Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the description of the legal meaning of a duty of care set out in the FCA consultation proposing a new consumer duty, published on 14 May 2021.

This question was answered on 27th September 2021

The Government is committed to ensuring financial services consumers are appropriately protected.

In accordance with the requirements set out in the Financial Services Act 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation on 14 May 2021 proposing a new ‘Consumer Duty’. The Consumer Duty seeks to clarify and raise expectations for the standard of care that should be provided by financial services firms to consumers. This aims to ensure consumers benefit from a higher level of care from financial services firms.

As set out in paragraph 2.31 of the FCA’s consultation paper, the consultation’s proposals have been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Financial Services Act 2021. The FCA, as an operationally independent regulator, is responsible for carrying out the consultation and for making any new rules which it considers appropriate following the consultation. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Government to comment further on the specifics of the consultation’s proposals.