Register to hear experts in FCA Consumer Duty webinar

AM is hosting a webinar for law firm Freeths tomorrow to give UK motor retailers insights into how they must prepare for the Consumer Duty, the new regime from the Financial Conduct Authority.

The webinar on Thursday (September 15), entitled 'Consumer duty: Top tips for preparing your implementation plan', is free to view live, or later on demand, but attendees must pre-register.

Presenting, from top 50 commercial law firm Freeths, will be Adam Edwards, partner and financial services specialist, and his colleague Dan Meyer, associate, also a financial services specialist.

At any company which operates under FCA permissions to offer regulated consumer credit and insurance products or services, its board is required to have an implementation plan by October 31, 2022.

"This session will give a brief overview of the new Consumer Duty and will assist senior managers of motor dealers in understanding how to ensure that every stage of the F&I customer journey places the customer’s interests at its heart," Edwards said.

"The session will cover topics such as business mapping, senior manager responsibilities and designing regulatory processes and will provide top tips for motor dealers to make sure that their implementation plan is ready to be shared with the FCA."

AM-online reported at the end of July that the Financial Conduct Authority has shifted its expectations of finance firms and dealers from the old "treating customers fairly" principle to now an adage of "put their customers' needs first".

The FCA launched the new Consumer Duty "which will fundamentally improve how firms serve customers" as the financial watchdog continues a transformation to become "a more assertive and data-led regulator".

The Consumer Duty is made up of an overarching principle and new rules firms will have to follow.

The FCA said it will mean that consumers should receive communications they can understand, products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value, and they get the customer support they need, when they need it.

It gave regulated firms just three months, until October 31, to prepare their implementation plan ahead of the new regime coming into effect in July 2023.