Joe Bamford (UK)

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Firm/Organization: Norton Rose Fulbright
Blogs: Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

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Last night, the House of Commons (the Commons) held a series of indicative votes following its resolution of 25 March 2019 which provided for a series of votes on ways the Government could proceed as regards its Brexit strategy. Earlier in the day, the Commons debated the Business of the House motion stemming from the Commons’ resolution, setting out the ground rules for the voting. The Business of the House motion was passed without amendment.…
On 26 March 2019, the FCA published Consultation Paper 19/14: Mortgage customers: proposed changes to responsible lending rules and guidance (CP19/14). By way of background, the FCA is concerned that some consumers cannot switch to a more affordable mortgage despite being up-to-date with their mortgage payments. This includes those who cannot switch because of changes to lending practices during and after the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent regulation that tightened lending standards – ‘mortgage…
On 26 March 2019, the FCA published its final report on the mortgage market study. The FCA found that the mortgage market works well in many respects. Engagement is high and consumers are getting mortgages that are suitable and affordable. However, the FCA also found that the mortgage market falls short of its vision in certain ways leading to harm for some consumers who pay more than they need to for their mortgage. There are…
On 25 March 2019, the FCA published its final report (the Report) on its review of retained provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA). The FCA took over responsibility for regulating consumer credit in April 2014. As part of the transfer, Parliament repealed some CCA provisions and some were replaced by FCA rules. The FCA was then required to undertake a review of the remaining provisions – this Report follows on from the FCA’s…
On 22 March 2019, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter concerning managing the risks of defined benefits to defined contribution transfers. The Dear CEO letter explains that over the past year the FCA has carried out work to evaluate and reduce the risks of harm to consumers arising from the transfer of funds from their defined benefit (DB) schemes to defined contribution (DC) products. The FCA reports that it has now completed its review…
On 21 March 2019, the FCA published a speech from Jonathan Davidson, Executive Director of Supervision – Retail and Authorisations, on the FCA’s interaction with the consumer credit sector. Highlights from the speech include: the FCA will be doing further work to understand both the motivation for, and the impact of, relending on both consumers and firms, with a focus on home-collected credit; there will also be additional work on affordability and understanding whether potential…
On 14 March 2019, the FCA issued its investment platforms market study final report and an accompanying Consultation Paper (Consultation Paper 19/12: Consultation on investment platforms market study remedies (CP19/12)). The FCA launched its market study to explore whether consumers can make informed decisions about the choice of platform, the investments they choose on it and whether firms compete to add value for consumers. Platforms have the potential to use their scale to improve…
This evening, MPs voted on whether or not the UK should seek permission from the EU to delay Brexit beyond 29 March 2019. The Government motion for debate was: “That this house: (1) notes the resolutions of the House of 12 and 13 March, and accordingly agrees that the Government will seek to agree with the European Union an extension of the period specified in Article 50(3); (2) agrees that, if the House has passed…