Search for:

In brief

On 27 July 2022, the FCA published its highly anticipated final rules and guidance on the new Consumer Duty, ushering in a fundamental cultural shift in the way that regulated firms will approach and serve customers, and starting the countdown clock for implementation plans across the industry.


In a welcome move, the FCA has now confirmed a phased approach to implementation. Firms will need to apply the Consumer Duty to new and existing products and services that are open to sale (or renewal) from 31 July 2023. Firms will have an additional 12 months, until 31 July 2024, to apply the Consumer Duty to products and services held in closed books. Despite this phased approach, boards are expected to have scrutinised and signed off firms’ implementation plans by the end of October 2022 so time is tight for firms to agree their approach to implementation.

On the whole, the final Consumer Duty package reflects the proposals set out in the FCA’s consultations, with some changes and clarifications made in response to feedback received. Going forward, The FCA expects to build on the guidance as the Consumer Duty is embedded across the industry, including more sector specific guidance over time. In this alert, we highlight some of the significant changes and clarifications that we consider to be most significant. For more detail on the proposals as consulted on, this alert should be read together with our previous alerts of June and December 2021.

Please read the full alert here.

Author

Mark heads the Financial Services & Regulatory (FSR) practice group in London and co-leads the FinTech group. He also acts as Chair of the FSR practice for the EMEA region and sits on the Global FSR Steering Committee. Mark is ranked as a Leading Individual in Legal 500 2022 for Financial Services (Non-Contentious Regulatory) and is individually ranked in Chambers 2022 for FinTech. He is described in these publications as being "very knowledgeable" and "very approachable" with "a wonderful range of FinTech experience" and as someone who is "clear, commercial and pragmatic and understands all the issues in detail." He has authored a number of articles and contributions for leading journals and other publications, most notably the Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, the International Guide to Money Laundering Law and Practice, and A Practitioner's Guide to the Law and Regulation of Financial Crime.

Author

Julian is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Financial Services Group in London. Julian advises financial institutions including international and local fintechs, investment and retail banks, asset managers, investment advisers, payment services firms and product issuers on compliance with UK and European regulatory obligations. Julian also has experience in advising on the spectrum of regulated financial services and products including deposit products, payment accounts and electronic money products, consumer credit, insurance, derivatives, managed funds, structured debt and equities. Julian has completed a secondment to UBS AG and Western Union Business Solutions, in their in-house legal and compliance teams. Duties included advising equity derivatives, fixed income derivatives and equities teams on general commercial and regulatory issues. He is currently on secondment from the Australian offices of the Firm and has extensive experience with both Australian and English financial regulation.

Author

Sarah Williams is an associate in the financial services practice in London. Sarah advises a broad range of clients on financial services legal and regulatory issues. Sarah's practice includes advising on the regulation of payment services and electronic money, investment firms and consumer credit providers and anti-money laundering compliance issues.

Author

Connie Faith is an Associate in Baker McKenzie London office.

Author

Kimberly Everitt is Baker McKenzie's knowledge lawyer for Financial Services Regulation & Enforcement, covering the EMEA region, and brings over a decade of experience to the team in both knowledge and fee-earning roles. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Kim held roles specializing in contentious financial services regulation knowledge, and her fee-earning roles covered non-contentious regulation in the private equity and general financial services sectors.

Write A Comment