Emma RadmoreThe 6th Regulatory Priorities report from the FCA focuses on consumer finance. Its priorities are:
- that consumers should be able to access credit that meets their needs: it wants to see firms continue to innovate while lending responsibly and helping would be customers who are currently excluded;
- that firms support consumers who struggle with debt, without putting barriers in their way;
- for consumers to be able to complain when things go wrong and get appropriate redress – including carrying out appropriate root cause analyses and making sure they can meet potential and actual liabilities. The FCA will continue to put Consumer Duty compliance at the centre of its expectations;
- deferred payment credit – ensuring relevant lenders comply with the new regime taking effect in July;
- monitoring principal firms for compliance with the Consumer Duty in the way they monitor their ARs;
- monitoring for strategic harms through the data it collects;
- piloting a new approach to help smaller firms understand FCA expectations;
- continuing to encourage firms to benefit from the opportunities to experiment with AI;
- working on SMCR reform; and
- a targeted review of credit union closed book products, to test whether they are delivering good consumer outcomes.