Browse all articles across people aspects of regulation and people development within UK financial services
Just occasionally it’s good to remind ourselves why something is important and CPD is one of those things which makes it easy to forget how important it is: why is CPD important?
In my last column I focused on the FCA’s Dear CEO letter to Retail Mortgage Lenders and the three key topics the FCA instructed them to consider: supporting customers in financial difficulty, managing maturing interest only mortgages and responsible lending.
My laptop stopped connecting to local networks last week. It turned out that I had loaded so much anti-virus software that I’d confused it into blocking perfectly friendly services. Sometimes you can have too much protection. I was reminded of my dysfunctional laptop when reading a recent article by Fiona Tait in the Actuarial Post.
While FCA Dear CEO letters are usually targeted at a particular type of regulated firm, they should always be of interest to similar firm types in any connected sector. The recent FCA letter to Retail Mortgage Lenders [‘RMLs’] is no exception.
This is the time of year, when clients invariably ask how much can I pay into my pension? This has become an increasingly difficult problem, due to the changes in legislation in respect of tapering of the annual allowance.
There will always be times in our lives where we are faced with conversations that we anticipate will be difficult. Whether in our personal or professional lives, we all tend to put off difficult conversations because of the intensity and complexity of the emotions they tend to evoke.
How do you become the best at what you do? Here at Expert Pensions, we’ve been delving deep into critical skills and how these skills will help you develop your thinking, your advice, and your business.
Admit it, company mandated training is something none of us look forward to. Being told to do something as part of a tick-box exercise doesn’t fill us with the motivation to sit up and take notice. As a whole, many people don’t understand the value of continual learning and development.
The DWP is looking again at the state pension age which it last reviewed with the help of John Cridland six years ago. The reason for the review is to look both at how long we live and work. Cridland determined that the state pension should target providing income for a third of our lives.
The value of FCA and PRA fines never ceases to amaze me. The end of year tally has never been anything but eyewatering and 2021 is no different. Without taking into account any early settlement discount, FCA fines in 2021 exceeded half a billion pounds, with half that amount being levied in a criminal Court.
The FCA recently published a ‘Dear Board of Directors’ portfolio strategy letter’ to all firms who outsource to third party mortgage administrators and to third party administrator firms. It set out the FCA’s concerns in respect of key risks posed to customers and detailed how firms should address and mitigate those risks.
The financial services industry is now better understood for the transparency shed by consumerists such as Dr Chris Sier on the costs and charges we pay for the funds, platforms and policies into which consumers invest.
