CONSUMER DUTY NEWSLETTER

4 CONSUMER DUTY NEWSLETTER An introduction to Consumer Duty... Welcome to our Consumer Duty special edition newsletter. The Consumer Duty final rules arrived in July, and by now, we expect that most firms are starting their preparations in order to meet the FCA’s challenging deadlines. Indeed, the deadline of 31st October 2022 to have a “robust” implementation plan in place has now passed. Indeed, the FCA states that firms need to be able to “evidence they have scrutinised and challenged the plans to ensure that they are deliverable and robust” in order to meet the new Consumer Duty standards. May I start by saying well done to those firms who have successfully met this deadline despite the challenging market we have faced in recent weeks. However, from our discussions with members, it is clear that there are many firms who have not yet addressed this requirement from the regulator, and as such, are now vulnerable. Our message is clear. Don’t panic, but don’t ignore it. Acting now can help you to protect your business against this risk. I would urge any firms that have not got a plan in place yet to pick up the phone to your Relationship Manager and discuss the support that is available from Paradigm. You don’t have to buy compliance services from us on a regular basis in order to access our compliance support on this matter. We are able to provide guidance and assist with the completion of your plan on an ad hoc basis. Through our compliance offering, Paradigm Consulting, we’ve already helped hundreds of firms to start these preparations, whether this be (for example) presenting to your Board of Directors, providing hands on assistance with your firm’s Implementation Plan or sense checking that the correct ethos and culture exists within your firm. We have an Implementation Plan template and can provide detailed assistance to complete this in a way that is bespoke to your business. Bob Hunt CEO Paradigm Mortgage Services MD Paradigm Consulting Our Consulting team are highly-experienced and well-practiced in guiding firms through regulatory change and can therefore add a significant amount of value to firms who are struggling to navigate what these changes mean in practice. Similarly, if you do have a plan that has been finalised, or is being worked on, we can also assist you from a compliance perspective in the delivery of the plan. Once you have identified the areas within your business that will require changes in order to meet the new rules, please don’t hesitate to call on us for support in achieving these. Consumer Duty is all encompassing across Mortgage, Protection and Investment firms, regardless of size, so within this newsletter, we have brought together a range of content that we hope will add value to you as you undertake changes within your business. You can find more information about the Consumer Duty, as well as useful resources that may help to shape your thinking – such as our videos and recent blog articles – on our Consumer Duty support hub . If you are unsure where to start, need help to understand exactly how these rules will impact upon your business, want to sense check your current plans, or require any other assistance to start to prepare for these changes, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call us on 0161 486 4890 , email [email protected] . You can also click here to receive a call back from your dedicated Relationship Manager.