PRESS RELEASES
ABOUT PIMFA CONSUMER DUTY WEALTHTECH
PIMFA Under 40 Leadership Committee - New Research
Each year PIMFA works with a cohort of rising talent across our industry, called the Under 40 Leadership Committee, and as part of the most recent round of research the committee have investigated whether ‘finfluencers’ fill an educational void which should actually be filled by financial firms.
The symposium is FREE to attend for PIMFA members and associate members and solely funded by our wonderful sponsors, and we encourage individuals at all stages of their career, from Chief Executives to Interns, to join us for two days of motivational talks, regulatory updates, industry panels, personal development roundtables and thought-provoking content related to our industry, and to career development.
The event is open to all! Women and men welcome.
Are you prepared for the upcoming Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)? FIND
New PIMFA Guest Blog – ‘Everything You Need to Know About DORA: A Comprehensive Guide’With its enforcement starting on January 17th, 2025, Katie Barnett, Director of Cyber Security for Toro Solutions, illustrates how entities found to be in violation of the Act’s requirements may face fines of up to 2% of their total annual worldwide turnover. The supervisory body may also issue cease-and-desist orders, termination notices, additional pecuniary measures, and public notices.
This can be read here
New PIMFA Guest Blog – ‘Navigating your cyber risks’
In an era dominated by digital transformation, wealth managers are perched on the precipice of cyber risk.
As businesses increasingly digitise their operations, Jack Bassett, Assistant Vice President, Lockton Global Cyber & Technology, discusses how the allure of efficiency and convenience is accompanied by a lurking threat: the ever-evolving realm of cybercrime.
This can be read here
Financial Conduct Authority: Business Plan 2024-25
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out its programme of work for the final year of its 3-year strategy.
Specific issues the FCA will prioritise include protecting consumers, ensuring market integrity, promoting competition, international competitiveness and growth, improving the reach of UK wholesale markets and the FCA workforce.
Members can access the full details here
PIMFA Regulatory Forum
The next Regulatory Forum will take place online on Tuesday 26th March from 3p.m. to 4pm. The agenda includes updates on:
• FCA CP24/2 Enforcement Guide and Investigation
• HMT AML Effectiveness
• FCA review of Vulnerable Customers’
• FCA Advisors Sustainability Update
• Accelerated Settlement Taskforce T+1 update
• PIMFA response to CP26/23 Operational Resilience: Critical third parties to the financial sector
• Spring budget update
• PIMFA Events and Learning Schedule
The PIMFA Forums are open to representatives from all PIMFA Members and Associate firms.
If you or any of your colleagues would like to attend and are not currently on our distribution list, please email Heidi Bryant
Financial Conduct
Authority:
Thematic Review of Retirement Income Advice and Dear CEO letter to financial advice firms
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has written to CEOs of financial advice firms asking them to review their processes when providing retirement income advice. The letter follows publication of the findings of the FCA’s 2023 Thematic Review of Retirement Income Advice, which examined how firms provided advice.
The review identified examples of good practice in the market, and also found some examples where firms were not taking account of the needs of their customers.
The FCA also published a Retirement Income Advice Assessment Tool (RIAAT) to help personal investment firms understand how the FCA assessed the suitability of their retirement income advice and disclosures.
• Firms are advised to use the RIAAT to assess suitability of retirement income advice and adequacy of client disclosure (for advice given after 1 November 2007) and evaluate if their past advice is compliant with FCA rules, including Consumer Duty. Click here to access the RIAAT.
• The FCA has also published the Cash Flow Modelling article which will help firms when undertaking modelling.
Access the Thematic review of Retirement Income Advice here and the Dear CEO letter here
Financial Conduct Authority: Review of firms' treatment of customers in vulnerable circumstances
On 15 March the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a statement to advise firms they will conduct a review of firms' treatment of customers in vulnerable circumstances.
The review will focus on firms’ understanding of consumer needs, staff skills and capability, product and service design, communications and customer service and the FCA will share its findings by the end of 2024.
See the full press release here
Financial Conduct Authority: New webpages on approach to supervision, consumers, competition and international firms
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a series of new webpages, which update its approaches to supervision, consumers, competition, and international firms:
• Approach to supervision – outlining the FCA’s regulatory oversight and accountability to Parliament and the public.
• Approach to consumers – setting out the FCA’s powers and tools used to protect consumers of financial services.
• Approach to competition – outlining how the FCA identifies potential harm caused by a lack of competition.
• Approach to international firms – setting out the FCA’s general approach to and standards expected from international firms providing or seeking to provide financial services that require authorisation in the UK.
Financial Conduct Authority: Deadline extended on CP24/2: Our Enforcement Guide and publicising enforcement investigations
The Financial Conduct Authority has advised that the deadline date for Consultation Paper 24/2: Our Enforcement Guide and publicising enforcement investigations – a new approach (CP24/2) has been extended and the new deadline for responses is 30 April 2024
Financial Crime: Wolfsberg Group statement on countering terrorist financing
The Wolfsberg Group published a statement on countering terrorist financing (CTF), replacing the Group’s first statement on CTF published in 2002.
The statement sets out the role of financial institutions in CTF and key controls of a risk based financial crime compliance programme and also highlights four priorities:
• a risk-based approach
• customer due diligence
• monitoring and screening
• global cooperation
Access the full statement here.
Report on the Inclusion at Work Panel’s recommendations for improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) practice in the workplace
The independent Inclusion at Work Panel published a report on 20 March setting out how organisations can improve diversity and inclusion practices through evidence.
The ‘Inclusion at Work Panel’ was established in June 2023 to tackle bias, ensure fairness and promote inclusive workplaces. Made up of leaders from the private and public sector, and advised by a leading Harvard academic, the Panel set out to identify effective and ineffective D&I practice, explaining what works, why, and how.
The Inclusion at Work Panel’s report sets out how employers can do away with ineffective, divisive, and poor-quality D&I practices, and instead focus resources on interventions backed by the evidence that represents value for money.
