Financial Services Regulatory Insights - Conduct

30 June 2021 What’s in a definition? How different options for the FCA’s consumer principle would impact firms The FCA’s proposed consumer duty contains two options for a new consumer principle, both of which may require some further thought.

16 June 2021 Empowering staff is vital for looking after vulnerable customers PwC looks at how firms can progress to the next level of maturity in meeting the FCA’s expectations in empowering staff to treat vulnerable customers fairly.

10 December 2020 Wealth managers: A blast from the past complicated by the future "We discuss three key takeaways from the FCA’s evaluation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) and Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR)

09 November 2020 Who is responsible for treating vulnerable customers fairly? How do firms implement the right governance and accountability framework for treating vulnerable customers fairly?

23 July 2020 Managing fund liquidity through product governance Firms may face scrutiny on how effectively they are managing liquidity risk through their wider approach to product design and distribution.

02 July 2020 A live SMR test: lessons in governance from COVID-19 Lessons in governance from COVID-19 and how to think about the post-pandemic environment.

05 May 2020 Managing fund liquidity - does COVID-19 change things? We’ve seen a sharp drop in global financial markets in recent weeks, asset managers need to revisit their approaches to managing fund liquidity.

16 April 2020 Living with Lockdown - COVID-19 and client assets (CASS) With the challenges faced by us all in relation to responding to COVID-19, what should firms be considering when it comes to protecting clients' assets?

26 March 2020 Coronavirus: Juggling legal and conduct risks in general insurance On 19 March 2020 the FCA set out its expectations for insurers on how they should respond to some of the challenges caused by this coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

28 February 2020 Later life mortgages: Will people really still be working at 90? Mortgage terms are increasing and lasting later into a customer’s life. But are lenders doing all they should to fully assess the new and exacerbated risks that these new lending trends create, such as plausibility of income?

06 February 2020 Time to capitalise on the changing face of financial ‘advice’ In this blog, Andrew Strange discusses the complexities for financial service companies on providing advice to clients and customers.

12 December 2019 Assessment of value - time to be brave The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new assessment of value rules require asset management firms to conduct a root and branch review of their UK funds, and then report their findings to investors. With the first reporting deadline fast approaching in January 2020, now is the time for firms to be brave and stand behind their offering to investors?

04 December 2019 FRC Client Assets Standard 2019 Kim Stainfield discusses the revised FRC Client Assets (“CASS”) Assurance Standard and it's contribution to improvements.

25 November 2019 Highlights of PwC’s 2019 with-profits survey By Philippe Guijarro, Rebecca Macdonald and Kris Overlunde With-profits may be in decline but remains firmly in the spotlight, whether that be due to acquisitions,...

20 November 2019 Sustainable investing: rooting out conduct risk and why MiFID II matters By Lucas Penfold & Leo Donnachie The appetite for sustainable investing shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. The asset management industry clearly recognises...

15 November 2019 Turning the SM&CR into an opportunity for solo regulated firms By Grant Lee and Ann-Marie Stone In less than a month’s time, on 9 December 2019, the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR) comes into...

07 November 2019 Product governance review - a wake up call for asset managers? By Lucas Penfold, Catherine Crouch and Vasco Vicini The new product governance regime introduced under MiFID II has been a hot topic for asset managers...

07 November 2019 Perfecting transaction reporting: what can you learn from MiFID II? By Arthur Marquis and Lucas Penfold 30 million. That’s the number of transaction reports the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) processed on an average working day...

28 October 2019 Moving away from LIBOR? Don’t forget your client You’ve thought about repapering, market liquidity, exposure monitoring…But how about your clients? By now, most asset managers are beginning to embark on the LIBOR transition journey and wonder whether they will be ready to pull the plug at the end of 2021. As they ramp up progress though, they mustn’t forget to place client outcomes at the centre of their thinking. Conduct risk now features high on the regulatory agenda, and relevant investor protection obligations under MiFID II are likely to play an important role in helping to manage such risk. In this blog, we consider some of the key aspects of the MiFID II framework that firms should carefully consider in the context of their LIBOR transition programmes.

23 October 2019 Facing disruption: The evolution of the risk function in the asset management industry The asset management industry is going through a period of unprecedented change. Across the sector, competition, client demands and changing regulatory expectations are putting asset managers’ margins under severe pressure, forcing firms to review their strategy and related business model. As the industry strives to adapt and searches for new opportunities, we believe few firms have fully considered how their risk function will need to adapt to best support the business in achieving its strategic objectives.

21 October 2019 What does being responsible for climate risk really mean? It’s clear that climate risk is an issue the PRA wants firms to take seriously and address urgently. The prudential regulator wants firms to recognise that climate change, and society’s response to it, present financial risks. These could arise through physical risks such as increased instances of extreme weather events, but the regulator is also particularly concerned about the shorter-term transition risks that could impact the financial system as we move towards a lower-carbon economy.

21 October 2019 FRC CASS consultation 2019 PwC have submitted feedback to the recent consultation on changes to the FRC Client Assets (“CASS”) Assurance Standard . From our experience, we consider that the Standard has contributed to a significant improvement in the quality and consistency of CASS audits. We also believe that the application of the Standard has contributed to a significant improvement in the understanding and documentation of control processes within regulated firms. However, in order to provide a more effective framework to improve audit quality, to support CASS auditors and to underpin the disciplinary process, we believe the FRC can further improve the clarity of some of the proposed requirements.

09 October 2019 ALM in a world of falling interest rates Interest rates have been falling worldwide since November 2018, due to concerns about the global economy and trade (as illustrated in Figure 1). A low rate environment presents challenges to both banks and insurers, with a different impact on each industry.

03 October 2019 MiFID II research review - what next for firms? Reading the FCA’s supervisory review into research unbundling, firms could be forgiven for thinking this is a job well done. But beyond the positive headlines, there are some clear messages for firms to reflect on, and the FCA highlights areas where it plans follow-up work. It is clear that the FCA will continue to assess firms as they respond and bed in the changes. Firms may need to defend their research pricing decisions to the regulator and, as we explain below, look again at MiFID II research practices in a number of areas.

03 September 2019 Tackling vulnerability and financial exclusion: When talk can be highly valuable Financial vulnerability and exclusion are widespread but often hidden problems. That’s why it’s so important that we get them out in the open and have a real conversation about the risks and how to tackle them.

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