Emma RadmoreThe LSB and PSR have signed and published a memorandum of understanding. setting out how the bodies will co-operate and communicate. The accompanying press release note who LSB champions the CRM Code and wants to work...
Category - Retail Banking
CMA writes to Barclays on PPI breaches
The CMA has written a public letter to Barclays because the bank failed to send reminders to up to 1,306 customers about their payment protection insurance (PPI) policies. This meant a breach of Article 4 of the Payment...
Final day of FSMB debate published
In the morning and afternoon of the final day of the Public Bills Committee debate on the FSM Bill, the remaining tabled new clauses were discussed: that the Chair of the PSR should be a member of the FCA board: this...
Borrowers in financial difficulty post-pandemic
FCA’s Borrowers in Financial Difficulty (BiFD) project was launched in March 2021 to monitor how firms support borrowers and intervene where necessary, particularly in relation to the financial effects of the...
FOS publishes latest complaints data
The latest quarterly complaints data from FOS reveals: 38,470 new complaints from July – September 2022 (Q2), an increase of 3,000 on Q1; nearly 6,000 complaints about current accounts (up by 500) nearly 3,400...
BBRS publishes reports on customer satisfaction and complaints
The Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS) has published its Customer Satisfaction Report, reporting customer journey feedback for the 2 months to late August. 72% of customers said they were able to complete the...
Further FSMB revisions released
Parliament has published the latest raft of proposed amendments to the FSM Bill. These include: a change to the very first sub-clause, replacing the revocation of the EU and EU-derived legislation in the schedule so...
Emma RadmoreFCA publishes H1 complaints data
FCA has published the complaints data for H1 2022, which shows: a 1% increase in complaints from the previous period (1.88m complaints) the biggest increase was in the decumulation and pensions group (15%) with a 5%...
Pay.uk reports on account switching progress
Pay.uk has reported on the first 9 years of CASS. Among its key findings are: the PCA markets in 2021 was 21% less concentrated than in 2010, and there has been significant product innovation and improvement...
Government responds on access to cash in Scotland
The Government has responded to the Scottish Affairs Committee’s report on access to cash in Scotland, published in July. It notes, of course, that since the report, the FSMB, with its proposals for protecting...
Jonny WilliamsFSMB Committee stage timetable published
Following the announcement that the Committee stage in the Commons will begin on 19 October, a timetable for the sessions has now been published. Key witnesses scheduled to appear on that day include BoE, PRA, FCA and...
PRA writes to credit unions with annual assessment
PRA has written to credit unions setting out its conclusions from its annual assessment of the sector. Key messages, for both large and small credit unions are: that the likelihood of market conditions in the lending...
FSMB Committee stage scheduled for 19 October
An update to the Parliament website shows the Committee stage for the Financial Services and Markets Bill will start on 19 October. After the line by line debate is complete, the Bill will be republished for report...
LSB speaks on customer outcomes in outsourcing
Emma Lovell, Chief Executive of the LSB, has spoken on the top risks LSB sees in outsourcing and the steps that firms can take to achieve fair outcomes for customers. She focused on: due diligence and oversight: she...
FCA finalises branch closure guidance
FCA has published new, updated guidance for banks, setting additional expectations on them when they are considering closing branches or ATMs. FCA has seen some good practices develop since it originally published...
BoE consults on AI discussion paper
The BoE is consulting on its discussion paper about how artificial intelligence (AI) may affect financial regulation. The discussion paper looks at how the current regulatory framework applies to AI; it considers how...
Nicola RadfordPSR issues direction expanding ‘confirmation of payee’
The Payment Services Regulator (PSR) has issued ‘Specific Direction 17: Expanding Confirmation of Payee‘ (CoP) which is intended to ensure that more of those who make use of CHAPS or Faster Payments benefit...
Duncan ScottFCA launches new webpage on Consumer Duty
The FCA has published a new webpage containing information on the Consumer Duty. The webpage, which will be kept up to date, currently contains guidance for firms on: implementation plans and the FCA’s...
Lucy HadrillFCA confirms cessation of 1 and 6 month synthetic sterling LIBOR at end-March 2023
FCA required IBA to continue its publication of 1-, 3- and 6-month sterling and yen LIBOR settings for an additional year after end-2021. Following FCA’s consultation earlier this year, the majority of respondents...
Harshil PatelFCA speech: Consumer Duty
Sheldon Mills (Executive Director, Consumers and Competition at the FCA) has delivered a speech on what firms and customers can expect from the Consumer Duty. Mr Mills stressed that, whilst the Duty is not yet in force...
Consumer Duty: FCA update and events
The FCA has published a new webpage on Consumer Duty, which outs out the timeline and key milestones for implementation and contains links to register for FCA webinars and email updates. You can also register to attend...
FOS publishes H1 complaints data
FOS has published its regular half-yearly update on complaints data relating to individual businesses. 212 businesses feature, with an average uphold rate of 37% (the same as the previous period). FOS has also reported...
BIS calls for swift Basel III implementation
The Basel Committee has reiterated its expectation that all aspects of the Basel Framework should be implemented as consistently and fast as possible. More than 66% of jurisdictions plan to implement all or most of the...
FOS publishes latest complaints data
FOS has published its latest quarterly data on complaints in relation to financial products. The data covers the period of April to June 2022, and can be accessed in full as a spreadsheet. Over the period, the average...
PRA writes to Treasury Committee on “strong and simple”
Sam Woods has written to Mel Stride answering the Treasury Committee’s follow up questions about the Strong and Simple framework. The letter explains that PRA received 19 responses to its consultation and says: in...
CMA issues directions to NatWest for bundling breaches
The CMA has issued directions to NatWest following the bank’s breach of undertakings which prohibited it from requiring SME customers which held certain bank loans to also hold business current accounts (BCAs)...
The future of Open Banking and the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee
FCA, PSR, CMA and HM Treasury have published a joint statement on the future of open banking, announcing the creation of a joint regulatory oversight committee. The committee, co-chaired by the FCA’s Executive Director...
Consumer Duty: building an implementation plan
UK Finance has outlined four key elements firms should be focussing on when building their Consumer Duty implementation plans. These are: definition of the target end state as an input to the gap assessment – to define...
Clarity for lenders dealing with borrowers in distress
The Supreme Court has refused the Appellant’s application for permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision in Morley (t/a Morley Estates) (Appellant) v The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc...
CMA ranks banks’ customer treatment
CMA has carried out a survey of individuals and small businesses to look at how well banks are looking after customers during the cost of living crisis. CMA made participation in the survey mandatory for all relevant...
UK Finance supports “simpler-regime”
UK Finance has responded to PRA’s consultation paper on its proposed definition of a simpler-regime firm. It supports the principle, but has suggested it would be appropriate to increase the ceiling below which...
Read our article on the new Consumer Duty
Following up on our headline post, we have written an article giving more detail on the Consumer Duty and highlighting some of the key changes since the FCA’s second consultation paper. The implementation deadline...
Need more detail on the Financial Services and Markets Bill?
We’ve produced a detailed summary of the key aspects of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, following up on our headline post. While the Bill won’t be having its second reading until September, keep an...
FCA publishes final rules on Consumer Duty
Following two consultations on its proposals, the FCA has confirmed its plans for a new Consumer Duty which will require firms to put their customers’ needs first. The FCA has a parliamentary mandate, via the...
CMA orders bank to send transaction histories
The CMA has ordered Monzo to send transaction histories for 13,000 customers who closed their accounts with the bank but were not sent the history required by the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order. The breaches...
CMA finds that six high street banks broke CMA banking rules
Six high street banks have broken rules imposed by the CMA under the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. Banks and building societies are required to follow strict rules when it comes to informing customers...
PRA finds evidence that banks are reluctant to use their capital buffers
Victoria Saporta, Executive Director of Prudential Policy, gave a speech discussing banks’ reluctance to use their capital buffers. PRA requires UK banks to hold capital ‘buffers’, but the PRA has found evidence...
European Parliament proposes new online credit suitability rules
MEPs have proposed legislation designed to protect consumers online from credit card debt, overdrafts and loans that are unsuitable for their financial situation. The proposed new rules would require that: consumers are...
BoE provides update on risks from climate change
Anil Kashyap, a member of BoE’s Financial Policy Committee, has delivered a speech about the BoE’s work to ensure UK banks and insurers understand the risks from climate change. He discussed the following...
FCA publishes findings of SME collections and recoveries review
The FCA has set out the findings of its review on how retail banks treat SME customers who are in collections and recoveries. The FCA reviewed 11 retail banks which provide SME lending services, including BBLS, and...
ECB finds that banks must sharpen their focus on climate risk
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published the results of its 2022 climate risk stress test, which show that banks are not yet sufficiently incorporating climate risk into their stress-testing frameworks and internal...
FCA urges consumers struggling with rising prices to seek help
The FCA is urging consumers to get help as soon as possible if they are in financial difficulty because of the rising cost of living. The FCA, in collaboration with MoneyHelper, has published the following top tips for...
BoE issues Financial Stability Report for July 2022
The BoE’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) seeks to ensure that the UK financial system is prepared for and resilient to the wide range of risks it could face. The BoE has published the summary and record of the...
FCA board discusses Consumer Duty
The FCA has published the minutes of a board meeting held on 26 May 2022 at which, amongst other items, the board discussed the new Consumer Duty. Highlights include: feedback from external stakeholders on the proposed...
PRA sets fees and levies for 2022/23
Following its consultation in the spring, the PRA has published a policy statement to confirm the final regulated fees and levies rates for 2022/23. The rates meet the PRA’s annual funding requirement for the...
FOS publishes annual complaints data for 2021/22
FOS has published its annual complaints data for April 2021 – March 2022. Highlights include: FOS received 165,263 new complaints which is a decrease on the previous year (279,146). Of these, there were 5,369 PPI...
Eurogroup issues statement on the future of the Banking Union
Since its creation in 2014, the Banking Union has made significant progress on an EU single rulebook, concerning the establishment of a new European architecture for supervision and resolution, and on reducing risks. In...
FCA tells lenders to support customers with the cost of living
FCA has written to over 3,500 lenders to remind them of the standards they should meet as consumers across the country are affected by the rising cost of living. Firms are expected to understand the changing pressures...
FCA consults on strengthening access to banking
FCA has warned that some banks and building societies are not currently doing enough to properly understand the impact of branch closures, ATM conversions or service reductions and to keep their customers informed of...
BoE publishes first resolvability assessment of major UK banks
In its first resolvability assessment of 2022, the BoE has found that, if a major UK bank were to fail today, customers would be able to access their accounts and business services as normal. The BoE found that...
CMA publishes report on lessons learned review of Open Banking remedy
On 27 May 2022, the CMA published the final report of an independent review of the “lessons learned” review of the Open Banking remedy, which is part of the package of remedies introduced following the...
FIN. TeamPrivy Council declines to extend the Quincecare duty to protect beneficial owners of funds
The Privy Council has handed down its decision in Royal Bank of Scotland International LLP (Bank) v JP SPC 4 and another [2022] UKPC 18, in which it confirmed that as a matter of law, banks do not owe a duty of care...
BoE publishes results of 2021 Biennial Exploratory Scenario
The BoE has published the results of the Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario (CBES). The key findings included: Projections of climate losses are uncertain. UK banks and insurers have made progress but still need to...
FCA speaks on regulating finance in the UK
Charles Randell, FCA and PSR Chair, has delivered a speech on regulating finance for the whole of the UK. Highlights include: Importance of partnerships and policy coherence – the FCA recognises the continued importance...
Government takes action to protect access to cash
The Government has announced new legislation that will protect access to cash. It will introduce measures in the forthcoming Financial Services and Markets Bill which will give FCA power to require the largest banks...
FCA consults on expanding dormant assets scheme
On 13 May 2022, the FCA published a consultation paper on expanding the dormant assets scheme (the Scheme). The Scheme allows banks and building societies to pay dormant monies to an authorised reclaim fund which then...
EU Commission consults public on impact of PSD2 and open finance
The Commission has launched a public consultation seeking views on the impact that the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) has had on: innovation and competition in the market for payment services; the way in which...
EU reaches deal on DORA
The EU Commission, EU Council and EU Parliament have reached agreement on the Commission’s proposal for a Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). The new rules aim to harmonise and strengthen digital...
TPT launches consultation on climate transition plans
The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) has launched a call for evidence on a sector-neutral framework for private sector transition plans. The framework will inform UK regulations for certain financial sector firms and...
Queen’s Speech 2022 – FS elements
The Queen’s Speech 2022 outlined the government’s legislative priorities for the next parliamentary session. The measures announced include two bills of particular interest to financial services...
PRA issues policy statement on trading activity wind-down
Following the four responses received to its consultation paper, the PRA has published its final policy on trading activity wind down. The policy statement is relevant to all PRA-authorised UK banks, their qualifying...
LSB publishes its 2022/23 Business Plan
On 3 May 2022, the Lending Standards Board (LSB) published its Business Plan and Budget for 2022/23. in the plan, the LSB sets out its strategic priorities and provides further information on the activities it intends...
FCA confirms no change to payment account linked services list
FCA has completed its review of the list of linked services list for the purposes of the Payment Account Regulations, and has decided not to make any changes.
PRA outlines progress on its ‘Operational Resilience Roadmap’
David Bailey, PRA’s Executive Director responsible for Deposit Takers Supervision, has given a speech at the UK Finance Webinar “Operational Resilience and Beyond”. In his introduction, Mr Bailey noted...
PRA poses alternative approach to bank capital requirements
PRA CEO, Sam Woods, delivered a speech at City Week 2022 in which he set out “a radical, alternative approach” to bank capital requirements. The proposed approach would involve: a single capital buffer...
FCA calls on challenger banks to improve financial crime controls
FCA has published a thematic review on how challenger banks assess financial crime risk, and has highlighted significant failings. Among the findings of the review, which it carried out during 2021, focussing on banks...
PRA publishes Business Plan 2022/23
The PRA Business Plan sets out the PRA’s strategy, workplan, and budget for 2022/23. The PRA’s strategy will be delivered through the following strategic goals: Retain and build on the strength of the banking and...
CMA updates on retail banking market investigation
The latest updates to CMA’s information page show correspondence between the OBIE and CMA on the status of the roadmap. The OBIE updated CMA on progress and items that require updating, and CMA welcomed the update...
Permission to apply for judicial review of 16 FOS decisions refused
In the case of Portal Financial Services LLP v Financial Ombudsman Service Limited [2022] EWHC 710 (Admin) the court has, on appeal, refused Portal permission to apply for Judicial Review of 16 decisions of FOS. The...
Scott NodderCMA makes recommendations for the future oversight of Open Banking
The CMA launched a public consultation on the future oversight of Open Banking in March 2021, and has now published the responses to that consultation. CMA’s recommendations are that the future entity should: have...
CMA updates on OBIE roadmap
CMA has replied to the OBIE roadmap status highlighting areas that need updating and has written to the OBIE asking it to continue to update it on progress and saying the CMA will review progress in the summer.
FCA speaks on credit regulation in tough times
Brian Corr, Interim Director of Retail Lending at FCA delivered a speech on 23 March 2022 to the Credit Summit addressing the impact credit will have on consumers as the economic situation continues to deteriorate and...
BoE to consult on Basel 3.1 at end of 2022
BoE has confirmed that it is continuing to develop proposals to implement Basel 3.1, following the two PRA policy statements of 2021. It notes that the timing of implementation was dependent on a number of factors, not...
CMA writes to banks on banking order breaches
CMA has written to both Barclays and Lloyds about breaches of the Retail Banking Order. It found Barclays had breached the Order 13 times and Lloyds 10 times through inaccurate publication of information through APIs.
HM Treasury publishes ringfencing Review
In 2020, the Treasury appointed an independent panel to: review the operation of the legislation related to ring-fencing; and review banks’ proprietary trading activities following a statutory report from the PRA...
APP Fraud and the extent of the Banks Duty – to be determined at trial
In the case of Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc [2022] EWCA Civ 318, the Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal from Mrs Philipp against the decision of the High Court in 2021 to give judgment to Barclays Bank UK plc on...
LSB sets its agenda for 2022
The latest LSBulletin outlines some of the LSB’s key areas of focus for 2022, including: Contingent Reimbursement Model Code (CRM Code) for APP scams – the LSB will be conducting follow up work from its previous...
FCA launches webpage on branch and ATM closures
The FCA has published a new webpage on bank branch and ATM closures or conversions. The webpage sets out examples of good and poor practice that the FCA has seen when supervising firms planning branch or ATM closures...
Ombudsman News features data, diversity and storm damage
The latest edition of Ombudsman News features items on the latest complaints data and the FOS diversity, inclusion and wellbeing reports featured in other posts, and also notes that FOS often sees complaints from...
Dormant Assets Act gets Royal Assent
The Dormant Assets Act got Royal Assent on 24 February, The Act expands the scope of “dormant assets” that has encompassed cash in bank and building society accounts since 2008 to include a greater range of...
FOS publishes latest quarterly complaints data
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has published its latest quarterly data on complaints in relation to financial products. This data covers the period October to December 2021, and is available in full as a...
Emma BondUK Finance publishes response on Consumer Duty
UK Finance has published its response to the FCA’s second consultation on proposals for a new Consumer Duty. UK Finance welcomes the changes FCA has made since its first consultation (in particular dropping the...
CMA writes to Barclays and Tesco Bank on Retail Banking Order breaches
The CMA has written letters to Barclays and Tesco Bank regarding their breaches of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. Barclays’ breach relates to its failure to update a Service Quality Indicator...
PRA consults on definition of capital
The PRA has published a Consultation Paper which proposes updates to PRA SS 7/13 ‘Definition of capital (CRR firms). The proposed rules are set out in full in Appendix 3. This suggestion is part of the broader...
FCA publishes 2021 fin proms data
FCA has published its analysis of its data from 2021 relating to action it took against authorised firms breaching financial promotion rules. Key conclusions included: an increase in amendment and withdrawal of...
CMA writes to Monzo on RBO breach
The CMA has written to Monzo about its breach of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. Monzo breached the Order when it failed to disclose its Monthly Maximum Charge in its Fee Information document between...
CMA publishes updated governance arrangements for Open Banking
CMA has published amended arrangements setting out the composition, governance, budget and funding arrangements for the Open Banking Implementation Entity, following last year’s reports on the lack of appropriate...
FCA publishes 2022 retail banking model update
FCA has published its 2022 final report on competition in retail banking business models, following on from its 2018 reports. As a result of the 2018 reports there were a number of regulatory changes, specifically to...
Quincecare Duty – Supreme Court Appeal
The Court of Appeal decision in Stanford International Bank Ltd (in liquidation) v HSBC plc [2021] EWCA Civ 535 comes before the Supreme Court this week as SIB appeal the decision to strike out the loss claim it...
FCA updates on borrowers in financial difficulty
The FCA launched the borrowers in financial difficulty (BiFD) project in March 2021, with the aim of ensuring firms continue to support borrowers facing financial difficulties. The project covers a range of retail...
PRA sets out supervisory priorities for 2022
The PRA has sent Dear CEO letters to PRA-regulated international banks, insurance firms and UK deposit-takers setting out its supervisory priorities for 2022. For banks, the PRA’s priorities relate to: Financial...
FCA updates on skilled persons reviews
FCA has published the figures for the skilled persons reviews commissioned in October – December 2021. There were 12 in total, of which 4 were on retail banking and payments firms and 3 on investment management...
FCA outlines new authorisation fee structure
The FCA has set out the new structure for authorisation application fees which takes effect on 24 January 2022. The current charges are being condensed into 10 simple pricing categories and the following additional...
Check out our new and improved regulatory timeline
In conjunction with the FIN. blog, we have launched our new and improved horizon scanning tool over on the Womble Bond Dickinson website. Our timeline highlights key regulatory deadlines, legislation and insights...
UK-US Financial Regulatory Working group holds fifth meeting
The fifth meeting of the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working group was held on 15 December 2021 and focussed on the following 7 themes: international and bilateral cooperation; sustainable finance; crypto-assets and...
UK banks join forces to preserve access to cash
Further to their commitments to continue to preserve access to cash for consumers and businesses, the UK’s major retail banks, consumer groups, Post Office and LINK have agreed to collaborate to share services...
PRA publishes feedback on UK prudential framework
The PRA has published a feedback statement summarising the responses to Discussion Paper (DP) 1/21, which set out the PRA’s proposals for developing a simpler prudential framework for non-systemic banks and...
PRA updates on the 2022 cyber stress test
The PRA has announced that it will invite a number of firms to participate in a voluntary cyber stress test. The stress test will focus on a severe data integrity incident as the disruption scenario and will test...
LSB publishes Access to Banking Standard recommendations
The LSB has published the report of its review of the Access to Banking Standard. The report makes the following recommendations: oversight of branch closures and changes in branch service provision, currently provided...
FCA publishes second consultation on Consumer Duty
Following its initial consultation in Q2 this year (CP21/13), the FCA has set out the responses it received and has published a second consultation on its plans for a new Consumer Duty (CP21/36). The FCA received 235...
FCA publishes final rules on strong customer authentication
The FCA has published a policy statement on changes to the SCA technical standards (SCA-RTS), the payment services and e-money approach document and guidance in PERG. The policy statement summarises feedback received to...
CMA publishes terms of reference for Open Banking review
Following a complaint relating to the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), an independent investigation identified a number of problems with its leadership and found that a lack of appropriate corporate governance...
UK Finance makes Open Banking recommendations
UK Finance has published a report setting out its recommendations for the future strategy of open banking. Open banking payments have increased exponentially over the past 3 years and there are now over 2.5m each month...
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