Understanding Consumer Duty
Everything you need to know about Consumer Duty, all in one place.
Product design
Product manufacturers must ensure that their products or services (whether new or existing) are designed to meet the IDENTIFIED needs, characteristics and objectives of the
Fair value assessments
What is “value”? “Value” is the relationship between the amount paid by a retail customer for a product and the benefits they can reasonably expect
Vulnerable customers
General The FCA’s Financial Lives 2020 survey showed that in February 2020 46% of UK adults (24.1 million people) had characteristics of vulnerability. By October
Target markets
What is a “target market”? A “target market” is a group or groups of customers sharing common features whose characteristics, needs and objectives a product
The products and services outcome
Under the “products and services outcome”, products and services must meet the needs, characteristics (including characteristics of vulnerability[1]) and objectives of an identified target group
The consumer duty and the concept of ‘reasonableness’
The entire Consumer Duty is underpinned by the concept of reasonableness. This is an OBJECTIVE test. It means that the rules and guidance laid down
What is a “retail customer”?
The Consumer Duty applies to products and services offered to “retail customers”. What EXACTLY do we mean when we refer to a “retail customer”? Actual
Scope of the Consumer Duty
The Consumer Duty applies to the regulated activities and ancillary activities of all firms authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), the
Overview of the “four outcomes”
The “four outcomes” are elements of the firm-consumer relationship which the FCA considers to be instrumental in helping to drive good outcomes for consumers. They
