access for consumers, focusing on vulnerable people. It looks at this work and the challenges faced by consumers and industry, answering the Committee’s questions directly using examples from specific pieces of past and present work.
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