Harshil PatelSheldon 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...
Category - Retail Banking
Lucy Hadrill
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...
Emma Radmore
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...
Nicola RadfordPRA 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...
Duncan ScottBoE 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...
Jonny WilliamsCMA 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...
FMLC reports on UK bank ring-fencing legislation legal uncertainties
Legislation requiring UK banks to separate the provision of core retail services from other activities within their groups has been in force since 1 January 2019. This so-called “bank ring-fencing regime”...
PRA publishes responses to CP13/21 occasional consultation paper
The PRA has published a policy statement (PS25/21) which sets out its final policy on the various proposals it consulted on in occasional paper CP13/21. These proposals included: For banks, building societies and PRA...
Government sets out net zero transition plans
The government has set out its plans for the UK to be the world’s first net zero aligned financial centre and has called for other countries to follow suit. The government has confirmed it will be introducing...
EU Banking Package 2021
The European Commission has today adopted a review of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) to ensure that EU banks become more resilient to potential future economic...
Fraud taskforce adds new charters
The Government website hosting all information about the Joint Fraud Taskforce has added the charters for accountancy, retail banking and telecommunications. The retail banking charter quantifies the key risks (APP...
UNEPFI publishes collective progress report on principles for responsible banking
The UN Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) has published a collective progress report providing an update on the progress made by more than 200 signatories in implementing the Principles for Responsible...
PRA publishes final rules on Basel implementation
Following the publication of near-final rules in July, the PRA has published a policy statement (PS) setting out its CRR rule instrument to implement part of the Basel standards that still need to be implemented in the...
PRA consults on trading activity wind-down
The Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) has published the Consultation Paper CP20/21: “Trading activity wind-down“, which sets out the proposed expectations in respect of firms’ engagement in trading...
PRA policy statement on UK leverage ratio framework
The Bank of England has published the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) policy statement PS21/21, which contains feedback from the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and the PRA on responses to the Consultation Paper...
CMA welcomes new power to tackle competition and consumer law breaches
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) welcomes the Government’s proposals in publishing its responses to the two recent consultations: “Reforming competition and consumer policy“ and “A new...
CMA report on allegations at the Open Banking Implementation Entity
The CMA has published its findings following an investigation into allegations at the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). The OBIE was set up in 2017 to implement Open Banking, enabling consumers and SMEs to...
CMA revokes Santander directions
The CMA has revoked the Directions under the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order originally given to Santander in December 2018 in respect of delivery of Release 1 of Open Banking by Cater Allen, after receiving...
CMA writes to Santander following breach of Retail Banking Order
The CMA has written a letter to Santander following the bank’s failure to publish Northern Ireland Service Quality Indicators for Overall Service Quality for Business Current Accounts, as required by the Retail...
Ombudsman News looks at fraud and scam complaints
The latest edition of Ombudsman News warns customers to be extra vigilant about fraud and scams following a significant rise in cases seen by the FOS in the last 12 months. The FOS received 5,025 fraud and scam...
Up next from the regulators
Nikhil Rathi and Sam Woods, CEOs of the FCA and PRA respectively, have set out the regulators’ current areas of focus. Highlights from Mr Rathi’s speech include that the FCA: is collaborating with...
Banks benefit from early adoption of green policies, says EBA
The BEA has published the results of its economy-wide stress test, which tested the impact of climate change on over 4 million firms worldwide and 1,600 euro area banks. The findings show that: firms and banks are to be...
Basel Committee calls for greater resilience against cyber threats
The Basel Committee has published a newsletter encouraging banks to adopt more resilient measures relating to cyber security. This was triggered in part by the increase in cyber threats since the beginning of the COVID...
EBA to enhance monitoring of digital platform use in EU banking and payments sectors
A Report published by the European Banking Authority (EBA) today on the “platformisation” (use of digital platform-based business models) of the EU banking and payments sector: identifies the rapid growth in...
ECJ delivers judgment on EBA Guidelines
The ECJ has ruled that the EBA acted within its powers when it adopted guidelines on product governance and oversight arrangements for retail banking products in 2015. The guidelines set out requirements for...
EBA publishes revised guidelines on DGS stress tests
The EBA has published its revised guidelines on the stress tests conducted by national deposit guarantee schemes (DGS) under the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive. The revised guidelines extend the scope of the DGS...
FCA mortgage guidance to expire in October
In October 2020, the FCA introduced temporary guidance on maturing interest-only and part-and-part mortgages. The guidance allowed borrowers with certain mortgages due to mature between 20 March 2020 and 31 October 2021...
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