The Financial Conduct Authority says it will ban most contingent charging on DB pension transfers as part of a raft of measures designed to tackle ‘weaknesses’ in the DB transfer market.
The FCA has today launched a survey of 13,000 regulated firms to assess how their ‘financial resilience’ may have been affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.
Liberty SIPP Limited has entered administration, opening the door to FSCS compensation claims for hundreds of clients.
The FCA is to give staff at regulated firms an additional 12 months to pass professional exams due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Complaints about regulated firms topped 6m in the second half of 2019, according to data published by the FCA today.
Andy Bell, chief executive of platform and SIPP provider AJ Bell, has welcomed news that the rules on 10% ‘investment drop’ letters will be relaxed for six months.
The FCA has reduced a £93,800 fine imposed on pension adviser Lloyd Pope, a former director of now dissolved firm TailorMade Independent Ltd, by approximately £70,000.
The FCA has ruled out - at least for the time being - a complete ban on short selling as it works closely with international regulators to ensure that financial markets remain “open and orderly.”
The FCA recently issued its long-awaited policy statement on disclosing costs and charges to workplace pension scheme members – PS20/2. I wrote about this back in June last year, shortly after the consultation had closed and it had all been very quiet for a long time.
The FCA has stressed that there will be no changes to its rules and regulations despite the UK exiting the EU tonight at 11 pm (31 January).
Following Brexit the UK will enter an implementation period which is due to last until 31 December.
The watchdog said that during this implementation period EU law will continue to apply and firms and funds will continue to benefit from passporting between the UK and EEA countries.
Consumer rights and protections under EU law will also remain in place.
In guidance to regulated firms the FCA said: “There will therefore be no changes to the reporting obligations for firms, including those for MiFIR transaction reporting, under EMIR, and for CRAs, which will continue in line with existing EU regulatory requirements.”
The windows for EEA firms to notify the FCA that they want to use the Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR), or for fund managers to notify the regulator of any funds they want to continue to market in the UK under the Temporary Marketing Permissions Regime (TMPR), closed yesterday (30 January).
Andrew Bailey, FCA chief executive, said: “The work the FCA has undertaken, along with government and the Bank of England, ensured the financial services sector was one of the best prepared industries for any of the possible Brexit outcomes.
“The implementation period gives firms a period of certainty while negotiations are continuing on our future relationship with the EU.”
He said the FCA would use the implementation period to work with government, the Bank of England, firms and other regulators to ensure the financial services industry is ready for the end of 2020.
The FCA has, however, urged firms to prepare now for actions to ensure that post 1 January 2021 they minimise risks to customers.
The FCA provides regular updates on its Brexit webpages, and firms can also call the FCA Brexit information line (0800 048 4255).