Regulator warns payday lenders over risky loans October 15, 2018 The Financial Conduct Authority has written to the bosses of payday lending firms, urging them to consider ‘affordability risk’ before making loans to financially vulnerable borrowers. In a ‘Dear CEO’ letter sent today, the FCA warned that lenders should “take prompt action” to ensure they maintain compliance with regulations that force them to assess customers’ [...]
Today’s wealth management industry is as deceitful as the tobacco companies of the past October 11, 2018 When medical suspicions of health impacts of cigarettes were first raised, the tobacco industry obfuscated and suppressed their own knowledge of smoking risks. In many ways, this mirrors what is happening in the wealth management industry today, as many companies suppress information about their fee structures, and often fail to warn consumers of the long-term damage these hidden fees [...]
Brexit means nearly 1,000 pages of Brexit from the Financial Conduct Authority October 10, 2018 The City watchdog today made moves to make Brexit mean Brexit in its rules, publishing two enormous papers detailing changes to regulation in case of a no-deal Brexit. The Financial Conduct Authority published a 781-page doorstopper consultation on changes to its handbook and the EU’s binding technical standards (BTS), alongside a comparatively slim 150-page consultation [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan calls for small business lending regulation October 9, 2018 The chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has called for small business lending to be regulated in the UK, despite avoiding disciplinary action for the mistreatment of SMEs by the bank's Global Restructuring Group (GRG). The lack of oversight for SME lending allowed RBS to dodge punishment by the Financial Conduct Authority this year, despite a report by the [...]
Financial Conduct Authority increases Brexit planning urgency, says chief executive Andrew Bailey October 4, 2018 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has increased the urgency with which it is preparing for the UK to exit the European Union, chief executive Andrew Bailey said today. Former Bank of England deputy Bailey said the city watchdog is working with European regulatory partners to plan for a range of scenarios as the March 2019 deadline [...]
Frank Field slams financial regulator over delay to pension advice fee decision October 4, 2018 Influential MP Frank Field has slammed the financial regulator for delaying a decision on whether to ban a model of charging for pensions advice which is believed to have driven mis-selling to thousands of retirees. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it sought views on whether to ban contingent charging – where a pension adviser [...]
City watchdog boss rejects calls for financial services deregulation post-Brexit October 2, 2018 The chair of the Financial Conduct Authority today said that the City regulator will not engage in a “race to the bottom” after Brexit in a bid to preserve the UK’s position among global financial centres. Charles Randell said calls for deregulation from some quarters of the financial sector show that “some memories are beginning [...]
How London can fend off the European hotspots vying for its fintech crown October 1, 2018 Flash back to the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. “London has committed suicide as a leading fintech centre,” tweeted Traxpay, a German payments platform. Catchy advertising urged startups to “keep calm and move to Berlin”. Read more: Meet the startups in the Treasury-backed Tech Nation fintech accelerator Over two years later, and it’s French [...]
Tesco Bank hit with £16.4m fine for ‘largely avoidable’ cyber attack October 1, 2018 The financial watchdog has slapped a hefty £16.4m fine on Tesco Bank for a "largely avoidable" cyber attack that hit customers in 2016. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the bank had failed to exercise "due skill, care and diligence in protecting its personal current account holders" in the breach, in which attackers gained £2.26m. The FCA's executive [...]
Patchy regulation prevents the world from reaping the full benefits of the markets September 25, 2018 Ten years ago today, the world woke to the news that yet another bank had collapsed. Washington Mutual was the latest casualty in what became the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Those events have cast a long shadow. Governments, businesses, and households have had to tackle the legacy of that crisis. As [...]