Standards and Requirements Under the FCA’s New U.K. Consumer Duty Rules (Part Two of Two)

In furtherance of its objective to protect investors, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has articulated a new “consumer duty” (Consumer Duty) that is meant to bolster fund managers’ existing fiduciary duties to ultimately improve how firms serve investors. When coupled with recently introduced rules for marketing high-risk investments (High-Risk Marketing Rules), the measures functionally raise the floor of the U.K. private funds industry. The result, however, is that fund managers will need to begin taking steps – or, in the case of the High-Risk Marketing Rules, were required to comply as of December 1, 2022 – to incorporate the standards into their compliance efforts. To assist fund managers with understanding and preparing for the obligations under the Consumer Duty and High-Risk Marketing Rules, MJ Hudson hosted a program on the new U.K. rules that featured partner Mike Booth. This second article in a two-part series parses relevant takeaways for fund managers about their potential obligations under the Consumer Duty. The first article offered useful background information on both rules before delving into pertinent features of the High-Risk Marketing Rules. For more on U.K. matters affecting fund managers, see “U.K. Treasury Outlines Potential Changes to Make Funds Regime More Attractive” (Jun. 28, 2022); and “FCA Imposes Significant Penalties on Asset Manager and Director for Poor Conflicts Management” (Jun. 21, 2022).

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