City & Financial Global is pleased to announce its forthcoming Consumer Duty Implementation Summit taking place on 20^th June.

Sheldon Mills, Executive Director for Consumers and Competition, FCA recently delivered a stern warning to firms – the clock is ticking for firms to be fully compliant by the 31^st July deadline. The Summit has been convened to enable you to do this and will focus on the practicalities of ensuring that everyone in your organisation acts “to deliver good outcomes for retail clients.” It will also provide detailed guidance on how firms can achieve the “paradigm shift” needed to implement the cross-cutting rules and achieve the four required outcomes.

Given the current cost of living crisis, the Government has also expressed its concerns about retail customers facing financial hardship and has recently announced proposals to strengthen the regulation of Buy Now; Pay Later lenders. Other issues to be addressed at the Summit include the risks posed to consumers investing in crypto; the rise in financial scams; the latest regulatory developments in relation to financial promotions; and the consequences of breach, from both a reputational and regulatory perspective.

The Summit will provide practical guidance and the opportunity to share insights into how to deliver good outcomes for consumers at every stage to avoid costly consequences.

• To what extent will the new Consumer Duty change the culture in financial services  to make firms more customer focused?
• Firms’ preparedness for the Consumer Duty deadline: what steps have been taken to date, lessons learned and what remains to be done?
• How great a risk does crypto pose to consumers and what can be done to protect them?
• What will be the effect of the proposed regulation of BNPL lenders?
• Embedding a consumer duty compliant culture right across your organisation
• The role of the Financial Ombudsman in protecting consumers
• Latest developments in firms’ obligations to vulnerable customers
• Regulatory consequences of breach of the consumer duty: what can firms do to protect themselves against enforcement action?