Written by Zhuan Faraj

On 28 September 2021 the FCA held its Annual Public Meeting, discussing its 2020/2021 Annual Report and Accounts and considering how it has delivered against its strategic and operational objectives.

The meeting provided an opportunity for firms, consumers, trade associations, and other interested parties to put questions to the Chair, Chief Executive, and executive directors of the FCA. It covered a wide range of topics, including:

• Consumer Duty of Care: The FCA restated its intention to raise the standard of care for consumers, for instance by requiring firms to act in good faith and take all reasonable steps to avoid reasonably foreseeable harm. It expects to publish its second consultation on the Consumer Duty of Care by 31 December 2021, with final rules to be set by 31 July 2022.
• Sustainability: The FCA wants to see and achieve high-quality climate and sustainable disclosures to support accurate market pricing and help people in choosing investments. They are interested in active investor stewardship, protecting integrity in the market, and seeing technology innovation in sustainable finance. Key recent FCA publications in this area are the ‘Dear Chair’ letter of July 2021 and their consultations on climate related disclosures (including CP 21/17 for asset managers).
• Cryptoassets: The FCA’s main concern in this area is whether people understand the risk they are holding by investing in cryptoassets. The FCA is working with government partners on whether further regulatory or legislative action is needed in this space, for instance in respect of the financial promotions rules.

Answers to other pre-submitted but unanswered questions will be available on the FCA website in due course.

We are advising clients on these topics so please do get in touch if you think you may be impacted by these issues.