Financial regulator to ‘streamline’ rules amid consumer duty ‘overlap’

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a review of financial services rules as it looks to strip back red tape.

The City watchdog said the burden of regulation ‘could be streamlined’ and has called on the industry to identify rules which could be scrapped or simplified as they ‘overlap’ with consumer duty.   

The move comes after the introduction of the Consumer Duty, which makes sure that businesses deliver good outcomes for consumers when they buy financial products and services. The regulator is calling on industry to identify rules which could be removed or simplified if they overlap with the Duty. 

Reducing complexity of the FCA’s rulebook could lower costs for firms, encourage innovation and help support the risk appetite needed to support growth, ultimately boosting international competitiveness and the economy over the long-term. 

Launching the review, Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA said “We are firmly committed to playing our part in supporting economic growth. The Consumer Duty marked a major shift for firms and consumers by setting higher and clearer standards of consumer protection and requiring firms to put their customers’ needs first. 

“We now want to seize the opportunity of the Duty and the move to a clear outcomes-based approach to streamline our rulebook, lowering costs for businesses and supporting the competitiveness and growth of the economy.”