Related insights: Financial Services Regulation

Thumbnail

Seeking individuals as investors? Regulatory conditions change again

28 Mar 2024
Womble Bond Dickinson reported in January that the long-overdue update to the conditions under which companies seeking funding could approach individuals without the need to have any promotional communications approved by a financially regulated firm. These changes, which took effect on 31 January, have proved very short-lived, and new limits now apply from 27 March 2024.
Thumbnail

AI in financial services: gathering speed

12 Mar 2024
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is not new for UK financial services firms. It is already modernising the banking, insurance and payments sectors, who use it to enhance customer service, personalise insurance cover and detect suspicious payment transactions. The regulators themselves are also hopping on the bandwagon – the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced last year that it is using AI-based models to help tackle fraud. But despite some tangible benefits, the financial services industry is still exercising caution when it comes to AI.
Thumbnail

Living with the Consumer Duty

04 Mar 2024
When the FCA talks about the Consumer Duty, it seems that its favourite phrase is "not once and done". By which it means that regulated firms can't sit back and rest, basking in the satisfaction of having implemented the Duty. For some firms, there's still more to be done to ensure full implementation, and for all firms staying compliant is an ongoing exercise that they must build into everything they do that could have an impact on consumers.
Thumbnail

Motor vehicle finance – the next PPI?

24 Jan 2024
It would certainly be safe to say that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has decided to enter 2024 with a bang – publishing policy statement PS24/1 (the Policy Statement) setting out temporary changes to the rules for handling complaints relating to discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) in the motor finance industry on the 11 January. Although relatively benign in themselves, these changes are a direct response to the increasing volume of complaints regarding DCAs which have been referred on to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) (and in some cases, to the Courts) having been rejected by the motor finance firms concerned. The Policy Statement also provides an insight into how the FCA intends to handle what is almost certainly a significant industry-wide issue.
Thumbnail

Financial crime prevention: 2023 paves the way for a busy 2024

21 Dec 2023
We've been providing end of year regulatory round ups for quite a few years now, and it would be safe to say there's never been a quiet year. But 2023 may just have surpassed all others! We've seen two important laws come onto the statute book, setting new requirements and giving new powers to regulators, which set the foundations for 2024 implementation. We've seen the usual enforcement actions – in fact, all but one of the fines FCA has imposed on regulated firms have been for financial crime failings – and we've had a clear message from FCA that financial crime prevention is one of its super-charged priorities for the next year.
Thumbnail

Regulation of crypto firms: UK takes the next steps

12 Dec 2023
How the UK should regulate activities relating to cryptoassets is a long-running debate. Now, after years of uncertainty and discussion, and a few recent developments, we have a better understanding of what the short-term regulatory future looks like. So where are we now, and where are we going?
Thumbnail

Financial crime prevention: boosting protection

15 Nov 2023
Financial crime never stands still. Lawmakers and regulators face a constant battle to protect its victims. Where possible, prevention is of course better than cure. But, where crime has caused loss, it's important to take steps to reimburse those who have suffered.

Much of 2023 has been taken up with two particular initiatives – putting reimbursement of victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud on a formal and mandatory basis, and putting responsibilities on businesses to take steps to prevent fraud.

In this article, originally written for Compliance Monitor,  Emma Radmore, Legal Director at Womble Bond Dickinson looks at what's been going on.
Thumbnail

Equifax: a lesson in intra group controls

20 Oct 2023
Back in 2017, significant UK customer data that Equifax Ltd held on the servers of its US parent, and for which it acted as a data controller, was compromised in a cybersecurity incident. FCA took the unprecedented step of announcing at the time that it would be carrying out an investigation. Almost exactly six years later, it published its final notice on the matter – imposing a fine of over £11 million.