The review identified key areas of importance for the year ahead. These include renewing the focus on consumers to ensure an alignment of interest in terms of products producing appropriate outcomes, taking strong enforcement action to deter future misconduct in the market, and building a new competition department to ensure the industry remains competitive.
Ongoing misconduct, such as Libor, PPI and interest rate swaps, and the carrying forward of major policy inititiatives such as the mortgage market review, are also key objectives covered by the risk outlook.
A statement released today by the FSA also states that the new authority will be more pro-active, and will seek to act both earlier and more decisively than the FSA did, to ensure the focus is on issues that have a wider, longer-term impact on consumers and market integrity.
Firms are warned that under the governance of the new authority there will be no room for the ‘poor behaviour’ of the past, and that they are expected to work in co-operation with the authority, and that the vigilance of customers is essential for the financial services sector is to thrive.
Martin Wheatly, CEO designate of the FCA, said: “Firms need to ensure that they are putting the consumer and the integrity of markets at the heart of their business models and strategies. This includes making cultural changes which promote good conduct; establishing oversight around the design and innovation of products and services; and ensuring they are transparent in their dealings with consumers.
“Our first year as a new regulator will be an exciting and challenging time but one for which we are well prepared. We are introducing new approaches to the way we do much of our work, becoming much more pro-active and consumer-focused. A risk for all regulators is becoming bound to conventional thinking. That is why the new regulator will be much more transparent, so we can learn from our mistakes.”
