Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to increase the ability of regulators and consumer enforcement bodies to order fines against companies that have been found to have broken consumer law and to deliver redress.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been given a wide range of enforcement powers to protect consumers and to take action against firms and individuals that breach the FCA’s rules – including rules on consumer protection - through the Financial Services and Markets Act (2000), as amended by the Financial Services Act (2012),

Such action includes issuing fines against firms and individuals. In the calendar year 2017, the FCA issued fines totalling £229,515,303.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) was set up by the Government to resolve individual complaints between financial services firms and their customers. If the FOS decide that a consumer has been treated unfairly, it has legal powers to force the firm to pay redress to the consumer.