PIMFA Weekly News Bulletin - 19 February 2024

Featured: PIMFA Women's Symposium - Tickets FREE for members

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19 February 2024

PIMFA WEEKLY BULLETIN PRESS RELEASES

ABOUT PIMFA

CONSUMER DUTY

WEALTHTECH

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, men and non-binary people.

FIND OUT MORE AND REGISTER

PIMFA welcomes Lockton as new Associate Member

If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please contact:

As a long standing insurance advisor to the wealth management sector, Lockton are delighted to be welcomed to the PIMFA family as an associate member. We look forward to using our knowledge, expertise and insight to help shape issues for the sector, in addition to contributing to thought leadership and horizon scanning. Advising all

Laura Skaanild, Senior Vice President Laura.skaanild@lockton.com +44 (0)7776 642939

aspects of the sector and being familiar with differing needs, from the sole trader IFA up to the largest corporate, we understand the evolving risk landscape and how best to navigate it from an insurance perspective.

James Hubbard, Assistant Vice President/Producer James.Hubbard@lockton.com +44 0117 9065036

We are excited at the opportunity to partner with PIMFA and to contribute to and shape the debate on important regulatory, policy and business issues, while supporting members as they seek to optimise their risk transfer programme.

PIMFA is delighted to be hosting a groundbreaking event, celebrating International Women’s Day 2024: The Breaking Barriers Forum: Empowering Women in Wealth Management and Financial Advice.

As an organisation we are dedicated to working in collaboration with our members to attract the best talents to become future leaders in the industry, which is why are putting this event together to

showcase our industry to the next generation of talents and encourage an exciting and diverse mix of new talent into our industry.

Hosted virtually online, this event aims to inspire and empower the next generation of young women and girls across the UK in wealth management and financial advice, featuring speakers and senior leaders from member firms such as HSBC, Walker Crips, Killik & Co, St James’s Place, M&G, and more.

How can you contribute: •

If you know any aspiring individuals eager to explore our sector, who will benefit from insights from our inspirational leaders, please extend our invitation to them to join us at 4:00pm on 4 March.

•

Furthermore, if your organisation seeks to attract and engage young talents, seize the opportunity to connect and network with them during the Q&A and Virtual Networking session.

For comprehensive details and booking information, please click here.

Let’s join hands in showcasing our industry and inspire the next generation of young women and girls in wealth management and financial advice.

REGISTER FREE HERE

PIMFA’s responds to FCA CP23/26: Implementing the Overseas Funds Regime On 12 February 2024, PIMFA responded to this consultation, adding some extra observations and asking some additional questions.

The full response can be read here.

Next PIMFA Regulatory Forum – Tuesday, 27 February from 3pm to 4pm If you are from a PIMFA member or associate firm and would like to be added to the distribution list to attend this session, please contact Heidi Bryant.

PIMFA CASS Working Group meeting - Thursday 22 February 10:30 - 12:00 on MS Teams The next CASS Working Group meeting will take place on Teams on 22 February, starting at 10:30.

Rhoda Ejiga, Director, Regulatory and Risk Advisory, and Jennifer Duncan, Director at KPMG, have kindly agreed to provide an update on the key challenges they are identifying in the course of their CASS audit and consultancy work.

If you would like to attend the meeting, please contact KevinS@pimfa.co.uk.

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 Tax. If you would like to attend the meeting, please contact Kevin Sloane.

FCA: Trading by organised crime groups The FCA have published their observations on trade by organised crime groups (OCGs), advising firms on how they can mitigate the risks of being used to facilitate their trade.

Suspicious trading by members of OCGs form a significant component of the overall volume of suspicious trading in equity markets and the FCA have outlined actions that are characteristic of the activity of OCGs, for example: •

a pattern of trading before merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements, and before press speculation about M&A

•

the use of intermediaries who broker inside information

•

using umbrella accounts at overseas broking firms without equivalent standards of safeguards and where the identities of the account holders may be masked

The FCA advise that executing firms should be alert to the possibility of being used to facilitate insider dealing by members of OCGs and to ensure they are familiar with their obligations under SYSC 6.1.1R.

Potential triggers of suspicion that a firm might be executing trades on behalf of OCGs are set out, such as clients regularly generating Suspicious Transaction and Order Reports (STORs), or several clients trading in the same security for the first time.

Executing firms are advised to consider measures to guard against being used to facilitate insider dealing and advisory firms are expected to employ measures to guard against staff being recruited by OCGs as sources of inside information.

Full details are available here.

FCA Consumer Duty survey- Ongoing Services The FCA have issued a survey requesting information from twenty financial advice firms on, for example, whether firms have assessed their ongoing services in response to the introduction of the Consumer Duty, and whether any changes were made as a result, as well as data relating to the number of clients due a review of the ongoing suitability of advice as part of the service.

The FCA will provide a further update following consideration of the responses received.

Firms can access the FCA’s statement here.

FCA: Financial promotions data for 2023 and Q4 2023 The FCA has published its 2023 financial promotions data and Q4 2023 financial promotions quarterly data: •

Over 10,000 financial adverts and other promotions issued by authorised firms were withdrawn or changed in 2023 (following FCA intervention) - an increase of 16.6%, year-on-year

•

The FCA engaged with 43 unauthorised firms and issued 30 alerts

•

For unauthorised firms and individuals, the FCA issued a total of 2,285 alerts (an increase from 1,800 in 2022)

•

Regarding illegal cryptoasset promotions to UK consumers the FCA issued 450 consumer alerts between 8 October 2023 and 31 December 2023.

The FCA set out concerns about the levels of compliance with financial promotions rules and an increase in influencers promoting financial products. Since 7 February 2024, authorised

firms need permission from the FCA to approve promotions for unregulated persons. These expectations are underpinned Consumer Duty requirements on firms to demonstrate that consumers are receiving information that helps them make effective and informed decisions about financial products and services.

Access the full press release here.

OFSI

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) published guidance on ransomware and financial sanctions, covering cyber sanctions legislation,

publishes guidance on ransomware and financial sanctions

sectoral sanctions risk and licensing.

The guidance supports the Government’s aim of disrupting and reducing the profitability of ransomware through using financial sanctions against the ransomware threat actors that cause the most harm to the UK. As breaches of financial sanctions can carry a custodial sentence and/or the imposition of a monetary penalty, firms are advised that if the mitigating steps outlined in the guidance are taken, OFSI and the National Crime Agency (NCA) would be more likely to resolve a breach case involving a ransomware payment through means other than a monetary penalty or a criminal investigation.

Firms are also advised of guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre on cyber resilience measures that can significantly reduce the risks and impact of a successful ransomware attack and advises anyone subject to a ransomware attach to use the Government’s ‘Where to report a cyber incident’ portal as soon as possible.

PRESS RELEASES PIMFA announces the launch of its inaugural Women’s Symposium

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PIMFA LEARNING

28 February 2024

14 March 2024

Live Event | 10:00 - 18:00

Live Online Learning | 09:30 - 12:30

£200 - £600

£400 - £500

PIMFA CONSUMER DUTY CONFERENCE

REPUTATION, RESILIENCE AND RISK:

2024

ARE YOU GETTING IT RIGHT?

The Consumer Duty is one of the most

Offer: Bring your colleague along for free Be under no illusion - how your firm prepares, adapts to, withstands and recovers from disruptions and unexpected events is of great interest to the FCA in 2024. Last year’s

significant regulatory initiatives in recent years with the FCA considering it a major step change for financial services, requiring firms to

make lasting changes to culture and behaviour to consistently deliver good outcomes.

The conference will look into how firms have reviewed their product suite, communications and end-to-end customer journey, and how changes have been made in areas such as

enforcement fines penalising individuals and firms in connection with their outsourcing and cybersecurity arrangements grab the headlines but remind PIMFA member firms of the importance of strengthening their operational resilience framework to avoid, in the new ‘Consumer Duty’ environment, causing client harm.

governance, MI and reporting, product design, pricing, distribution, servicing and staff training.

Register to hear from key industry experts on the key themes of consumer duty. We welcomed a high-level audience who engaged with the experts, to facilitate fruitful discussions with opportunity for questions and networking.

In this three-hour interactive masterclass with Operational Resilience expert Richard Preece, you and your colleagues will roll their sleeves up and learn how to analyse, test, and strengthen operational resilience across your firm. You will make meaningful inroads into bringing your most important business services within their defined impact tolerances by the FCA’s deadline of 1st March 2025.

REGISTER HERE Reserve your place TODAY and at no additional cost bring a colleague along for FREE. Register here using coupon BOGOFRES2024 at checkout for 50% OFF two tickets.

REGISTER HERE

Please note that responses to this email address are not monitored. If you wish to get in contact, please email info@pimfa.co.uk.

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Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) 69 Carter Lane, London, EC4V 5EQ (registered in England No 2991400)

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