Bryan Foss

Don't miss the opportunity to hear from industry experts, Director Alison Donnelly, from fscom, and our Founder Daniel Saliba, on the recent FCA consultation on proposed changes to the current Safeguarding regime. #FreeWebinar #FinancialServices #FCA #Safeguarding #Compliance #RiskManagement #LGCA #LighthouseComplianceUK

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📢 New Release: HM Treasury's Areas of Research Interest 2024 📢 This pivotal document outlines the UK government's research priorities. This comprehensive guide highlights the critical economic and policy challenges shaping the country’s future and sets the stage for collaboration between government, academia, and industry. ➡️ Read the full document here: https://lnkd.in/eVXtHinA

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New rules to strengthen resilience of UK’s financial sector = https://lnkd.in/gNAg7cu6 Bravo to all at the Financial Conduct Authority for strengthening the resilience of the services that critical third parties provide to individual firms, because that will improve the resilience of the UK financial services sector as a whole. The UK government will decide which third parties should fall under the new regime, based on advice from regulators.

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Digital pension administration in 2024 – where are we at? The Digital Admin whitepaper recently released by Heywood and PASA - Pensions Administration Standards Association CIC explores the state of digital administration in 2024, supported by original research and industry commentary. The findings show that while regulatory compliance remains the top focus, it's overshadowing efforts to improve digital admin - which can make compliance easier and more efficient. Read part one of our series analysing the survey results here: https://lnkd.in/e5D-g3TF

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💡 TISA has created this manifesto to highlight to policymakers the set of key policy proposals which are essential to improve the financial wellbeing of UK consumers. We are calling on the Government to work with TISA, the Financial Services industry and Consumer groups to increase consumers’ financial wellbeing. TISA supports the aim to increase economic growth and prosperity. Our proposals seek to support this aim by improving financial literacy, reaching underserved members of society and incentivising innovation. This summary outlines our 10 recommendations to improve the financial wellbeing of UK households. The full version, detailing each of these ten points can be requested on the website. 🔗 View it here: https://lnkd.in/gQ4tD4Zp

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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released its Consultation Paper CP24/7, detailing proposals for Payment Optionality for Investment Research. These proposals aim to provide UK buyside firms with more flexibility in purchasing investment research, resulting from the Edinburgh Reforms launched in December 2022. Derived from the recommendations of the Investment Research Review, the central proposal of the Consultation, is to allow joint payments for research and execution services, provided that certain requirements are met by firms, which we have termed as ‘guardrails’. Martin Lovick, Director of Capital Markets takes us through these so-called “guardrails”, which include policies, written agreements with providers, budgeting, and client disclosures. Read more here https://lnkd.in/erDy5Fbx #FCA #investmentresearch #financialservices #compliance #capitalmarkets #firms #cosegic

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✏ *NEW BLOG* A new blog from Governor Gabriel Makhlouf looks at the Central Bank’s Annual Report 2023, which has just been published. ➡ In terms of financial results, Governor Makhlouf writes “the Central Bank’s role is not to make profits”, and like a number of other central banks, it made a loss in 2023 [of €132.1m]. ➡ He says in recent years, we have used our profits to build up substantial financial buffers to mitigate increased financial risks facing our balance sheet, strengthening our reserves, totalling close to €8.7bn. ➡ Governor Makhlouf also highlights that the Central Bank has maintained a relatively stable cost base in real terms over the last five years, despite a rapid growth in certain segments of the financial sector which it supervises. ➡ In his conclusion, Governor Makhlouf says the Central Bank’s strategy aims to enable it to be “agile, resilient, diverse and intelligence-led” and ready to respond to the profound changes underway in the economy. Read the full blog: https://lnkd.in/dpYUq-XG

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This week, we submitted our response to the FCA’s second consultation on the regulatory framework for pensions dashboard service firms. We also responded to the first consultation on this topic in February 2023. In our latest response, we stress the need for consumer testing to be the driving force behind finalizing any draft guidance in the Perimeter Guidance manual (PERG) as well as the choice architecture presented to consumers after viewing their dashboard. We also stress the importance of eliminating firm bias in any finalized rules and urge the FCA to consider the interplay between dashboards and the Advice Guidance Boundary Review currently under consideration. Click the link below to read our full response. https://ow.ly/cXSy50RBe3J

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The Financial Conduct Authority has published a paper based on research into whether a communication’s timing makes it more likely pension customers would engage with their #pensions. The FCA have undertaken a programme of behavioural research to understand when and how to engage consumers with their pensions and to demonstrate how firms can test communications to find what works. The findings note low engagement with emails and that older customers were more likely to engage overall. Access the paper here - https://pimfa.cc/V9AcE #communications #pensionresearch #customerengagement

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As the July 31st deadline for #ConsumerDuty board reports approaches, effective reporting on assessment processes and positive consumer outcomes has never been more critical. The FCA state that #fairvalue is the biggest challenge under the Consumer Duty, with firms managing diverse product lines and extensive distribution channels encountering heightened difficulties in gathering and processing data. Establishing a robust system capable of continuously requesting, acquiring, and analysing data from any size distribution network is essential for conducting thorough assessments. Those still reliant on emails and spreadsheets, rather than specialised digital solutions, find it challenging to manage these tasks effectively. Marketing Executive, Ella Olamona, explores how #RegTech can streamline fair value assessments for enhanced compliance. Learn more >> https://lnkd.in/eRrxqzPR #insurance #compliance #fairpricing #duediligence

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Over 2024, the Cross Market Resilience Group (CMORG) has made significant strides in strengthening the operational resilience of the UK financial sector. It has advanced sector-wide resilience through a variety of initiatives and artefacts this year. These contributions have been crucial in reinforcing firm-level resiliency and how the sector can effectively respond to systemic disruptions. Please find the link to the CMORG 2024 reflections blog here: https://lnkd.in/g3GkNs8g CMORG-endorsed capabilities (including good practice guidance, response frameworks and contingency tools) have been developed collectively by industry to support the operational resilience of the UK financial sector. The financial authorities support the development of these capabilities and collective efforts to improve sector resilience. However, their use is voluntary, and they do not constitute regulatory rules or supervisory expectations; as such, they may not necessarily represent formal endorsement by the authorities.

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The Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) has made significant progress towards creating a digital company ID, designed to combat economic crime and boost the UK economy by £600 million annually through secure digital identities 💷 With the support of over 70 leading organisations, including major banks, technology firms, and regulators, the coalition is developing a virtual passport for UK businesses. This innovation promises to: 
✔️ Prevent fraud 
✔️ Streamline finance processes 
✔️ Reduce compliance costs 
✔️ Enable a secure smart-data economy This initiative highlights the potential of digital verification, and how it can help protect businesses and consumers. Read more 👉 https://bit.ly/3ZBmI6P #EconomicCrime #FinancialInnovation #Banking

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