MI imperative for TCF compliance, says regulator

Two speakers from the Financial Services Authority travelled with the PB Roadshow to deliver speeches on principles-based regulation and what it means for brokers.

Chris Harris and Terry Saunders, both managers in the general insurance department of the small firms division of the FSA, sought to ease brokers' apprehensions about meeting the Treating Customers Fairly deadlines and explain exactly what the regulator would be looking for in their assessments.

Collecting examples of management information such as customer service surveys and complaints records was imperative for this drive, said Saunders, but often brokers were left with little idea of what constituted MI specifically.

Reassuring delegates regarding their own drives toward meeting the new regulations, the regulator said that the vast majority of the 55% of firms that weren't seen to be fully implementing TCF were only "one strategy or one piece of evidence of MI away" when the previous deadline passed in March 2007.

Harris stressed it was important for brokers to realise the rules were flexible in terms of how they fitted each individual business, adding that the FSA visits would be more discussion-based than before and would be used to apply the principles in the interests of end-consumers.

Responsibility for keeping a firm up to date with TCF belongs to the senior management, Harris continued, adding that the regulator was now looking for much more than simple compliance with the rules.

Saunders also said that brokers should utilise the FSA contact centre more often for their compliance-related queries, adding that managers should act sooner rather than later as the March 2008 deadline for TCF becomes closer.