Ash was Managing Director at RWA from 2018. He had over 15 years’ experience in the legal and compliance field and ten years in broker sales and leadership roles in national and global insurance firms. Sadly, Ash passed away suddenly in August 2021.
FCA Launches Enhanced Financial Services Register
The FCA has launched its updated and enhanced Financial Services (FS) Register to protect consumers.
The purpose of the FS Register is to provide a public record of firms, individuals and other bodies that are, or have been, regulated by the PRA and/or FCA.
The FS Register will be reviewed and improved by the FCA on a regular basis to ensure that it remains able to meet the needs of users. The Register can help consumers avoid scams and enables firms to cross-check references and ensure their key staff are known to customers.
We have written previously about the importance of being able to recognise and avoid scams – which have unfortunately increased as a consequence of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic: https://insight.rwabusiness.com/blog/posts/2020/march/fca-warning-on-avoiding-coronavirus-scams/
What are the key enhancements of the new Register?
- Clearer navigation and design
- Simpler language
- More information on the Register’s purpose, how to use it and how to avoid scams
- Important information being made more prominent, including past actions against individuals and firms, and consumer protections
- Optimisation for some mobile devices
Executive Director of Supervision, Retail and Authorisations at the FCA, Jonathan Davidson said of the enhanced Register: “The Financial Services Register is an important tool for both the consumers and firms who use it. These changes will make it easier for users to navigate and understand the Register, and in doing so, help them avoid financial harm such as scams by unauthorised firms and individuals.”
Under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR), which came into effect last year, the FCA announced its commitment to publishing and maintaining a directory of certified and assessed persons on the Financial Services Register. Having announced a delay to this, the FCA now intends to publish it later this year.
The regulator is also currently proposing to extend the previous deadline of 9 December 2020 for solo-regulated firms to submit information about Directory Persons to the Register to 31 March 2021.
If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact your Business Manager or the team at RWA via 01604 709509 or helpdesk@rwagroup.co.uk.