Further to the FCA’s recent change to the rules around mortgage prisoners, they are now looking for mortgage intermediaries to sign up to become part of the new journey these customers can go through. The FCA see...
Author - Natasha Brownlee
Natasha Brownlee
PRA release statement on the approach to the application of the Matching Adjustment during Covid-19
The PRA has released a statement (7 July 2020) to insurers on the application of the matching adjustment (MA) during Covid-19. The PRA considers that the MA has functioned as intended thus far throughout the Covid-19...
Payday Lending Market Investigation Order 2015: CMA secures loan write-off from payday lender
The CMA have written to Shelby Finance Limited regarding breaches of Part 4 of the Payday Lending Market Investigation Order 2015 (the “Order”). Shelby Finance breached the Order by failing to send out...
Covid 19 – FCA confirms additional support for consumer credit customers
The FCA has today (1st July 2020) confirmed the new guidance for firms on how they treat consumer credit customers who are still experiencing financial difficulties due to Covid-19. The new guidance comes in to force on...
European Commission consults on consumer credit agreements
The European Commission is consulting, as part of its review of EU consumer policy, on the Consumer Credit Directive. It wants to review the Directive in light of the recent evaluation which highlighted a number of...
PSR confirms widespread implementation of Confirmation of Payee
The PSR have confirmed that from today (1 July 2020), there is now widespread coverage of Confirmation of Payee (CoP). This is the fraud prevention tool which allows people to check the name of who they want to pay...
FCA and PSR publish update on access to cash
The FCA and PSR have today published more information on their joint work to map access to cash and how this will shape their future work in this area. This is a follow up to their joint statement which was published on...
FCA publish statement on Wirecard
On 29th June the FCA provided written consent to allow Wirecard to resume issuing e-money and providing payment services on 29th June. The restriction on activities lifted today (30 June). This means that Wirecard can...
European Commission report on impact of Interchange Fee Regulation
On 29 June 2020, the European Commission published a report on the impact of interchange fees for card-based payment transactions which entered into force in June 2015 (the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR)). The IFR...
FCA updates mortgages Covid-19 page
FCA has updated its website on its finalised guidance for firms on mortgages and Covid-19. The updates are minor, making a few clarifications only, mainly to confirm that firms that could not provide personalised...
Access to Cash: FCA and PSR publish their approach
Access to cash is a shared priority between HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the FCA and the PSR. On 16th June, the PSR and FCA published a joint statement on their approach to Access to Cash. Covid-19 The Statement...
Pay.UK heralds COP launch
Pay.UK has heralded the introduction of Confirmation of Payee and has reminded users of the importance of using “first name surname” rather than a nickname on payment details. Its data shows that 34% of...
Covid 19 – FCA confirms additional support measures for mortgage customers
Following its proposal published on 22nd May, the FCA has today (2nd June 2020) confirmed its new guidance for firms on how to deal with mortgage customers who are struggling financially as a result of Covid-19. The...
Pay.UK launches rules and standards for Request to Pay
Pay.UK has launched its Request to Pay framework comprising the message standards, rules and terms and conditions for developing Request to Pay services. Organisations can use it to create the first Request to Pay...
Covid 19 – FCA publishes proposed updated guidance for mortgages
On 22nd May, the FCA outlined its proposed additional guidance (following the original guidance on 20 March) for mortgage lenders, mortgage administrators, home purchase providers and home purchase administrators, in...
SCA E-Commerce deadline extended
The FCA have today extended the deadline for firms to implement their e-commerce Secure Customer Authentication (SCA) by 6 months from 14 March 2021 to 14 September 2021. This is to minimise potential disruption to...
Regulator Covid-19 update 31 March
Payment Services and SCA Today, the FCA has published an updated version of its webpage on strong customer authentication (SCA) under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs 2017). Protecting customers –...
Annual increase to FOS award limit confirmed
The FOS award limit is the maximum amount FOS can require a firm to pay when it upholds complaints. This limit is adjusted each year in line with inflation. From 1 April 2020, the new award limit will be: £355,000 for...
PSR release Confirmation of Payee update in light of Covid-19
On 20 March, the PSR released an update on Confirmation of Payee (CoP) in light of Covid-19. The PSR have considered their regulatory approach and all things considered have advised the directed banks that if they are...
PSR update on card-acquiring market review
On 16 March, the Payment System Regulator (PSR) released an update on their publication of the interim report on card-acquiring services. It was originally thought that the report would be published in late 2019 but it...
EBA sets out 2020 priorities for digital finance
On 3 March 2020, the EBA published a speech by José Manuel Campa, EBA Chair, from the 4th Annual Conference on Fintech and Digital Innovation: Delivering the Future. Various areas of digital finance including the...
New FCA webpage on PSPs
The FCA have today published a new page on their website on payment service providers (PSPs). The page is aimed at consumers and explains the different kinds of PSPs, and the protections afforded to consumers when...
Climate Change and Financial Services: COP26 Private Finance Agenda launched
On 27th February, Mark Carney launched the ‘COP26 Private Finance Agenda’ at the Guildhall in London. The overarching goal of the Agenda is that every professional financial decision will need to take climate change...
FCA speech on penalties, remediation and General Principles
On 12 February, Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight made a speech at an event on Investigations and Enforcement: A Guide to Managing Regulatory Action. Key takeaways from the speech...
PSR makes policy statement on Confirmation of Payee and Specific Direction 10
On 20 January 2020, the PSR consulted on varying specific direction 10 (SD10) on confirmation of payee. SD10 was given to the six largest banks in August 2019, requiring them to implement confirmation of payee from 31...
FCA writes to credit brokers
The FCA wrote to credit brokers on 13 February 2020 identifying the key drivers of harm within the credit broking portfolio. These include:- failure to understand regulatory requirements; poor oversight of staff and...
FCA recognises Standards of Lending Practice for business customers
The FCA has published a feedback statement (FS20/1) on the recognition of the Lending Standards Board’s (LSB) Standards of Lending Practice for business customers and updated its webpage on recognised industry codes...
FCA tells CMCs to raise advertising standards
The FCA has conducted a review of financial promotions issued by CMCs. CMCs are required to provide information to consumers that is fair, clear and not misleading under rules that were introduced in April. The rules...
FCA provides more time to implement Secure Customer Authentication
The FCA has set out an agreed plan that it will not take any action against firms that are not ready for the strong customer authentication (“SCA”) EU rules by 14 September this year. In the plan, the FCA...
FCA announce delay of publication of rules for CFD
Further to our article in December, the FCA have published a statement announcing that it is delaying publication of final rules for CFD products and CFD-like options. The FCA consulted on permanent rules to restrict...
Andrew Bailey looks at the future of financial conduct regulation
On 23rd April, Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the FCA, released a statement on the future of financial conduct regulation. He used a four lens approach when looking at conduct regulation. These can be summarised as:...