FCA Final rules and guidance: A new consumer duty

The FCA has published its final rules and guidance introducing a new consumer duty. This heralds the largest shift in a decade in the FCA’s expectations around firms' treatment of retail customers and will capture activity by retail and wholesale firms. 

The FCA explicitly ties the Duty to its recent three-year Strategy and the overarching outcomes it is looking to achieve for consumers of retail financial services. It also links it to its aspiration to become more data-led and agile, intervening earlier to prevent harm. 

This note considers the key changes between the draft and final rules and outlines questions firms can ask themselves when formulating their implementation plans.