PIMFA WEEKLY BULLETIN
PRESS RELEASES ABOUT PIMFA CONSUMER DUTY WEALTHTECH
MSCI PIMFA Index Series’ – New asset allocations effective on 01.03.2024
The PIMFA Indices Committee met earlier this month and agreed changes to the portfolio weights of the MSCI PIMFA Index Series’. These changes will become effective Friday 1st March 2024.
• To view the decisions taken for the MSCI PIMFA Private Investor Index Series, click here
•
• To view the decisions taken for the MSCI PIMFA Equity Risk Index Series, click here
Note: the respective Current Asset Allocations pages will be updated after 6pm on Thursday 29 February.
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.
PIMFA Operations Forums
The next Operations Forum will take place online on Thursday, 29 February from 3pm to 4pm.
The agenda includes:
• CREST update – latest news from Euroclear - Charlie Pugh / Glenn Cooper, Euroclear
• Regulatory update – Alex Roberts, Head of Regulatory Policy and Compliance, PIMFA
• PIMFA Learning update - forthcoming Academy and training courses – Philip Allen, Head of Learning, PIMFA
• Retail Capital Markets and ‘Rex’ – Kit Atkinson, Head of RCM, Peel Hunt
• AOB
March PIMFA Operations Forum – Thursday 28 March 15:00 –16:00
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 the Operations Forum and are not currently on our distribution list, please email Heidi Bryant
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PIMFA REGULATORY FORUM, DUE TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY 27 FEBRUARY, HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
PIMFA Tax Group meeting - Thursday 29 February 10:00 - 11:30 on MS Teams
The next PIMFA Tax Group meeting will take place on Teams on 29 February, starting at 10:00.
Iona Martin, Head of Private Banking Tax, and Nacera Beniken, Tax Lawyer, from KPMG have kindly agreed to present updates on the latest operational tax changes and on EU Financial Transaction Taxes.
If you would like to attend the meeting, please contact Kevin Sloane
Financial Crime: HM Government publishes UK Sanctions Strategy
HM Government has published its first sanctions strategy: Deter, disrupt and demonstrate – UK sanctions in a contested world
The publication sets out the Government’s approach to using sanctions as a foreign and security policy tool, and notes the continued investment, partnerships and structures that support UK sanctions.
Access the UK Sanctions Strategy here
Read the Ministerial statement here
Financial Conduct Authority: What firms are doing well and what they could do better
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have published observations on Consumer Duty implementation, building on their review of firms’ implementation plans and their fair value frameworks and previous communications.
The FCA:
• reminds firms of the consumer outcomes required by the Duty
• sets out recent good practice, including response to our early supervisory work, to deliver these outcomes
• highlights areas for improvement where firms have more to do
Firms should consider the report and make improvements in line with good practice and address any gaps that are identified. The findings may be useful for firms when considering actions required to meet the 31 July 2024 implementation deadline for closed products and services.
Specific areas of focus in the publication include:
• Culture, governance and monitoring
• Consumers in vulnerable circumstances
• The four outcomes (products and services, price and value, consumer understanding, consumer support)
Access the full publication here.
A summary is available for members on our microsite here
FCA publishes speech on the Consumer Duty – The art of the possible in a year
Sheldon Mills, FCA Executive Director of Consumers and Competition delivered a speech six months on from the Consumer Duty coming into force, identifying both challenges and the progress made by firms in ensuring they offer the right products and services to the right customers.
Key messages
• Firms need to be proactive in addressing any issues identified instead of waiting for the FCA intervene.
• Board reports will come under greater scrutiny as the FCA expects firms to evidence they are driving good outcomes, assessing which products or services are likely to cause the most harm and determining where the most work is needed.
• Data is key and firms should not assume they can repackage existing information.
• The Duty should be embedded across every firm at every level, with leadership from boards.
• To meet the 31 July 2024 deadline for closed products (and all products being in scope of the Duty) firms need to have a clear roadmap, applying lessons learnt from the first implementation deadline and ensuring any gaps on open products are filled.
• Where firms are considering withdrawing closed products, they must consider the impact on consumer outcomes and ensure foreseeable harm Is not caused.
• The speech outlines those sectors that the FCA expects will be most impacted by the closed products and services deadline: life insurance, funeral plans, consumer investments, consumer finance and retail banking.
Read the full speech here.
FCA Ipsos UK small firm surveyAutumn 2023 findings
The FCA have published the Autumn 2023 findings of their Ipsos UK small firm survey. This provides a snapshot of where surveyed firms are with their implementation – the publication notes some improvement and positive trends.
PRESS RELEASES
PIMFA announces the launch of its inaugural Women’s Symposium
PIMFA welcomes FCA proposals for Sustainability Disclosure Requirements
PIMFA welcomes the Financial Conduct Authority’s proposals for
PRESS COVERAGE
FT Adviser: The regulator is, and is not, a price regulator
Investors’ Chronicle: Three trusts to take advantage of the rising
FT Adviser: Britain has lost 435 financial advice firms since 2022
FT Adviser: 'Pimfa: We strongly support the FCA's working group...
improving financial advice to consumers
READ MORE
READ MORE
