The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has organised a webinar for debt advice providers on 12 July 2023, 2-3pm.
This important event follows concerns around the readiness of smaller regulated firms, including the large number holding debt counselling as a permission, ahead of the Consumer Duty implementation deadline on 31 July 2023.
Advisers having the confidence to change their approach to meet the requirements of the Duty, notably around good customer outcomes and evidencing customer understanding are key, as reflected in suitability statements under CONC 8 and quality record keeping that is likely to be subject to quality assurance. As FCA says:
“All aspects of the Duty are relevant to all organisations with debt counselling and debt adjusting permissions. We were concerned that our recent survey of smaller firms found debt advice organisations scored consistently lower than other sectors on awareness, understanding, and implementation progress.”
To register for the webinar, email ConsumerCreditSectorTeam@fca.org.uk.