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 to undertake including:
- End-to-end compliance reviews on the Standards of Lending Practice for business customers, to understand firms’ treatment of their customers and ensure fair customer outcomes have been prioritised and achieved for SMEs in view of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic;
- A significant project on the identification, treatment and evolving needs of vulnerable customers, spanning the personal and business Standards and the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code (CRM Code);
- An internal review of the Standards of Lending Practice for personal customers against the backdrop of the regulatory roadmap, including the FCA’s proposed consumer duty;
- The introduction of a programme of cyclical compliance reviews to ensure all registered firms are assessed over a regular cycle of between three and four years for adherence to the end-to-end customer journey;
- Continued implementation of the recommendations from the LSB’s 2020/21 review of the CRM code for authorised push payment (APP) scams and its 2021 call for input;
- Close co-ordination with UK Finance, the FCA and HM Treasury to progress the implementation of the recommendations from the LSB’s 2021 review of the Access to Banking Standard; and
- New research on the effective warnings provisions of the CRM Code.