PIMFA News Bulletin 24 April 2020

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PIMFA NEWS BULLETIN | 24 APRIL 2020 Welcome to your new and improved Weekly PIMFA Bulletin!

Grab a coffee and take 10 minutes to read the highlights of all this week's key issues affecting the financial services industry.

WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER Dear Nigel, We hope you and your loved ones are well and are keeping safe during this challenging time. Due to COVID-19 the physical PIMFA office is closed but all work continues as normal with our staff working remotely and we are continuing to operate on our members behalf and represent your interests.

We are committed to delivering as much information as possible to our members and the weekly PIMFA Bulletin contains the latest news on the impact of the virus and other key issues from within PIMFA and the industry that affect you and your business. If there is anything we can be of assistance with, please do not hesitate to contact us at enquiries@pimfa.co.uk and we will direct your query to the person best able to help you.

Best wishes The Team at PIMFA

COVID 19 & What's happening in PIMFA

Updates from the FCA

Communicating Safely During COVID 19

Members can listen to the recent FCA update webinars and read the briefing

As firms moved to remote working, video

notes on their dedicated COVID-19 web

conferencing became essential and there

area.

was a rush to dust off existing applications and download freeware from the internet.

We are continuing to have our weekly

This was quickly followed by waves of

meetings with FCA and are logging all

stories spreading panic about the risks of

queries we raise with them. If you have

virtual meetings. As a result, Mitigo has

any issues regarding the impact of the

produced a brief summary of the guidance

Coronavirus on your business or clients,

they give clients to stay secure, which can

or other intelligence about the impact on

be read here.

the market, platform providers or emerging scams, please email Ian

Further, as the National Cyber Security

Cornwall.

Centre warns businesses implementing remote working practices to ‘be aware of

HM Treasury: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Up and Running

email scams and encrypt/protect sensitive data’, Beyond Encryption has taken the decision to offer FREE and fully featured user licences for a period of 2 months to enable you to safeguard the data within

The Government’s Coronavirus Job

your emails. More information is available

Retention Scheme (CJRS) went live on

here.

20th April, with the Chancellor also Brexit: Negotiations

announcing that the scheme will be extended for a further month until the end of June, to reflect continuing Covid-19

This week the UK and EU began the

lockdown measures. The scheme allows

second round of negotiations on their

employers to go online to claim cash

post-Brexit relationship with a plenary

grants worth up to 80% of wages, capped

session on Monday, 20 April. The talk

at ÂŁ2,500 a month per worker. 5000

started in earnest on Tuesday, 21 April

HMRC staff will be operating the scheme,

and will continue throughout the week.

which is expected to help thousands of

The agenda the two sides have agreed

firms across the UK.

includes trade in goods and services, level playing field for open and fair competition,

Further information is available here.

fisheries, transport (road and aviation) , law enforcement and judicial cooperation

PIMFA Investment Scams Campaign Recent Scam Examples Needed

in criminal matters, UK participation in EU programmes, energy (civil nuclear cooperation) and mobility and social coordination. The technical talks led by experts will end on Friday, 24 April with a

As part of our Financial and Mental

political meeting between the Chief

Wellbeing campaign, we have launched

Negotiators David Frost and Michel

an initiative to keep savers safe from

Barnier.

scams, especially in light of COVID. This initiative will provide consumers with

For further information, please

information on how to spot and avoid

contact Maja Erceg.

scams, as well as warnings about the latest scams that we know about, among Share Your stories

a whole host of other information. If you are aware of any scams please let us know by contacting

How is your firm is adapting to continue

enquiries@pimfa.co.uk.

delivering your services and finding ways to help support the national effort? Please

PIMFA Podcasts & Webinars

share your stories with us by emailing us.

Library

These examples are very helpful when it comes to showcasing the profession, the value you add and the difference you make.

Each week we are running our members only Webinar Wednesday on key topics

FCA: Changes to regulatory

impacted by COVID. This week we

reporting up to 30 June 2020

discussed the government’s reaction to COVID 19 & it's long term impacts, a

In a further move to ease the regulatory

briefing note is available for members

burden, the FCA has announced a

here.

temporary extension for some firms submitting regulatory returns. This

We are also running podcasts, webinars

extension applies for submissions that are

and training courses open to all on topics

due up to and including 30 June 2020.

such as wellbeing and vulnerable clients.

In addition, for small or medium-size Recordings of past podcasts and webinars

businesses paying less than ÂŁ10,000 in

on topics such as Cyber Resilience in the

fees and levies in 2020/2021, the

face of COVID, hallmarks of effective

administrative fee for late returns has

compliance, SM&CR etc can all be

been waived until 30 June 2020.

accessed in our learning library.

Further information and a full list of eligible COVID-19 Information Web Areas

We have launched both public and members only web areas that provide the

returns are available here.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) launches Cyber Aware campaign.

latest information on COVID-19. For members only, they can visit their web area to access webinar recordings,

Cyber Aware is the UK government's

meeting notes, latest global response

advice on how to stay secure online

tracker, latest health statistics, updates

during the lockdown and beyond. The

from the CBI and much more.

campaign page contains simple advice and guides to improve cyber security at home.

You can visit their site here.

DB Transfers - Live Blog

PIMFA’s Senior Policy Adviser, Simon Harrington joined a recent FT Adviser live blog on the future of DB transfers with Steven Cameron, Pensions Director at Aegon and Amy Austin, Senior Pensions Reporter at FTAdviser.

In the blog they discuss how the spread of the coronavirus has shaken the market and the impact of the FCA putting its rule changes on hold. Read the blog here.

LATEST PIMFA BLOGS & PRESS RELEASES

•

PIMFA welcomes Rt. Hon. Jim Murphy to Webinar Wednesday

•

PIMFA to provide consumer advice on how to avoid scams as part of Financial and Mental Wellbeing campaign

•

Blog: Tech and the fight against Financial Crime

•

PIMFA launches first ever Virtual Festival in June

•

PIMFA welcomes FCA regulatory forbearance in wake of coronavirus outbreak

•

Blog: What does Market Abuse REALLY look like for Wealth Managers

EVENTS & LEARNING Due to the COVID-19 crisis, it is with regret that we have decided to postpone all physical events until further notice. Workshops will still be taking place online via Zoom or may be postponed. The decision has not been taken lightly; however, safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our attendees must take precedence.

Webinars and podcasts will be continuing and will be delivering content online in the coming weeks. We will be updating the website regularly and scheduling new dates. If you have any queries, please contact us at events@pimfa.co.uk.

VIRTUAL FEST We are delighted to announce the launch of Virtual Fest; a live, 2 day online learning experience covering topics such as Compliance, Cybersecurity, ESG, Operational Resilience and more.

The PIMFA Virtual Fest will take place on 3-4 June so please save the date.

Registration opens soon!

3-4 June | 2 Full Days Click here to find out more

WEBINAR WEDNESDAY Our member only Webinar Wednesday’s are a live, concise update on the latest issues effecting you and your firm such as the latest on COVID-19, regulatory changes, political developments and operational issues.

In our next episode on 29 April will PIMFA senior policy analysts Giulia Lupato and Simon Harrington will discuss the threat of investment scams in the wake of the COIVD-19 crisis, the risks posed to both firms and their clients from increasingly sophisticated scams and how firms can keep themselves and their clients safe.

Members can register for free here.

LATEST PIMFA CONSULTATION RESPONSE

Read the latest PIMFA consultation papers here.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR INDUSTRY

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the FCA, supported by The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), say fears over the impact of the pandemic on markets and personal finances may make savers more vulnerable to scams or making a decision that could damage their long-term interests.

They are urging savers to take their time and visit the Pensions Advisory Service website for free plain English pensions guidance before making any decisions about their retirement savings. And to go to the ScamSmart website to learn how to protect themselves from pensions scams. This includes people already retired who are thinking again about their options.

The coronavirus outbreak has impacted on all kinds of companies, including those listed on the stock market. As a result, markets have been volatile and are likely to remain so for a while. This can have an impact on pensions, leading to additional worry for savers. It can lead to an increase in scams, as unscrupulous people try to take advantage of the situation.

Throughout this period, TPR, the FCA, MaPS and government departments will be working together to tackle any additional risks arising from the current uncertainty.

For more detail, please click here.

Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) and Covid-19: FCA's expectations of solo-regulated firms

The FCA have set out their expectations to help solo-regulated firms apply the SM&CR. They recognise that firms directly affected by coronavirus will need to keep their governance arrangements under review and make appropriate changes as circumstances

change. They do not require firms to have a single Senior Manager responsible for their coronavirus response. Firms should allocate these responsibilities in the way which best enables them to manage the risks they face. FCA have also published their expectations for dual-regulated firms with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

The full statement can be found here.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publishes Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints deadline final report

The FCA has today published its final report on the impact of the deadline for PPI complaints. The report highlights the outcome of the communications campaign which ran for two years and can be read here.

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