Move follows FSA announcement that only 20% of firms will meet december deadlines.
The CII Group has introduced podcasts to help inform and guide firms tackling the regulations surrounding Treating Customers Fairly (TCF).
They have joined forces with compliance expert Branko Bjelobaba, who heads regulatory consultancy firm Branko Ltd, to produce easily digestible explanations and interpretations of the FSA principle-based regime for both the small and large insurers, intermediaries and financial advisers.
The FSA has published an update on TCF showing only 13% of relationship managed firms assessed had met the March deadline and 20% are expected to go on to fail to make the December final deadline. The FSA “expect all firms to undertake a significant amount of further work with a great deal of energy” to ensure that firms meet the end of year deadline."
Bjelobaba said: “The business and people running it must have a deep desire to want to treat their customers fairly and the FSA this year with its deadlines are going to make sure this happens. Sitting back and doing nothing is not an option.”
CII director of policy and public affairs David Thomson said this initiative illustrates the CII’s commitment to raising the levels of trust and confidence in the insurance and financial services sector in what they deliver: “Branko and his team have been at the forefront of helping firms become compliant, and this is something we have wholeheartedly endorse and supporting the industry on a practical level. TCF is a major regulatory challenge and our members need practical help and support to get them through the process.”
In March, research conducted by Clearconcepts, in association with financial adviser Grant Thornton, found that 91% of financial services firms had expected to make the FSA deadline although over 83% of the 75 firms surveyed named TCF as the number one regulatory challenge and greatest area of regulatory risk.
