FSA tells industry that Treating Customers Fairly must be 'business as usual'
Oliver Page
Putting customers' interests at the heart of their business structures should be 'business as usual' for firms
FSA/PN/076/2005
6 July 2005
In a paper entitled Treating Customers Fairly – Building on Progress published today, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has set out the issues that firms should consider when assessing whether they have embedded the fair treatment of customers throughout their business. The industry has made progress in assessing, developing and implementing the fair treatment of customers, but there is more for the senior management of firms to do.
Among the examples put forward of good practice in this area, the FSA suggests how firms could build Treating Customers Fairly more centrally into their product design process by stress-testing new products from the customer’s point of view, putting additional effort into communicating the risks and benefits of new products clearly, and using after-sale surveys to test whether consumers have really understood what they have bought.
Oliver Page, the FSA's Director leading the Treating Customers Fairly work, said:
"Putting customers' interests at the heart of their business structures should be 'business as usual' for firms. While we have seen encouraging signs of progress from the industry, there is still more to do before we can be satisfied that all firms are treating customers fairly. We have seen examples of firms that have not gone much further than an initial consideration of how Treating Customers Fairly works and, while we do not expect things to change overnight, we do expect senior management to take the lead and make practical changes to the way they do business in order to implement Treating Customers Fairly strategies."
Notes to editors
- To see a full copy of the paper entitled Treating Customers Fairly – Building on Progress, please access the FSA's Treating Customers Fairly web pages.
- The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and fighting financial crime.
- The FSA aims to promote efficient, orderly and fair markets, help retail consumers achieve a fair deal and improve our business capability and effectiveness