Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published new rules and fees that will apply to all claims management companies (CMCs) from April 2019. That’s when the FCA takes over responsibility for regulating the firms, which help thousands of people every year. From next April, all CMCs set up or serving customers in England, Scotland and Wales will…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) Boards have appointed new members to its three decision-making committees: the FCA’s Competition Decisions Committee (CDC) and the PSR’s Competition Decisions Committee and Enforcement Decisions Committee (EDC). These three committees are responsible for taking certain competition law and regulatory decisions when a settlement cannot be…
Read moreThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published new rules allowing victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud to complain to the payment services provider (PSP) receiving their payment. In the case of APP fraud, the PSP is often a bank which holds the accounts of either the victim or fraudster. Currently, the sending PSP, but…
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Ofgem has appointed Together Energy to take on supplying OneSelect’s 36,000 domestic customers. This follows a competitive process run by Ofgem to get the best deal possible for the customers of OneSelect, which ceased trading on Monday 10 December. Together Energy is offering OneSelect’s customers a competitive tariff and will honour all outstanding credit balances, including…
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P PayPlan has been recognised by the Advice Service Alliance for its excellent practice and determined approach to provide clients with the best possible advice and debt solution, during its recent Advice Quality Standard (AQSv2) assessment. The Advice Service Alliance commended the free debt advice provider for recognising the shift in client needs and offering a multiple…
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Measures to increase transparency and prevent abuse of limited partnerships, which some criminals have used to launder dirty money through the UK have been unveiled, as the government published its response to the consultation on the reform of Limited Partnership law. Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs) and Limited Partnerships (LPs) are used by thousands of legitimate British…
Read moreOne Select, an energy supplier with about 36,000 domestic customers, has ceased to trade. Under Ofgem’s safety net, the energy supply of One Select’s customers will continue as normal. The outstanding credit balances of domestic customers will be protected. Ofgem will choose a new supplier to take on One Select’s customers as quickly as possible.…
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The United Kingdom has a well-developed and robust regime to effectively combat money laundering and terrorist financing. However, it needs to strengthen its supervision and increase the resources of its financial intelligence unit according to a new report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)/ The report was an assessment of the United Kingdom’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorist…
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Energy specialist, OneSelect has come bottom in the latest Citizens Advice’s star rating table, which ranks the customer service levels of energy suppliers. The ratings look at a range of measures including complaints levels, call waiting times, the timeliness and accuracy of billing and whether switches take place on time. It includes 34 firms (serving…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a Decision Notice in respect of Mohammad Ataur Prodhan, the former Chief Executive Officer of Sonali Bank (UK) (SBUK), fining him £76,400. Prodhan has referred this Decision Notice to the Upper Tribunal (the Tribunal) where he and the FCA will each present their cases. The Tribunal will determine…
Read moreThe Money Advice Service (MAS) has launched new guidance which they say will assist Local Authorities to take a more progressive approach to the recovery of Council Tax, encouraging improved resident engagement, fairer outcomes and sustainable arrears repayments. Across the UK, the number of overindebted people is approximately 8.3 million. Furthermore, a third of people…
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Zopa has announced that it has been approved for a bank licence with restrictions. This is called the ‘mobilisation’ phase of the process where the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) put some restrictions in place. Zopa will be granted a full licence once it meets the conditions set by the regulators…
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The Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) has announced a new regulatory framework for the continuous monitoring of the use of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (“IVA”) by high-volume IVA providers. The Insolvency Service classifies high-volume as those firms that are responsible for 2% of the total number of IVAs annually. An IVA is one of the debt management…
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