PIMFA Weekly News Bulletin - 8 January 2024

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Featured: FSCS signs MoU with FCF, Asset Allocations Survey & Consumer Duty

PRESS RELEASES

ABOUT PIMFA

CONSUMER DUTY

WEALTHTECH

PIMFA WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN 8 January 2024

The 2024 Q1 PIMFA Asset Allocation Survey is OPEN Complete this quarter's survey, and members can: •

Receive a complimentary, 40-page report, showing how the strategic asset allocations of your firm’s model portfolios compare to the peer average.

•

Ensure the index weight methodology for the MSCI PIMFA Private Investor and the Equity Risk Index Series’ remain relevant benchmarks for the UK wealth management sector.

Click here to submit

FSCS signs an MoU with FCF The Financial Services and Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF). FCF is managed by the Pension Protection Fund which pays compensation to eligible occupational pension schemes where the employer is insolvent, and the scheme has lost out financially as a result of dishonesty.

Under the MoU, the FSCS and FCF commit to working together in the public interest to facilitate the payment of compensation in relation to financial losses suffered in the context of occupational pension schemes.

The remit of the MoU includes assisting between the parties in the performance of their respective statutory functions, providing arrangements for co-operation and the exchange of relevant information between the parties, and working together in the public interest to support effective customer service and to mitigate any potential double recovery of compensation.

To read the MoU, please visit the FSCS website here.

Review meeting 18 January at 10:00 Bank of England Consultation Paper 26/23 - Operational Resilience: critical third parties to the financial services sector With reference to the BoE / PRA / FCA's recently published consultation paper on Operational Resilience: critical third parties, which sets out the proposed requirements to be established in rules and accompanying expectations for the critical third parties (CTPs) that provide products and services to investment firms. One of the authors of this paper who works at the Bank of England, Orlando Fernandez Ruiz, has kindly agreed to join a virtual meeting with representatives of PIMFA firms, to talk about the consultation paper and answer questions.

If you are from a member firm and would be interested in attending this Teams meeting, please email Kevin Sloane.

Consumer Duty – Impacts on the wealth management and financial advice sector Our paper aims to provide a snapshot of current impacts and progress against Consumer Duty requirements.

Focusing on four main areas of change (propositions, fee structure, customer communications and support, governance and culture), the examples set out provide evidence of the changes and organisational renewal taking place as a result of Consumer Duty.

Members can access the paper for free here.

FCA CP23/31: Primary Markets Effectiveness Review: Feedback to CP23/10 and detailed proposals for listing rules reforms Following the FCA consultation on a new UK listing regime in May 2023, the FCA has published feedback as well as a new consultation paper detailing proposals for listing rules reforms. The FCA has kept the suggested change to a simplified listing regime with a single listing category, with streamlined eligibility and ongoing requirements, aimed at encouraging a greater range of companies to list in the UK and compete globally. The FCA has also retained the idea set out in the earlier consultation of moving to a disclosure-based regime – one that puts sufficient information in the hands of investors to enable them to decide how they want to invest.

Further to the publication of CP23/31 and a first tranche of the initial draft UK Listing Rules (UKLR) sourcebook provisions contained within it, the FCA will publish a second tranche of draft rules later in Q1 2024 as part of this consultation process.

PIMFA chose not to respond to the initial consultation following a lack of interest from firms. In the event that these new proposals have changed your thinking please contact Sarah McGuffick.

To read the consultation in full, please visit the FCA website here.

FSSC - Skills Gap Analysis Survey The FSSC Skills Gap Analysis survey is an important annual activity that offers valuable insight into what future skills are required for the sector to remain competitive and to identify relevant trends across the industry.

All financial services firms in the UK are invited to participate and all data submitted is confidential, no individual firm’s response will be shared externally or with other members and the findings will only be used in an anonymised and aggregate format by the FSSC.

PRESS RELEASES

PRESS COVERAGE

PIMFA welcomes FCA proposals for

Daily Mail: FCA mulls 'polluter pays'

Sustainability Disclosure

compensation for shoddy investment

Requirements

firm advice

PIMFA to work with FCA on

Thisismoney.co.uk: FCA mulls

proposed ‘polluter pays’ model for

'polluter pays' compensation for

personal investment firms

shoddy investment firm advice

Greater personalisation may

Reuters: UK investment advisers

encourage greater saving & investing

face capital hike to cover

in UK, although there are limits to

compensation costs

how much, PIMFA research finds Citywire New Model Adviser: FCA’s PIMFA welcomes Financial Services

review should allow for personalised

Compensation Scheme levy forecast

guidance, PIMFA argues

for 2024/25

READ MORE READ MORE

PIMFA LEARNING

23 Jan to 23 April 2024

27 Feb 2024

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approach to product governance in the context of the Consumer Duty • Establishing a robust ongoing monitoring and periodic product review • Embedding product governance controls across the entire business • Improving their approach to product risk identification and testing By the end of the session, you will be able to:

The PIMFA CASS Clients Academy (CCA) will

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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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