Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure adherence to the FCA’s Consumer Duty requirement for firms to avoid causing foreseeable harm.

The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA’s) Consumer Duty requires firms to act in good faith, prevent foreseeable harm, and act in the best interests of consumers.

All FCA-authorised firms are required to comply with the Consumer Duty.

The FCA has extensive powers to enforce regulations and to impose penalties for breaches of regulation. This includes powers to investigate potential breaches, issue fines and ultimately to withdraw authorisation in the case of serious breaches.

The FCA is operationally independent and the Treasury has no role in ensuring firms meet their responsibilities under the Consumer Duty. The Treasury continues to work closely with the FCA to hold it to account for delivering against its statutory objectives, including its objective to secure an appropriate degree of consumer protection in relation to the activities it regulates.