FOS has published its latest quarterly complaints data. The data covers April – June 2023. All the most complained-about products have seen year on year increases, and the most complained about product remains...
Category - Retail Banking
Emma RadmoreFCA to analyse lenders’ fair value assessments
The FCA has announced it will analyse the fair value assessments provided to it by 9 banks and building societies. This follows the introduction of the Consumer Duty and the 14-point action plan published by FCA in July...
BoE publishes policy statement on wholesale cash distribution supervision
BoE has published a statement of policy and the responses to a consultation on its supervisory approach to market oversight for wholesale cash distribution (WCD) under its new powers under Part 5A FSMA 2023. BoE’s...
Laura WilesTreasury and FCA confirm approach on access to cash rules
Treasury has published a cash access policy statement setting out the Government’s approach to access to cash deposit and withdrawal services for UK current accounts. The aim of the statement is to inform...
CMA survey shows best results for challenger banks
CMA has published the 11th version of its banking customer satisfaction survey. The surveys rank providers of personal and small business current accounts against a number of questions, including how likely they would...
Ombudsman News highlights current hot topics
The latest edition of FOS’ Ombudsman News highlights: the Consumer Duty: now the Duty is in force, FOS will be speaking to firms to assess the complaints firms are receiving; FOS’ updated guidance for firms...
FCA asks banks for account closure information
FCA has followed up its announcement of its upcoming investigation of account closures with a request to the largest banks, building societies and payment firms to provide it, by 25 August, with information on: the...
FCA publishes letter on freedom of expression and provision of banking services
FCA has published a letter to HM Treasury on freedom of expression and the provision of banking services, in response to increased public concern about payment accounts being closed without fair justification. The...
FCA publishes Q2 fin proms data
FCA has published its financial promotions data for Q2 2023, which showed that 1507 promotions were amended or withdrawn as a result of FCA intervention. As with the data for Q1, the majority of cases related to retail...
FOS blogs on consumer card protections
FOS has published a blog on how businesses can help consumers who have problems with goods and services. It has noticed that consumers aren’t always aware of the protections they have when paying for goods or...
Government consults on financial product cold call ban
The Government is consulting on how to ban cold calls offering any financial products. It says that once the ban is in force, it will be clear to anyone receiving a call for a financial product that the call is a scam...
Consumer Duty takes effect
The Consumer Duty has taken effect for all on-sale products. FCA has reminded consumers of the protections it gives them.
Read our summary of what FCA is expecting from firms.
FCA publishes cash savings action plan
FCA has published a 14 point action plan for banks and building societies. The plan aims to ensure: that firms pass on interest rate rises to savers appropriately; good and effective communication with customers; and...
Financial Lives conclusions make uncomfortable reading
FCA has published the results of its latest Financial Lives survey, which it says serve to highlight the importance of the Consumer Duty. During the year to May 2022: less than half of UK adults had confidence in the UK...
Commons discusses BBRS failings and alternative solutions
In a discussion on the BBRS, the House of Commons has outlined how the service failed to restore trust between SMEs and their lenders, or resolve a meaningful number of complaints. MPs also set out some alternative...
CME publishes annual report on SME banking behavioural undertakings compliance
CMA has published its annual report on compliance with the SME banking behavioural undertakings 2002, covering the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. The report analyses how well 8 UK banks have complied with...
Quincecare Duty defined in Philipp v Barclays
As we reported in last week’s edition of FIN in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK PLC [2023] UK SC25, the Supreme Court allowed the Barclays appeal against the Court of Appeal decision that had, in essence, widened the...
FIN. TeamFCA and ICO confirm expectations for communications to savings customers
FCA and ICO have published a joint letter to UK Finance and the Building Societies Association, confirming that savings providers can inform their customers of the best interest rates available to them, even where...
Banks and FCA respond to Treasury on further savings rates queries
Early in July, the Treasury Committee progressed its campaign for banks to increase savings rates by issuing letters to FCA and the UK’s biggest high street lenders: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Natwest. The banks and FCA...
Supreme Court rules in favour of Barclays in APP fraud case
The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in the case of Philipp v Barclays Bank UK PLC [2023] UKSC 25. Barclays had appealed a decision from the Court of Appeal that it owed the customer a contractual duty not to...
FPC publishes Financial Stability Report
BoE has published the July 2023 Financial Stability Report, setting out FPC’s view on the stability of the UK financial system and what it is doing to remove or reduce any risks to it. FPC notes that the current...
BCBS consults on core principles for banking supervision
BCBS is consulting on revisions to its Core principles for effective banking supervision (Core Principles). In its April 2022 review, BCBS sought to reflect supervisory and regulatory developments, structural changes in...
Treasury Committee probes further on savings rates
The Treasury Committee has further progressed its campaign for banks to increase savings rates by issuing letters to FCA and the UK’s biggest high street lenders: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Natwest. In...
FSM Bill gets Royal Assent
As expected, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 got Royal Assent on 29 June. Heralding it, Treasury described its key features as: bringing the ability to tailor financial services regulation to fit UK markets...
Government and regulators agree consumer support action plan
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has chaired a roundtable with CEOs from CMA, FCA, Ofcom, Ofgem and Ofwat as part of the Government’s plan to halve inflation this year and return to the 2% target. Treasury expects that the...
FSM Bill completes Parliamentary process
The FSM Bill returned to the Lords for consideration of the few amendments the Commons had made. These were agreed, and so the Bill has completed its Parliamentary passage and now awaits Royal Assent. It is expected to...
JROC publishes API pricing principles
The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee for Open Banking has published a set of principles that banks and registered third parties should follow when agreeing a premium API commercial model. Premium APIs will allow...
FSMB back in Commons on 26 June
The FSMB will return to the Commons on 26 June, for the House to consider the version as amended in the Lords.
LSB speaks on digital evolution and inclusivity
Anna Roughley of the LSB has spoken on the evolution of digital and technical services in the context of providing a consumer-focussed outcome for lending. First she noted that, while digital banking is ideal for many...
‘Scale challenger’ banks respond to Treasury Committee on savings rates
The Treasury Committee last month expanded its campaign for banks to increase savings rates offered to loyal customers, questioning why easy access savings rates are much lower than the current BoE base rate. The...
BBRS publishes 2022 Annual Report
The 2022 Annual Report of the BBRS highlights that the scheme did grow in its second year but case volumes were still lower than anticipated. However, the Board is satisfied that it did all it could to find cases and is...
JROC sets out open banking programme
The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee has published its programme of work to take forward recommendations for the next phase of open banking. Its proposals include creating 2 regulator-led working groups to develop...
FCA publishes access to cash data
The FCA has published its data on geographical access to cash coverage in the UK for Q1 2022 and Q2 2022. The FCA and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) gather and update data on access to cash on a quarterly basis. The...
LSB looks at access for d/Deaf customers
LSB has published a report looking at how better to drive inclusion for d/Deaf customers in the banking and credit sector. The report highlights the challenges these customers face, and LSB hopes it will enable firms to...
FSMB: Lords report stage scheduled for 6 June
The report stage in the Lords for the FSM Bill will start on 6 June. There is no set length of time for it to last, although further sittings have already been scheduled for 8 and 13 June.
FOS publishes discrimination complaints guidance
FOS has published an information page for firms dealing with complaints relating to discrimination. Complaints include: that financial services providers have not made reasonable adjustments to take account of a...
PRA publishes its 2023/24 Business Plan
The PRA Business Plan sets out PRA’s strategy, workplan, and budget for 2023/24. It will be delivered through the following strategic goals: Maintain and build on the safety and soundness of the banking and insurance...
LSB publishes its 2023/24 Business Plan and Budget
The Lending Standards Board (LSB) has published its Business Plan and Budget for 2023/24. Its focus areas this year will include financial resilience and digital journeys, and its ongoing work on the prevention of APP...
FCA publishes aggregate complaints data for H2 2022
FCA has published its overview of complaints in the second half of 2022. Overall it found: a decrease of 6% in complaints compared to H1, largely due to decreases in complaints about banking and credit cards, insurance...
FCA responds on savings rates
FCA has responded to the Treasury Committee’s enquiries on what analysis it had done on on whether banks were making disproportionate profit by increasing mortgage rates more quickly than savings rates...
FCA pleased with overdraft rules effect
FCA says customers have saved £1bn as a result of its improved rules on overdrafts which have reduced high fees for unarranged borrowing, have removed complex charging structures and required firms to help struggling...
Regulators set out views for next phase of Open Banking
The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee has published its recommendations for the next phase of open banking. Its priorities for the next 5 years cover: levelling up availability and performance mitigating the risks of...
FCA requires IBA to continue to publish synthetic US dollar LIBOR
Following its November 2022 consultation, FCA has decided to require LIBOR’s administrator, ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA) to continue to publish the 1, 3 and 6 month US dollar LIBOR settings on a...
PSR confirms APP scam data publication plans
PSR has confirmed that it will direct 14 large UK PSPs to collect and provide APP scam data to it which will cover 95% of transactions. The data will show: the proportion of APP scam victims who do not get reimbursed...
PSR calls for views on LINK Direction review
PSR is carrying out its first annual review of its Specific Direction 12, designed to ensure that LINK has a broad geographic spread of free to use cash machines and meets service-user needs. It issued the direction...
Banks respond to Treasury Committee on savings rates
The Treasury Committee had written to Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest as part of its inquiry into retail banks, asking them about savings rates. As a result of the responses it has now written to the FCA. The...
FOS publishes H2 2022 complaints data
FOS has published data on complaints received between July and December 2022. It saw a slight increase in complaints over the first half of the year, and received nearly 80,000 new complaints. It upheld 34% of...
BBRS SME Liaison Panel closes
Antony Townsend has resigned as Chair of the BBRS SME Liaison Panel, saying it has been very difficult for him to make progress and he has been disappointed at some of the BBRS responses to the Panel’s concerns...
Parliament to debate acceptance of cash
On Monday 20 March, Parliament will debate petitions relating to the acceptance of cash. The session will be lead by Martyn Day MP. One petition, which has more than 33,000 signatures, seeks to ‘make it unlawful...
Treasury Committee unimpressed with scam reimbursement proposals
The Treasury Committee has described the proposals for the PSR to require banks and building societies to fully reimburse victims of APP scams where the loss is over £100 as “half baked”. The Treasury Sub...
Court requires FOS to review decision
The High Court has taken the relatively rare step of ordering FOS to review a decision. The complainant, Mr Moniak, had been a customer of Barclays. Following an inheritance in 2010, a total of £500,000 was paid into...
Latest FOS data shows rise in complaints
FOS has published its complaints data from Q3, 2022/23, which shows a rise of 6,000 in new complaints, with the most significant rise relating to running account credit but current accounts are still the most complained...
Strategic Working Group publishes report on Open Banking
The FCA has welcomed a report by the Strategic Working Group , published as an initial step towards publication of recommendations for the vision for open banking in the future. The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee...
BoE speaks on digital pound
Sir Jon Cunliffe has spoken on the digital pound, as the BoE and Treasury launched their consultation. He noted that, while no firm decision can be taken on implementing the digital pound, the taskforce is now moving to...
Treasury Committee critical of scam reimbursement plans
The Treasury Committee has published a report criticising both the “painfully slow” implementation of mandatory reimbursement for fraud victims and the PSR’s proposals that banks and building societies...
FCA publishes Consumer Duty sector letters
FCA has published a set of Dear CEO letters it has sent to several sectors on preparation for the Consumer Duty. It has so far written to: asset management, custody and fund services and alternatives; consumer...
HSBC breaches retail banking order
The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA“) has written to HSBK UK Bank Plc concerning its breaches of Part 2 of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017 (the “Order“). Part 2 of the...
Duncan ScottCMA announces new OBIE Chair
Marion King has been appointed as the new Chair and Trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity with effect from 1 February 2023. The outgoing chair, Charlotte Crosswell, published her summary report on the end of...
FSM Bill Grand Committee stage starts
The first day of the Lords Grand Committee hearing on the FSM Bill took place on 25 January. There are now 6 dates scheduled in total, with sittings taking place now on 30 January, then 1, 6, 8 and 20 February. 195...
Further FSMB amendments for Lords Grand Committee
Further amendments, and an updated running list of amendments, to the FSM Bill to be discussed in the Lords Grand Committee have been published. Among the latest additions are changes which would: remove short selling...
BBRS calls for SMEs to register old complaints
The Business Banking Resolution Service‘s “historical scheme” will close to new registrations on 14 February 2023. The scheme covers complaints first registered between 1 December 2001 and 31 March...
Lords publishes FSMB amendments for Committee
The House of Lords has published a set of amendments to the FSMB for discussion in the Grand Committee, which is now scheduled to sit on 25 and 30 January and 1 February. The amendments include several amendments that...
BoE (PRA) publishes Dear CEO Letters – 2023 Priorities for Insurance supervision, International Banks active in the UK, and UK Deposit Takers Supervision
On 10 January 2023, the BoE (PRA) published the following Dear CEO letters outlining its key supervisory priorities for insurers, international banks active in the UK, and UK Deposit Takers in 2023: Insurance...
Onerous or essential: banks’ duties and APP fraud
Read our article by Stephen Dilley and Rasmita Roy Chowdury, looking at the history and case law relating to banks’ duties and APP fraud reimbursement.
BoE releases annual report on supervision of FMIs
The BoE has published its 2022 annual report on its supervision of financial market infrastructure firms (FMIs). FMIs provide services, such as payments, and networks that facilitate financial transactions. The...
Government raises POCA ‘exemption’ threshold
The Government has published the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) (Threshold Amount) Order 2022 and an accompanying explanatory memorandum. The Order will amend section 339A of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002...
Regulators consult on removing bonus cap limits
The FCA and PRA have released their consultation paper (PRA CP 15/22 | FCA CP22/28) on their joint proposed rule changes to remove the existing limits on the ratio between fixed and variable components of total...
ECB publishes report on climate stress testing
The ECB has published the results of its 2022 climate stress test, which has helped banks to develop climate risk-related stress testing capabilities. The report highlights both physical and transition risks which...
Nicola RadfordBarclays granted permission to appeal to Supreme Court in APP fraud case
Barclays Bank UK plc has been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in the case of Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc [2022] EWCA Civ 318. As a reminder, Mrs Philipp issued a claim against Barclays Bank seeking...
Consumer Duty events
The FCA has announced it will be hosting a series of live and local events on the Consumer Duty across the UK between February and June 2023. The paid for events are aimed at retail investment and mortgage firms, and...
Regulators update on Open Banking
Treasury, the CMA, FCA and PSR have issued a joint statement updating on their work on Open Banking. The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee created in March is currently focussing on making recommendations for the...
The Edinburgh reforms – and more
See our article, summarising various FIN posts over the past week on the state of play of the FSM Bill and the Edinburgh reforms.
BoE publishes December 2022 Financial Stability Report
The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has published its December 2022 Financial Stability Report setting out its view on the stability of the UK financial system and what it is doing to remove or...
“Edinburgh” reforms highlight ring-fencing, CCA and post-Brexit changes
The Chancellor has announced a set of so called “Edinburgh reforms” to the financial services regulatory framework. At an industry roundtable, he will set out plans to repeal and replace “hundreds of...
FSM Bill – Lords dates announced
The FSM Bill as amended after its passage through the Commons has now had its first (routine) reading in the Lords. The Lords’ second reading has been set for 10 January 2023.
SCA amendments to apply from 25 July 2023
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2360, which amends the regulatory technical standards (RTS) for strong customer authentication under PSD2, has been published in the OJEU. As a reminder, the amendments to the...
FSM Bill report stage on 7 December
The FSM Bill is to have its report stage and third reading in Parliament on 7 December, after receiving the Bill with amendments from the Public Bills Committee. It is possible for Parliament to make amendments at...
Treasury and BoE consult on Basel 3.1 implementation
Both HM Treasury and the BoE/PRA have published consultation papers on the implementation of the Basel 3.1 standards. These are expected to be the final elements of the Basel reforms to be implemented following the 2008...
BBRS report highlights complaints themes
BBRS has published its Case Insights report which highlights themes and issues arising from customer complaint data to end-July. The BBRS service was launched in February 2021, and by the end of July 2022, it had...
FCA speaks on “rolling regulation forwards”
Nikhil Rathi spoke to UK Finance on three key developments which he said will drive regulation forwards: the Consumer Duty: he discussed FCA’s reasons for introducing the Duty, and how FCA would be looking to...
LSB and PSR sign MoU
The 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...
CMA acts for further breaches of Retail Banking Order
CMA has published updates of its actions against Nationwide, Danske Bank and NatWest for breaches of the Retail Banking Order. It found that: Nationwide had published inaccurate information through its Open Data APIs on...
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...
TPT launches ‘gold standard’ for climate transition plans
The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) has published its Disclosure Framework and accompanying Implementation Guidance. The Framework makes recommendations for companies and financial institutions to develop gold-standard...
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...
FSMB 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...
PSR 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...
FCA 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...